Eating in Seoul: Spotlighting 4 Hongdae Restaurants
Since Hongdae is where I stayed in Seoul, this is where I had most of my meals. In this post I’ll spotlight 4 restaurants that stood out to me mostly because of the dishes that I had there. These include: Korean-style onigiri (rice balls), kimchi mandu (dumplings), vegetable and meat pancake, and gamjatang (potato soup) without the gamja (potato).
#1 Kong’s Riceball
It was my second day in Seoul and I was still very overwhelmed with being in South Korea. I had a pretty big lunch at the museum cafe in the War Memorial of Korea and on my way back to my hostel, I wanted dinner but just a small dinner. I remembered passing by this restaurant the day before when my friend was showing me around the area and figured today will be the perfect day to try it!
The interesting name, the brightly colored bowls, and the nice ahjumma who stuck her head out of the window to call out orders all drew my attention right away! Plus it was right next to Hongik University on the main road in Hongdae AND it offered take-out, so convenience and shyness made this the perfect stop (at this point I was still too scared to order or dine alone in a restaurant, but that was quickly overcome once I couldn’t resist the food).
An onigiri would be the perfect meal since I wasn’t too hungry. After looking, I decided to go with two of what looked the most delicious: spicy marinated chicken thighs (닭갈비, dalk kalbi) and stir-fried kimchi (김치볶음, kimchibokkeum).
Stir-fried kimchi rice ball
Marinated chicken riceball
Little did I know – these are giant-sized riceballs! They took up an entire cup each! They were so delicious though that I ate both of them in the comfort of my hostel room. I expected something hand-held, but I had to use a fork with this one – luckily my hostel had utensils because when I tried taking the rice ball out of the cup with my hands, I ended up making a mess. The flavors were delicious and so comforting: both the chicken and kimchi were really spicy but I loved it since the rice and seaweed balanced out the spice. If I were a college student at Hongik University, there would be no doubt about it, I would be eating these rice balls all day long. With the most expensive one costing 3,000 won (less than $3 US) and the stir-fried kimchi one costing 1,500 won (less than $1.50 US), these are great!
#2: 빚은 만두 뽑은 국수
I wish I knew the translation for this restaurant name, but I don’t…the only character I recognize is 만두 (mandu), which means dumplings. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the only word that I need to know! My friend and I met up here specifically for their kimchi dumplings…she’s on a quest to find the best kimchi dumplings in the area, so we came here to test out this restaurant. It’s on the main stretch of road bordering Hongik University (the same street as Kong’s Riceball and Cafe Berlin); if you keep on walking down this road, you will eventually end up in the popular Sinchon area, which also has a ton of universities.
I should probably admit something embarrassing at this point…I have never had fresh kimchi mandu before. I’ve only ever had the frozen packs that I buy at Koreana Plaza in Oakland. When I say that this is the best kimchi mandu I’ve ever had, it’s probably not saying much, but these were the best kimchi mandu I’ve ever had! The filling was extremely fresh (which stood out to me since I’ve only had the artificial tasting dumplings) and deceptively spicy – I found myself drinking more and more water as I ate! The steamer that comes with the dumpling is so cute too. I don’t remember the price right now, but I think it was around 3,000 won (less than $3). I loved how well I can eat in Seoul without spending a lot of money! The dumplings also come with banchan that included pickled yellow radish and a clear soup that tastes like the kind that are served in Japanese restaurants in the U.S. Overall I was super impressed with this place, but I don’t know how it stacks up with other kimchi mandu restaurants.
#3 The Pancake Restaurant
This actually isn’t the name of the restaurant, but I don’t remember what it was called. All I remembered was that it was a rainy day in Seoul and I had just finished touring the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum (commonly referred to as the “Comfort Women Museum”), which addresses the history of the women who were drafted into sexual slavery under the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII (an issue that many Japanese politicians and textbooks deny) as well as their ongoing legacy and attempts to fight for justice and reparations. Needless to say, it was a very difficult museum to walk through and combined with the rain, I was definitely looking for some comfort food. I happen to walk right past this restaurant on the way back to my hostel, and could not resist the smells. This is some perfect rainy day food.
This restaurant is pretty much the definition of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. I think they probably serve more take-out than sit-in diners and I was the only one there that day. The prices looked pretty expensive compared to other food that I’ve eaten in Seoul so far, but that didn’t deter me from ordering the meat and kimchi pancake (김치고기전, kimchi gogi jeon) for 10,000 won (a little less than $10 USD).
The owner of the restaurant (the woman with the glasses) was super friendly and I think she felt a little bad for me when she asked if I was eating alone and I said “yes.” I didn’t mind though, particularly as she started to cook my pancake on the little electric stove and the smells came wafting towards me. This is definitely made-to-order food!
Pictured here is the pancake (I didn’t take a picture of it but I got some banchan as well). It was a little greasy, but it definitely hit the spot. The meat was a little flavorless on its own; I couldn’t tell if it was pork of beef – it tasted like burger meat to me. The kimchi though was full of flavor – this was the most pungent and sour kimchi I have ever eaten and I loved it. The overall flavor of this pancake rings “sour” more than anything else, but I love some fried kimchi pancake and even though after my first few slices I was wishing for a little more sweetness or spicyness to balance out the sourness, I definitely had my craving for kimchi pancake satisfied. I was able to end up eating half of it before I was full, but I took the rest of it back to my hostel.
The owner was so incredibly sweet also; she kept on talking to me and made sure that everything was to my liking. She also complimented me on my Korean, which was really affirming for me to hear since I am super unconfident with my Korean language skills. However, I was actually able to have a conversation with her (even if it was a little bit awkward and I didn’t quite use full sentences all the time), but it is definitely a good confidence boost to actually almost understand someone completely in Korean! Not only was the food excellent here, but the service is quite good as well!
#4 The Gamjatang Restaurant
This is another restaurant that I forget the name of; I think it is a chain restaurant since I saw one in Myeondong as well (the one that I ate at is in Hongdae). The logo consists of an animated potato head. Actually, here is a blog post on the restaurant; it is called Onedang Gamjatang. Fun fact: the hostel that I stayed at is right above the Plan B bar pictured in that post.
Actually, one of the first things that I did before leaving for Korea was to Google Maps (can I use this as a verb?) my hostel location. To my delight, I saw that it was right next door to a restaurant that read “gamjatang.” I was super excited because I love gamjatang and this place is literally two steps away from my residence.
What I failed to realize though is that the entire area surrounding my hostel is full of restaurants and shops, but I still made it to the gamjatang restaurant on this trip despite the numerous options.
One of the first things that I noticed about this gamjatang is that it did not include any gamja – or potatoes – in it. While I had read on Wikipedia that gamjatang actually commonly comes without potatoes, the logo of this restaurant features a potato head so that was a little weird. However, once I tasted the soup, I couldn’t care less about not having potatoes. For only 6,000 won (a little less than $6 USD), I got a massive amount of food – I fished out 3 giant pork bones. The soup was so rich and full of flavor and the pork just melted off the bone. I ended up eating all of the banchan as well – it included kimchi, raw onions, and some pickled carrots and spicy peppers. I also polished off an order of rice and all of the pork AND the soup. I love how for 6,000 won I could eat so well. And it was perfect that my hostel was just a step away – just in time for me to collapse in bed with a massive food coma!
Just desire to say your article is as astonishing. The clearness on your submit is just nice and i could assume you are knowledgeable in this subject. Well with your permission let me to grasp your feed to stay up to date with impending post. Thanks one million and please continue the gratifying work.
1Magnificent site. Lots of useful information here. I am sending it to a few friends ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks for your effort!
2I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again!
3I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
4Howdy would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a difficult time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
5Your house is valueble for me. Thanks!…
6I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again
7Some genuinely nice stuff on this web site, I enjoy it.
8Really superb info can be found on website.
9Hi, Neat post. There is a problem together with your website in internet explorer, might check this?K IE nonetheless is the marketplace leader and a big section of folks will pass over your fantastic writing because of this problem.
10Enjoyed looking at this, very good stuff, regards. “Love begets love, love knows no rules, this is the same for all.” by Virgil.
11Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you are a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will often come back down the road. I want to encourage yourself to continue your great job, have a nice afternoon!
12Attractive portion of content. I simply stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to claim that I acquire actually enjoyed account your weblog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing for your feeds or even I success you get right of entry to constantly rapidly.
