Pohang Archives - Foodology

In Chinese

Bu Chun Sung Chinese Restaurant 부천성: Lunch in Pohang, Korea

March 8, 2014

Bu Chun Sung Chinese Restaurant 부천성 is located in Pohang. We came here for lunch and what I always find interesting is that no matter where you find Chinese food in Korea, it’s never authentic. They always have their own version of Chinese food.

I actually don’t mind it. In my mind, I will always think its Korean food. Just wait till the Koreans discover dim sum, they will be mind blown.

The inner decor was simple. Nothing fancy. There was a good amount of people here for lunch.

Complimentary side dishes arrived – kimchi, pickled radish, onions and bean paste. You dip the onion into the bean paste and it magically counteracts the intensity of the onion. It’s weird, but it works.

Honey Almond Shrimp has deep-fried prawns smothered in a mayo mixture and topped with almond slices.

Noodles with Black bean Sauce (Jajangmyeon) was ordered by everyone. There is the noodle underneath and the black bean sauce on top.

Fried Rice with Seafood comes with a bit of black bean sauce on the side and a light soup. This is an item I always order. Black bean sauce is really good and when you add it to the fried rice, it’s pretty damn good. Too bad I didn’t really like how they made the fried rice.

At the end of the meal, we got these sticky sweet potatoes as a complimentary dessert. We all thought this was pretty meh.

We also got coffee at the end of the meal. Wasn’t very good either.

Overall, the restaurant was decent, but we all agreed Taesan Chinese Restaurant is still better for Korean Chinese food.

We rate Bu Chun Sung Chinese Restaurant:

Website:
http://xn--or3bo1es8m.kr/skin15/index.php

Address:
656-13 I-dong, Nam-Gu, Pohang-si,
Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=%EB%B6%80%EC%B2%9C%EC%84%B1&ie=UTF8&ll=36.028486,129.337449&spn=0.010221,0.021136&sll=36.0282921,129.3374541&sspn=0.0066637,0.0109864&t=m&cid=0xa41eb0cf2b3d3dd3&hq=%EB%B6%80%EC%B2%9C%EC%84%B1&z=16&iwloc=A “]

In Cafe

CGV: Finding Movies in Pohang, South Korea

March 5, 2014

Finding a movie theatre that showed ‘Frozen’ in English was quite tough in Korea. Some places had it dubbed over, but since I don’t understand Korean, we had to find a place that had the movie in English with some Korean subtitles.

CGV is Korea’s largest cinema chain and they also have some locations in China and North America. I’ve never been to a Korean movie theatre, so this was an adventure. You can pick your seats before you purchase! Kinda similar to Canada’s Cineplex VIP Theatre, but without the added cost.

You buy your ticket at the counter and then you can grab some snacks at the food counter.

As we were here about an hour before the movie started, we thought we would head into the CGV cafe to get some refreshments and have a seat. Korean’s love their coffees and cafe’s, so naturally, there is one inside the movie theatre.

You line up at the counter and they will take your order. The menu is in Korea, so if you can’t read, you can be like me and get someone else to order for you.

There’s lots of seats to sit down and just chill before the movie doors open up.

I ordered a latte and it comes from the machine. Nothing really special about it. There wasn’t a lot of strong coffee taste to it as they added in a lot of milk. M’s mom ordered a iced coffee but told them to take it back because it didn’t taste like coffee at all. It was mostly milk.

Korean’s have a passion for coffee, so I’m not sure why they are serving sub par coffee. Quality is probably lost cause it’s a chain.

Popcorn could have been a bit fresher. A little tad stale.

Noah and Captain America posters look quite similar.

I didn’t take a picture of inside the cinema because I had this weird feeling that someone would think I would be pirating the movie. The quality of the theatre was fine, but not as large as I would have imagined, but that’s probably because Pohang is a smaller city compared to Seoul (obviously).

The CGV Cafe sucked, but that’s what we get for going to a Cafe inside a movie theatre.

Nonetheless, we still enjoyed ourselves and was quite impressed with ‘Frozen’. Highly encourage you check it out.

Address:
235-4 Deoksan-dong (93 )
Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
South Korea

Website: http://cgv.co.kr/theater/theater/Default.aspx

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In Bakery

Sweet Step: Coffee and Bread in Pohang, South Korea

February 23, 2014

When we were in Pohang, M’s mom showed us a cute coffee shop called Sweet Step. They serve up artisan coffee and bake their own pastries. Whats great about this place is that they even roast their own beans.

A lot of locals love this place because its different that all the other coffee chains out there.

The inside is quite huge! There’s patio seating and 2 floors of seating too.

Lots of macarons.

Doremon bread!

They have a siphon coffee maker on display. Looks pretty darn cool

They also sell various coffee gadgets too.

The counters menu has some english, so you will be able to make your order easily with no problems.

Coffee Macaron (2,000 won = $2CDN) was a cool treat to pair with coffee. I looked pretty.

It was also humongous. I’ve never seen a macaron this big. Unfortunately, the macaroon was not very good. It was hard and chewy. A good macaron should have a smooth, crisp shell and a moist, chewy interior.

Affogato is what M ordered. It comes with a scoop of vanilla Haagan Daaz ice cream and a shot of espresso. You pour the espresso on top of the ice cream and its so delicious! A very Italian treat.

Iced Caramel Macchiato is what Ms mom ordered. Looked very pretty and she said it tasted very good.

Americano Misto is what I tried to order, but I don’t think they understood what I wanted. I think this drink got lost in translation. I think next time I will stick with a latte or cappuccino.

Overall, we did enjoy the cafe. It’s a perfect place to chill in the afternoon over some coffee and treats. Ambiance was perfect and there are tons of seats.

We Rate Sweet Step:

Address:
남구 대이로143번길 21, Pohang 790-320

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SweetStepCoffee

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=21+Daei-ro+143beon-gil,+Nam-gu,+Pohang,+Gyeongsangbuk-do+790-320,+South+Korea+(657+I-dong)&hl=en&ll=36.027202,129.338007&spn=0.020443,0.042272&t=m&geocode=FUe7JQIdmoq1Bw&hnear=21+Daei-ro+143beon-gil,+Nam-gu,+Pohang,+Gyeongsangbuk-do,+South+Korea+(657+I-dong)&z=15″]

In Japanese

The Onigiri: Delicious Rice Balls in Pohang

November 19, 2013

The Onigiri is a chain restaurant in South Korea that specializes in Japanese rice balls. We came here to grab a bunch of onigiri to go. My last onigiri was a few years ago from T&T and I’ve never really had a good experience with them as they always had too much rice.

I was so amazed by this little shop and I could tell it would be good. I would really want one in Vancouver. Would definitely make a great lunch.

The menu board. I have no idea what it says, but the prices range from 2,500 won to 1,800 won. They serve other items like udon and ramen.

So many choices!

We clearly bought a lot! Having just 2 already gets you full. Don’t underestimate the size of these little babies.

Some of the flavours available are:

스팸데리야끼 = spam teriyaki
매운스팸 = spicy spam
떡갈비 = short ribs
매운 떡갈비 = spicy short ribs
소고기고추범벅 = boiled, mixed beef, Korean peppers
김치날치알 = kimchi fish egg
매운멸치 = spicy anchovy
김치참치, 매운 참지 = kimchi tuna, spicy tuna
아몬드멸치 = almond anchovy
소고기고추장 = beef red pepper paste
베이컨김치 = bacon kimchi
치즈참치마요 = cheese tuna mayo
참치날차알 = tuna fish egg
크래미샐려리 = creamy celery
크래미날치알 = creamy fish egg
참치 마요 = tuna mayo
치즈날치알 = cheese fish egg

M ordered me the spicy short ribs onigiri and the kimchi tuna onigiri. My favourite out of the two were the kimchi tuna ones.

The favourites that we ordered were anything with the fish eggs, anchovy or tuna.

Overall, the onigiri were great, you could tell there was lots of stuffing inside. I wouldn’t recommend ordering more than 3, you’ll be so full that you will need to be wheelbarrowed around town.

Website:
http://www.theonigiri.co.kr/

Address:
469-1 Daejam-dong, Nam-gu
Pohang, South Korea

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In BBQ

Flower Pig: Bossam Delivery in Pohang

November 18, 2013

While in Pohang, we decided to order in some bossam. Bossam, is steamed pork wrapped in leaves and other ingredients. Imagine it like the Korean version of peking duck.

We found Flower Pig in a directory and decided to try it out. They only use local Korean pigs and the restaurant is open till 1am. We ordered around 6pm and took about an hour for them to prepare and deliver the meal.

We ordered a large order of bossam and it was definitely enough for 5 people. All the component was there to begin wrapping those slices of steamed pork.

It also came with free cold noodles. It was quite large but it wasn’t very good. The noodles were damp and seemed like very random ingredients were thrown in.

The steamed pork had a lot of slices.

We had some carrots, lettuce, sesame leaves, peppers and sliced garlic.

These were salted shrimp, marinated onions, red sauce and some kinda of unidentified liquid.

We also had a large box of kimchi. There was so much that we didn’t make a large dent into it.

With the ingredients, you kinda just throw it together to suit your tastebuds.

The restaurant that we ordered from wasn’t very good. The bossam would have been much better if we had it grilled to have a little bit more of a crunch. Next time, I’d probably just have it at a restaurant or make it at home. Delivery is never the same unless you know a good place.

In Indian

Sweet India: Korean and Indian Fusion Food in Pohang

November 15, 2013

Along Bukbu Beach in Pohang, South Korea, there are tons of things to see and eat. On a Sunday, we wanted to go grab some Indian food, but Namaskar was closed, so we headed to Sweet India. They don’t serve authentic Indian food, but more of a Korean fusion.

The restaurant has multiple floors and we dined on the second floor.

When you take a look at the menu, you know they are missing a lot of staple Indian food. I was looking for paneer and pakoras, but it was nowhere to be found. If you are looking for more authentic Indian food, definitely check out Namaskar in Pohang.

Complimentary Picked vegetables

Garlic Naan (2,500 won) comes with a huge piece and it looks like its more of a garlic oil on top rather than bits of garlic. Its still good, but it is quite oily when you rip into it.

Original Naan (2,000 won) was large as well. I preferred this over the garlic naan.

Lamb Curry (12,000 won) had a few chunks of lamb and tasted alright.

Mixed Vegetable Curry (8,500 won) was quite good but the size of the order was small.

Tandoori Chicken (18,000 won) has 4 pieces of chicken legs. The chicken was dry and it wasn’t anything special.

Chicken Tikka (12,000 won) comes with 7 pieces and it is spicy.

Bacon Cream Risotto (8,500 won) was my favourite dish of the evening. It was creamy and super cheesy. Good type of comfort food.

Seafood Tomato Spaghetti (8,500 won) was quite mediocre and some of the seafood could have been fresher.

The food here really doesn’t compare to authentic Indian food and is very mediocre. I probably wouldn’t come here again. The service was quite poor and the waitresses were not attentive at all. People wanted to get refills of water, order or get the bill but we would have to wait a while for a waitress to appear. The servers were mostly behind the counter on their phones. Not cool at all.

We Rate Sweet India:

Approximate Location:
1085-3 Duho-dong (5-16 Yongdusan-gil)
Buk-gu, Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea ‎

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=36.064087,129.381906&num=1&t=m&z=16 “]

In Japanese

Gajokjung: Ramen in Pohang

November 14, 2013

Apparently, there is a ramen restaurant in Pohang, South Korea. M’s family was just craving a bowl of ramen and raved about this place. Gajokjung means Family Restaurant.

There’s parking in the front, but we just took a taxi here.

The lines can get quite long during peak hours and is difficult to get a spot. You definitely want to come early to grab a seat or wait till it dies down a bit.

Copy of the menu

There is complimentary cups of coffee available. It’s weak coffee, so it won’t give you that extra perk that you need in the morning. All the coffee is self-serve, so you can grab as much as you want.

Pork Tonkatsu (8,000 won) is one of their best sellers. It is extra crispy and delicate on the outside because of the panko crumbs. Highly recommended!

Combination Tonkatsu Special (9,500 won) comes with pumpkin, fish, pork and cheese filling. I got this to sample all their different kinds. All of them were great, but the best one is the pork.

Japanese Ramen Miso ramen (7,500 won) has a miso soup base, with seaweed, veggies, and a piece of pork belly.

All the ramen come with picked radish and kimchi on the side. You can get this refilled if you want more.

Koma Karashi Ramen (8,000) is their hot and spicy flavour.

There are 4 levels of spiciness you can choose from:

Mild
Sweat
Tear
Volcano
Crazy

I chose Sweat as I wanted to enjoy my meal and not regret any decisions. Crazy just sounded crazy.

Both the ramen fell a bit flat compared to the ramen that can be found in Vancouver. It was lacking the full body flavour in the broth and the fatty pieces of pork belly was not evident.

Buckwheat Noodles (8,000 won) has 2 clump so noodles. It was ok. Nothing special to it.

Overall, the food was ok. I’ve just been spoiled by all the great ramen from Vancouver. The best thing about this place was the tonkatsu. I would highly recommend eating all the tonkatsu you can. It’s really good!

We Rate Gajokjung:

Address:
1104-9 Duho-dong
Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
South Korea

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1104-9+Duho-dong+Buk-gu,+Pohang-si,+Gyeongsangbuk-do+South+Korea&hl=en&ll=36.063497,129.373755&spn=0.020433,0.041885&sll=36.065028,129.373208&sspn=0.040865,0.083771&hnear=1104-9+Duho-dong,+Buk-gu,+Pohang,+Gyeongsangbuk-do,+South+Korea+(6+Daegok-ro)&t=m&z=15″]

In Fast Food

Pizza Hut: Rich Gold Pizza and Crown Pizza in Korea

October 31, 2013

I thought I knew pizza … but when I came to South Korea the pizza wasn’t the same. M and I made it a mission to have pizza at Pizza Hut. Their pizzas are quite different and you won’t be able to find it in North America. Imagine sweet potato and minimal tomato sauce on your pizza. To me that’s nuts.

Pohang has a new Pizza Hut and we found one in their Downtown core.

They have 4 styles of pizza:

Rich Gold
Crown Pocket
Cheese Crunch
The Special

The salad bar used to be good, but this particular location sucked a lot. Two people must share a plate for the price you pay. The salad isn’t fresh and a bit wilted. The fruit looked stale and old, but you can try rambutan and passion fruit that you can’t easily find in North America.

On the bright side, you can get pasta, rice cake and mussels at the bar too.

This is what I grabbed. Everything tasted ok, but I wouldn’t get the salad bar again. Nothing tasted fresh.

Pizza Hut’s Rich Gold Pizza (Medium – 27,900 won) has a sweet potato mousse circling the crust. It’s essentially two carbs in every bite.

We got the supreme toppings but minus the meat since we were eating with some vegetarians. It tasted pretty good surprisingly. It still doesn’t compare to normal pizza because they use little to no tomato sauce. It’s mostly just cheese and sweet potato.

Bulgogi Crown Pocket (Medium – 28,900 won) has bits of beef on top with peppers, bbq sauce, ranch, and mushrooms.It’s pretty expensive since the pizza wasn’t that big. The bulgogi was a bit sparse and you could barely notice any meat.

Nestled in the crust is sweet potato purée and cream cheese. I thought it was a gross combination.

Bacon Steak Crown Pocket (Medium – 28,900 won) has a sweet sauce drizzled over the peppers, cheese and green beans. It was ok, but I didn’t like the sweet and savoury combination.

I wasn’t a fan of these Korean-style pizzas. It’s a cool sounding combination but not nice on the palate. The price was very expensive! It was about $28 for a medium pizza. Also, the service was quite poor

Have you tried these before?

Website: www.pizzahut.co.kr

In Chinese

Taesan Chinese Restaurant: Fusion in Pohang, South Korea

October 24, 2013

Our first few days staying in Pohang were spent eating at home and enjoying homemade food from M’s mom. As we were out during the afternoon one day, we headed to Taesan Chinese Restaurant for some Chinese Korean fusion food. They swear it’s one of the best Chinese restaurants in the area.

Chinese restaurants run by Koreans aren’t very authentic. They always have some fusion component to it. You won’t find your normal dishes here. The food is pretty darn good and I highly encourage you to try some when you can. It’s quite unique.

In Vancouver, there are 2 good Korean x Chinese restaurants – Heeraedeung and Tai Wan. Other parts of the world I have no idea, but I’m sure there is.

Banchan are complimentary side dishes that come with every korean meal. It’s nice to have something to pick at while you wait for the meal.

Black Bean paste, pickled radish, onions, and some sort of other pickled vegetable. These banchan were pretty average and not very addictive.

Deep Fried Dumplings (goon mandu) comes with 10 pieces and has a sauce on the side. These were really good. Crispy crunchy skin with the succulent meat on the inside.

Noodles with Black bean Sauce (Jajangmyeon) is what M ordered. He loves this dish and thought it tasted great. Don’t let the dark look of the sauce scare you, its very savory and flavourful. Its packed with vegetables like onions.

You would eat this dish by mixing them together until they are well combined, then enjoy!

Fried Rice with Seafood comes with a bit of black bean sauce on the side. It was a good size for lunch and was quite good when mixing in the sauce. The black bean sauce is what made this dish incredible, without it, the fried rice wouldn’t be as good.

The fried rice also comes with a Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup (Jjambbong) it was very flavourful and was indeed spicy.

Overall the food was good and it’s a nice change from the usual Chinese food. When looking for food in Pohang, the internet doesn’t really help as most restaurants don’t have a website. For the large chain restaurants, they will, but the good stuff that locals like would be hard to fine.

If you know someone in the area, definitely ask them for recommendations!

We Rate Taesan Chinese Restaurant:

Address (Approx)
20 Hyojadong-gil 1beon-gil, Nam-gu,
Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea (253-106 Hyoja-dong)

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