No. 1
Name μ€μ°κ° (o-ga)
For when you need typical Korean food in Myeongdong
Locationπ24 Mugyo-ro, Jung District, Seoul
Rating
Notes - Known for their jaeyook bokkum, this place was recommended to us by a friend after struggling to pick a place out of what felt like hundreds of restaurant in a three block radius. Jaeyook bokkum is a stir-fry of pork meat and veggies (mostly onions) tossed in spicy marinade, and translates to "wild pig stir-fry". Although this is the actual translation, the average Korean does not read it like so but instead reads it all at once like one word, kind of like when we say "grilled cheese" in the states we think of the finished product, the connotation, instead of how it is a sandwich that is "grilled" with "cheese". So we ordered the jaeyook-bokkum as well as intestinal cow meat for the table grill. In an area where peddling to tourists is the norm, this place serves typical Korean food well.
No. 2
Name μΌλ―Έμ₯ (sahm-me-oak)
Shhhh. There's no line yet...
Locationπ6 Toegye-ro 20ga-gil, Jung District, Seoul
Rating
Notes - The same friend that recommended No. 1 told us about this place as a good lunch spot. This one is a 20-25 minute walk from the touristy area and is probably near some office buildings considering the corporate crowd inside the restaurant. Their hot item is the gahn-jahng geh-jahng, where "jahng" indicates that it should be enjoyed with unsalted foods, i.e. it is the provider of saltiness. Dating back to the Goh-Ryeuh dynasty, the way of seasoning food was by adding jahng, which was produced by fermenting protein in lots of salt. The ingredient was purportedly discovered when someone tasted the byproduct of the meat-preserving process of covering meat in salt, but, now, it has become much more common to use soy beans as the source of protein which can produce a type of jahng we know and love today: soy sauce, a.k.a. gahn-jahng. Anyway, I saw a big plate of gahn-jahng geh-jahng at just about every table, and understandably so because they had put together a truly amazing rendition of one for us.
No. 3
Name ννμ΄ (heng-hwah-chohn)
A taste of old Korea
Locationπ52-5 Namdaemun-ro, Myeong-dong, Jung District, Seoul
Rating
Notes - Continuing on with the friend's recs, we tried out a Korean-Chinese restaurant in an arena (about one city block) filled with its competitors. Being a bordering nation to China for most of its existence, Korea has been importing Chinese culinary practices from the day the countries split circa 600 BC. For the following two millenniums since then, out of all the recipes that tried to make a name for themselves in Korea, the zhajahng-myeon (it's the same "jahng"!) would become the unanimous belt-holder, becoming the symbolic dish for Korean-Chinese cuisine. Because it is originally a Chinese dish, curious Koreans seek zhajahng-myeon makers that have the Chinese touch, and Myeongdong is the perfect place for it. Many immigrants come from Northeast China (old Manchuria) to run restaurant businesses so almost all of the Korean-Chinese restaurants there are run by Chinese with Korean as their second language. (Fun fact, a large part of Manchuria at one point was part of a Korean empire called Goh-Guh-Ryeuh, 37BC to 668AD) When I bit into the toothsome strands of the noodles, drank a sip of the zhamppohng soup, and heard the crunch of the tahngsooyook, I felt a little bit of old Manchuria in me and I was happy. It was definitely a level above your neighborhood zhajahng shops.
No. 4
Name μμ§λ‘ μλμ₯ (Eul-jee-roh Yahng-dae-chahng)
LocationπLevel 2, 54-1 Supyo-ro, Jung District, Seoul
Rating
Notes - "Offal", definition: the entrails and internal organs of an animal used as food. Beef offal, specifically small and large intestines, is one of my favorite things to eat in Korea. Although my favorite restaurant that serves this delicacy is still the Ilsan branch of the Segwang Yangdaechang restaurant chain, this one was almost as delicious. In fact, this restaurant sits right next to the Myeongdong branch of Segwang Yangdaechang, confidently challenging the national behemoth. The flavors and quality of ingredients are on-par with the competition; however, the promptness and skill level of the server's grilling are lacking.
No. 5
Name λͺ λκ΅μ (Myeongdong Gyoza)
Locationπ
Rating
Notes - On a different day, lunch was to be enjoyed at the world famous λͺ λκ΅μ on a Friday afternoon when the lines were surprisingly only a few tables long. Similar to Kat'z Deli of NYC, this place ran on organized chaos, a common phenomenon when an old restaurant meets popularity. The restaurant had been around since my parents childhood days serving the same dishes that people love today. When a table opened up, we were directed through a maze of tables to our seats, and as good korean customers that we are, we gave the usher our order as we lowered our butts to our seats, and in a matter of minutes, maybe seconds, we were served with steaming hot μΉΌκ΅μ, λΉλΉλ©΄, λ§λ, and a bucket of kimchi. The noodles were delicious, soft and chewy, just like the skin of the dumplings, which were perfect in temperature and density, making it easy to eat in one bite. It was like a scene out of Kungfu Panda. (Notes were taken from old blog post)
At the center of Myeongdong is the Myeongdong Cathedral. In 1880, my great-great grandfather escaped Korea to Japan in order to avoid the mass killing of followers of Catholicism when Emperor Lee at the time was trying to suppress any sprouting of Catholic influence in his empire. Twelve years later, in 1892, the emperor acquiesced and the Myeongdong Cathedral was built. It's an architectural marvel except for the odd choice for the clock face..