seoul Archives - Page 2 of 2

In Dongdaemun

Lotteria: Hot and Spicy Chicken Burger in South Korea

August 12, 2012

Through all the pouring rain, I made my way to Dongdaemun to see the Great East Gate. It was very large, but there really wasn’t much to do except take a picture of it. I then got hungry, so I do what I do best…eat!

KoreanGirl told me I had to check out Lotteria. Lotteria is one of South Korea’s largest fast food chains.

Walking into the restaurant, it kinda reminded me of McDonalds since the color scheme is very similar. There’s all sorts of people here from Ajuma’s to young couples.

Once you order, you get this electronic device that vibrates once your order is ready. My meal took a bit longer than usual and the server said it would be about 5 minutes. I didn’t really mind since they offer free wifi.

I ordered the Hot Crispy Chicken Burger combo with fries and a coke. The fries were ok, but I still prefer McDonalds fries much more.

The best part of this meal is of course the burger that comes with the meal. Since they were promoting this new burger, I thought I should give it a try! Plus, I do love spicy food.

The lettuce and tomato were fresh, plus the chicken was very very juicy on the inside and packed with a lot of heat! It lives up to the name – hot crispy chicken burger. I was sweating and crying from the spiciness. Nonetheless, it was very yummy!! Really good fastfood here!

Website: http://www.lotteria.com/Eng/

After going to eat, I wandered off towards the park in the middle on Dongdaemun and saw there was The Little Prince Exhibit. I received the book from M several years ago and I fell in love with the story an illustrations.

If you are a big fan, you’ll love the original drawing, keep sakes, and the history behind the book. It costs 12,000 Won and it wasn’t a very large exhibit. I expected a bit more since it was a bit expensive.

Website: http://www.seouldesign.or.kr/en/bbs/view.jsp?seq=561&code=001011

View Larger Map

In Food for Thought

32cm Twist Ice Cream Cone in Myeong-Dong, Seoul

August 10, 2012

Wandering around Myeong-Dong in the middle of a monsoon was not a smart idea, you get really soaked from the rain even if you have an umbrella. It’s a great area to find face masks, dirt cheap jewelry and awesome food. In the middle of Myeong-Dong, there is an area with a small ice cream stand under the Matching Mole pub. They have a tall 32 cm ice cream for 2,000 won ($2 CDN).

I passed by it with Kirsty and I had to go back later in the evening to have a snack.

Chocolate and Strawberry Twist Cone was definitely cool! It wasn’t too sweet and the flavours blended well together. What sucked about it was that the cone was kinda stale. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed it because I’ve never had anything like it!

Overall, if I was to get a 32cm ice cream cone, I would still do it even if the cone is stale. I get excited by new things too easily. There are various locations in Seoul where you can find this. The price can also differ too.

View Larger Map

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:

Location: To the left of the Deoksugung Palace

View Larger Map

In Korean

Two Two Fried Chicken: Beer and Chicken in Seoul, South Korea

August 8, 2012

Two Two Fried Chicken is a chain restaurant in Seoul. Their first location was in Myeong-dong in 1978 under the name Gela Chicken, but changed their name in 1990. They now have several locations around Seoul and is still expanding into other countries.

After you put down your order with your server, you get complementary side dishes depending on what you order.

Popcorn (Left) accompanies beer that you order. It’s not like the traditional popcorn in North America, but it’s so good!

Pickled Radishes (Right) accompanies the fried chicken that you order. I love this stuff! So good and addictive!

Cass Beer is a Korean manufactured beer. It’s light and very good to eat with chicken.

I ordered the fried chicken with a bit of spice. It was good, but the chicken was a tad dry. The spices rubbed on the chicken was very good and the amount of spiciness tasted great. I didn’t like the cabbage with the ketchup and mayo on the side.

Overall, the chicken was good, but could be more juicy. When you visit Korea, you must have fried chicken and beer!

Words of Wisdom:

They have an english menu
Smoking is allowed (they give you an ashtray at your table)
You pay the cashier at the front of the restaurant

We Rate Two Two Fried Chicken:

Locations: All around Seoul in popular areas
Website:
www.22chicken.co.kr/en/default.asp

In Jongno-gu

Joe’s Sandwich: Lunch Near Changdeokgung Palace, South Korea

August 7, 2012

After getting off the plane at 6am, I dropped off my luggage at the hotel and headed straight to Changdeokgung Palace for an English tour. The english tour happens a few times a day, so you need to check when it is because it’s not as fun walking around on your own. It’s free with the entrance ticket. You just wait at the entrance of the gate till it starts.

Usually the english tours start at 10:30am and 2:30pm. The tour covers the general palace area and lasts about an hour.

I opted for the additional Secret Garden tour as well with a few dollars extra. The additional tour is about 1.5 hrs long. I thought it was well worth it and most other tourists did both tours. It’s a very beautiful place and my 2nd favorite palace in Seoul! If you are in Seoul, do check it out!

As me and another tourist got very hungry, we decided to walk around the area for a quick bite before heading off to another tour nearby. We wandered into Joe’s Sandwich. Joe’s Sandwich is a chain cafe in Korea and serves up sandwiches and juices.

Fresh Kiwi juice was made of real kiwis! It was really good and refreshing! Not too sour and they use a large amount of Kiwis!

Pastrami Croissant Sandwich was stacked full of lettuce, tomatoes, pastrami and cheese. The sandwich was ok, but not the best. I like my croissants crunchy on the outside, but it was very soft here.

My friend is a vegetarian, so it was very hard for her to find food in the area. After talking to the server, he suggested this for her. It didn’t look very appetizing since it was just processed cheese on bread and then as salad on the side.

After having lunch, we headed to Jongmyo Royal Shrine for another english tour. It’s pretty small, but it was cool learning about how Confucius teachings were integrated into their culture and architecture. The tours occur at 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm. You need a tour to enter the shrine, so you need to make sure you arrive on time, or join another tour in another language.

Words of Wisdom: