Jordy's.Site

No. 1

Name 오우가 (o-ga)

For when you need typical Korean food in Myeongdong

Location📍24 Mugyo-ro, Jung District, Seoul

Rating

Notes - Known for their Jaeyook Bokkum (제육볶음), this place was recommended to us by a friend after struggling to pick a place in the restaurant-packed Myeongdong district. Jaeyook Bokkum is a stir-fry of pork meat and onions tossed in spicy marinade, and translates to "wild pig stir-fry". Although this is the actual translation, to the average Korean it is read as one word, kind of like when New Yorkers say "bacon egg and cheese" in. So we ordered the Jaeyook Bokkum as well as intestinal cow meat for the table grill. Despite being in a touristy area, this place serves flavorful Korean food.

No. 2

Name 삼미옥 (sahm-me-oak)

Shhhh. There's no line yet...

Location📍6 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 allegedly discovered when someone tasted the byproduct of the meat preservation method of covering meat in salt, but gradually it has become much more common to use soy beans as the source of protein which produces a type of jahng we know and love today: gahn-jahng a.k.a. soy sauce! At just about every table, there was a big plate of gahn-jahng geh-jahng, and understandably so because they put together a truly amazing rendition of one.

No. 3

Name 행화촌 (heng-hwah-chohn)

A taste of old Korea

Location📍52-5 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 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, the zhajahng-myeon (same "jahng" as above) would become a national dish, and a symbol of Korean-Chinese history. Zhajahng-myeon (짜장면) enthusiasts seek kitchens that have the Chinese touch, and Myeongdong is the perfect place for it. A large part of Northeast China at one point was part of Goh-Guh-Ryeuh Korean empire, 37BC to 668AD. When I bit into the toothsome strands of the noodles, drank a sip of the zhamppohng (짬뽕) soup, and heard the crunch of the tahngsooyook (탕수육), 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 을지로 양대장 (Eul-jee-roh Yahng-dae-chahng)

Location📍Level 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 (세광양대창) 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 명동교자 (Myeongdong Gyoza)

Location📍

Rating

Notes - On a different day, lunch was to be enjoyed at the world famous 명동교자 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 칼국수, 비빔면, 만두, 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..