13great submit, very informative. I’m wondering why the opposite experts of this sector do not understand this. You should continue your writing. I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!
14Loving the info on this web site, you have done great job on the articles.
15of course like your website however you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the reality however I’ll surely come again again.
16Сайты 18 функционируют как отдельные платформы с строгими рамками. Данных порталов основная задача — обеспечить доступ к материалам адресованному только взрослой публике. Эти ресурсы дают шанс авторам размещать произведения не рассчитанные для несовершеннолетних. Они выполняют и просветительскую роль в сфере отношений. Владельцы таких проектов обязаны выполнять правовые требования о распространении подобного материала. Помимо прочего данные порталы нередко используют усиленные меры верификации возраста. Следовательно существование подобных ресурсов — это реакция на естественный спрос конкретной аудитории. красивые девушки
17You got a very excellent website, Gladiolus I detected it through yahoo.
18I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this web site. Thanks, I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?
19Thanks for the blog post, can you make it so I get an update sent in an email when you publish a fresh article?
20My brother suggested I would possibly like this web site. He was entirely right. This put up actually made my day. You cann’t believe simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thank you!
21I truly enjoy looking through on this web site, it contains wonderful articles. “Don’t put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted.” by Miguel de Cervantes.
22I will right away grab your rss as I can’t find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
23excellent put up, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector don’t understand this. You should proceed your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a great readers’ base already!
24I like this post, enjoyed this one thanks for putting up. “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” by M. Kathleen Casey.
25Hi there just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.
26I am glad to be one of many visitors on this great site (:, thanks for posting.
27Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
28I dugg some of you post as I cerebrated they were invaluable very useful
29you’ve gotten an ideal blog right here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?
30I’ve been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours lately, but I by no means discovered any interesting article like yours. It is beautiful value enough for me. In my view, if all webmasters and bloggers made just right content material as you probably did, the net shall be much more helpful than ever before. “When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.” by Milan Kundera.
31I went over this internet site and I think you have a lot of great info , bookmarked (:.
32When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thank you!
33Hi, i think that i noticed you visited my website so i came to “return the desire”.I’m trying to find things to enhance my site!I guess its good enough to make use of a few of your ideas!!
34I simply needed to thank you very much yet again. I do not know the things I would’ve made to happen in the absence of the actual solutions shown by you concerning such a question. Entirely was an absolute horrifying matter for me personally, nevertheless discovering a new skilled style you managed that forced me to jump for delight. I’m just happier for this guidance and even have high hopes you really know what an amazing job that you’re accomplishing educating people today by way of a site. I’m certain you have never come across all of us.
35I truly enjoy examining on this internet site, it holds good blog posts. “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” by Lord Kelvin.
36It’s really a cool and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
37A lot of thanks for your entire work on this blog. Kim takes pleasure in getting into research and it is easy to understand why. A lot of people learn all about the powerful manner you offer good things on the website and as well as cause participation from others on that matter and our daughter has always been being taught a great deal. Take pleasure in the remaining portion of the new year. You are always conducting a brilliant job.
38I’m curious to find out what blog system you are utilizing? I’m having some minor security issues with my latest blog and I would like to find something more risk-free. Do you have any suggestions?
39I am not really excellent with English but I get hold this really leisurely to translate.
40Aw, this was a really nice post. In thought I want to put in writing like this additionally – taking time and precise effort to make an excellent article… however what can I say… I procrastinate alot and not at all appear to get something done.
41I think other website proprietors should take this site as an model, very clean and wonderful user friendly style and design, as well as the content. You’re an expert in this topic!
42Wow, fantastic blog structure! How long have you ever been running a blog for? you make blogging look easy. The total glance of your website is fantastic, as neatly as the content!
43Wow! Thank you! I constantly wanted to write on my site something like that. Can I take a fragment of your post to my website?
44Very interesting subject, appreciate it for posting. “Remember when life’s path is steep to keep your mind even.” by Horace.
45Just desire to say your article is as astounding. The clarity to your publish is simply excellent and that i can think you are an expert in this subject. Well together with your permission allow me to clutch your RSS feed to keep up to date with coming near near post. Thanks one million and please continue the enjoyable work.
46I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks , I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your website?
47I like this site its a master peace ! Glad I detected this on google .
48Heya are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
49Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results. If you know of any please share. Thank you!
50