Jung-Gu Archives - Foodology

In Four Beakers

Well-bring Rice Cafe: Korean Porridge in Seoul, Korea

August 16, 2012

Well-being Rice Cafe in Myeong-Dong is located right below Miss Lee cafe. Kirby and I came here for an early lunch before eating Sannakji (raw octopus). I have always loved Chinese congee, so I really wanted to try Korean porridge. The exterior of the restaurant looked very appealing and had pretty pictures. As a traveller, that’s kinda what appeals to me…I know… it’s quite horrible.

The interior was brightly lit and had a good amount of seats. When we arrived, it was empty, but it soon filled up.

Everything is self-serve, so you need to grab your own water.

Vegetable Dolsot BiBimbap (6,500 won = $6.50 CDN) was very delicious! It is served in a hot stone bowl and comes with seaweed soup, and 2 side dishes.

You just mix all the items together in the bowl. It’s very healthy and yummy.

The side dishes were good, but the cup of prune juice was kinda disgusting.

Beef Mushroom Porridge (8,000 won = $8 CDN) comes in a huge portion with 3 side dishes, prune juice and cold soup.

It was really delicious and it’s really different from Chinese congee. It definitely something you must have!

The 3 side dishes were good too and it was a nice addition to the meal.

Overall, the meal was very good and I would definitely come here again! Order the porridge! the downside is that the service was a bit slow.

We Rate Well-Being Rice Cafe:

Address:
199-1 Euljiro 2(i)-ga (27 Myeongdong 3-gil)
Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

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In Dessert

Miss Lee Cafe: Featured on ‘We Got Married’

August 15, 2012

Miss Lee Cafe has several locations around Korea. Kirby and I were in Myeong-Dong and stumbled upon this location. I was a very rainy day, so we decided to chill out here before finding more food. Miss Lee Cafe specializes in boxed lunches, drinks and desserts.

Miss Lee Cafe was made famous by Korean reality show – We Got Married featuring Yonghwa from CN Blue and Seohyun from SNSD.

What makes this cafe very unique are the hundred and hundreds of love messages scattered throughout the restaurant. It’s a very popular place for couples to dine at during dates. Also, for all the fan-girls that come here because “we got married” featured this cafe.

You can grab a pen, a paper, and a twist tie to create your note. It can be about your friends, loved ones, or whoever.

Here is a shot of a few of them. I have no idea what they say, but I think it must be about love.

This location has a few floors and it’s also self-serve. You order at the counter, grab an electronic device and wait for it to buzz. Once it buzzes, you can walk back to the counter to pick up your order.

Five Taste Sherbert has canned pineapple, cherry tomatoes, kiwis, banana, almonds, peanuts, raisins, and canned peaches over ice. Looks pretty, tastes horrible! Do Koreans not have a variety of fruit? or does this cafe just suck that badly?

The combinations of nuts and fruit did not blend well together, nor were they very fresh. Kirby and I had a very hard time trying to finish this item.

Once the fruits were devoured, this is what was underneath. Gross ice and tomato tasting water.

It also came with some snacks on the side. They tasted very stale. I usually don’t notice stale snacks, but this was VERY stale.

The overall quality in their items are very poor and I would never ever return. The concept is very cool, but with all the cafes in Korea, you can skip this place.

Words of Wisdom:

Just don’t eat here…go inside and take a few pictures and leave
Food is very very terrible

We Rate Miss Lee Cafe:

Address:
Jung-gu, Seoul 199-1 Euljiro 2

Website:

http://www.missleecafe.com/

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In Four Beakers

Minimani: Eating Raw Octopus (Sannakji) in Seoul, Korea

August 14, 2012

Minimani is a restaurant in Myeong-Dong that specializes in grilled meats. Kirby and I met up to venture out to find some raw octopus to eat. We were passing by and saw they had a tank of live octopus, so we were sure they would sell sannakji!

Since it is a BBQ restaurant, all tables do have gas stoves on top. Depending on what you order here, you may or may not need it.

Since we were here only for the raw octopus, we had our side dishes (banchan) on the grill instead.

We were given diced up cabbage with a mayo sauce and kimchi.

Sannakji was on the menu! Yeah! It looks much better in video format since you can see it squirm. The texture was slimy and yes, the octopus does attach to your tongue, inside of your mouth, and teeth. You just need to chew the octopus several times until you are certain the suction cups aren’t working anymore.

If you have had takowasa before at a Japanese restaurant, it’s like that but not spicy and more alive.

Here is the video above! The octopus is alive! In a sense it is dead, but the nerves are still twitching and squirming.

We were given a mixture of sesame oil, salt and pepper to drip the octopus into. It complimented to raw taste quite nicely.

Here is video proof that I ate it. Its really was fun and tasted good! If you are ever in Korea, give it a try! Have you had Sannakji before?

We Rate Minimani:

Address:
199-44, Euljiro2-ga, Jung-gu,, Seoul, South Korea

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In Jung-Gu

Changing of Royal Guards at Deoksugung Palace and BiBimBap in Seoul

August 9, 2012

I made it a goal to try to explore a lot of the cultural sites in Seoul. I went to Deoksugung Palace to have a tour at 10:30am, but there was no tour, so I assumed their schedule changed.. or I had an incorrect time. Fortunately, at 11am, 2pm and 3:30pm, they have the changing of guards ceremony in front of Daehanmun Gate at the Palace.

The ceremony lasts for about 30 minutes and is the same. The ceremony is a tradition similar to the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace in London and gives you the opportunity to experience the past.

Around the corner from the palace was a restaurant called Sanookeeya. It serves traditional Korean food and I was drawn to eat lunch here because of their display of bibimbap (stone rice). It wasn’t empty and I did see police officers eating inside, so I thought it can’t be too bad if local police officers were eating here.

I ordered the bibimbap and it came in a hot stone bowl with rice, pickled vegetables, kimchi, seaweed, and fish roe. I was disappointed because they bowl wasn’t hot enough to make the rice crispy, plus they didn’t give me hot sauce to make it spicier.

In addition to the bibimbap, they also provided a few side dishes.

Soup or some kind of broth came with the meal. It has a bit of green onions on top.

Cabbage with mayo is something I kept encountering but I can never seem to like it. I strongly believe mayo shouldn’t belong in a salad, but maybe that’s because I dislike mayo.

Kimchi and pickled daikon came as well. I love anything pickled, so this was delicious.

Overall, the food at Sanookeeya was ok, but not as yummy as I expected. I definitely enjoyed the changing of the guards way more than the food nearby. I took it as a lesson to never eat near super touristy locations

We Rate Sanookeeya: