Best of Seoul: 달식탁 [Dal Ssik Tak] in Sinsa
The day before my conference I met up with a friend from college and he suggested we eat at 달식탁 [Dal SSik Tak] since he heard many good things about the restaurant. We agreed to meet at the Sinsa station, which is a short walk away from the restaurant. Sinsa is located south of the Han River, which made it convenient for me because I had a pre-conference dinner at attend by the Seoul National University campus. I also haven’t eaten that much at the more upscale Korean cuisine restaurants because I’ve been mostly traveling on my own, so this was a great opportunity to try more traditional Korean cuisine.
We met up for lunch and the restaurant was completely empty, which was very nice and a little surprising! The interior of the restaurant has some really interesting decor (for outside decor, here are some pictures). There’s nothing like eating next to a giant horse statue in the middle of the room.
I love the chandeliers – they look like little bubbles of caviar! Yum~
The walls also functioned as a art exhibit for Lee Jae-Hyo, who created these awesome canvases from bolts, nails, and wood. Even though the sign said “do not touch,” it is so hard to resist especially when a neat design is sitting right in front of your face!
But now onto the food…we ordered the set meal which came with a soup/stew course, a shared entree course, and tea. I don’t remember the price, but I think it was around 48000 won for two people (~$48 USD) including dessert, which we also ordered.
My friend ordered Doenjang Jjigae, soybean paste stew. (And he’s also taking a picture of it too.)
I don’t remember the name of the soup, but it wasn’t a kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew). I think it was a gochu (spicy pepper) stew.
The stew that I had was one of the best stews I’ve tasted! My friend said that he heard that all of their gochujang and doenjang are freshly made and shipped from the southern part of Korea to this restaurant every morning, which is probably why this stew tasted so good.
For our banchan, we received a lot of fresh vegetables and my favorite, honey potatoes.
We also received (from clockwise) kimchi, kelp chips, dried anchovies, and dollops of those fresh doenjang and gochujang. I was almost tempted to eat both of those sauces on those own – once I dipped and tried a little, I wanted to continue eating them all! The gochujang especially had a great depth of flavor and I could just imagine eating it out of one of those traditional jars…I wish I could find out more about how they make their sauces, but that would have to be for a time when I learn more Korean.
As for the meat, it doesn’t really look that impressive, but this was the best beef I have ever tasted. The delicate little strips were sliced sashimi-thin and eaten together with the chives and lettuce, there was a perfect melding of flavors and textures. The beef also had an intensely smoky, charred, and grilled flavor that I wasn’t expecting just from looking at it. Dipping the beef into the doenjang and gochujang sauces was heavenly as well. When I think back on my trip, this dish is one that I can still remember as a “perfect bite.”
Our tea course – I had the green tea. It wasn’t anything special but it was comforting and soothing to drink after eating a lot of meat!
We debated whether or not to get dessert here or elsewhere, but we decided to try the dessert here. I’m so glad we did because this dish is probably the best dessert I have ever eaten in my life and I am not exaggerating – as good as the beef was, this persimmon sorbet is what makes 달식탁 [Dal Ssik Tak] the best restaurant I’ve been to in Seoul.
The sorbet is thick and tasted almost like a persimmon puree. I’ve never had this strong of a persimmon flavor before and it tasted so fresh! The sorbet is sprinkled with walnuts and pecans and topped with some candied persimmon. Even though I was sharing with someone, I was super tempted to wrestle this bowl away and eat it all myself. Good thing the portion is pretty big! I like to think that I had a Ratatouille moment with this dessert – it was the perfect evocation of summer in Seoul and it reminded me of eating persimmon with my grandparents in their kitchen. I could continue to swoon on and on…
Big thanks to my friend for introducing me to 달식탁 [Dal Ssik Tak]! I definitely have to come back to try this restaurant again! And if I have time, I definitely want to go shopping here as well – there are so many cute stores on the main stretch of road and there’s also a Forever 21 here as well!
Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your website is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you’ve on this web site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched everywhere and just couldn’t come across. What a great web-site.
1I am not certain where you’re getting your information, however great topic. I must spend some time learning much more or figuring out more. Thank you for wonderful information I was in search of this info for my mission.
2Thank you for every other informative web site. The place else may I am getting that kind of info written in such an ideal method? I’ve a project that I’m simply now operating on, and I’ve been on the glance out for such info.
3Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an email. I’ve got some creative ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great website and I look forward to seeing it grow over time.
4GELATIN HORSE RECIPE
5HORSE GELATIN TRICK
6HORSE GELATIN FOR MEN RECIPE
7Simply wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your submit is just cool and that i can suppose you’re knowledgeable on this subject. Well with your permission let me to seize your RSS feed to keep updated with approaching post. Thank you 1,000,000 and please keep up the gratifying work.
8naturally like your web site however you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very bothersome to inform the reality nevertheless I will definitely come again again.
9JELLYFIL REVIEWS
10jellyfil review
11This web site is really a walk-through for all of the info you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it.
12JELLYFIL
13jellyfil supplement
14This really answered my problem, thank you!
15horse gelatin trick for men
16horse gelatin for men
17Only wanna say that this is extremely helpful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
18This design is wicked! You obviously know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Great job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
19horse gelatin trick for men
20horse gelatin for men
21horse gelatin trick for men
22I like what you guys are up too. Such intelligent work and reporting! Carry on the excellent works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my web site :).
23I am impressed with this web site, real I am a big fan .
24