nak-seo pah-jeon (낙서 파전)

nak-seo pah-jeon (낙서 파전)
서울특별시 동대문구 회기로28길 11; also at 서울특별시 동대문구 휘경동 319-32 (off of hwe-gi station)
tel: 02-968-6019

what was consumed: seafood pancake! pancakes galore ...

in one of our many eating adventures, isa and i head out to hwe-gi station, near kyunghee university, in our attempt to find delicious pah-jeon (seafood pancakes). as you know, i'm not a scallion/green onion/spring onion fan, but everything else in the pancake is so dar delish, i couldn't say no.

while nak-seo pah-jeon was majorly out of the way for it, we had a fun time making the trek and finding this little hole-in-the-wall. and while we were there around lunchtime, as pah-jeon is frequently served as an ahn-ju (food accompanying booze), we were told that we had to order beverages. we got away with ordering soda (which we would have anyway), but the table next to us were definitely quite a few bottles of makgeolli in (good for them!). and then, the pah-jeon. crisp on the outside, just the right amount of chewy on the inside, chock full of seafood (mostly squid. i will take it!), and huge. one pah-jeon would definitely be large enough for a meal.

let me know if you're up for the trek. nak-seo pah-jeon it is!

kkaolli pochana

kkaolli pochana
서울 용산구 녹사평대로54길 11; also at 서울 용산구 이태원2동 706
tel: 070-8872-1995

what was consumed: pad thai, fried spring rolls, seafood curry

oh, thai food, i love you so much. all of the rice noodles, all of the fish sauce, all of the papaya salads. so, when kkaolli pochana got on our radar, we were all about it (once we could figure out when they were open, anyway).

kkaolli pochana didn't have some of my usual favorites that i associate with thai cuisine (aka papaya salad). someone told me that kkaolli pochana focuses on thai street food and while i'm not sure if that's necessarily true, i went with the story. the eatery has a sort of last minute pop-up sort of feel to it, but as long as the food is good, i'm happy to enjoy.

the highlight for me was their seafood curry. chock full of different seafoods, rich with coconut milk and curried spices that i associate with thai food. YUM. i hear that they've raised the price on this dish, but thinking about this dish makes me agree to pay the higher price. 

Yum.

mahn-seon jju-kku-mi (만선 쭈꾸미)

mahn-seon jju-kku-mi (만선 쭈꾸미)
서울특별시 종로구 자하문로1길 20; also at 서울특별시 종로구 체부동 193
tel: 02-735-6570

what was consumed: spicy mini octopus! and a seafood pancake

walking along all of the eateries near gyung-bok palace, we are always in a quandry as we decide where to eat. chicken? beef? pork? seafood? one day, we stumbled in to 만선 쭈꾸미, from where we decided that seafood was going to be our pick!

만선 served spicy mini octopus. you order based on the number of diners and it is served to you, family style (as is the case with lots of korean cooking). once served, you add a bit of the octopus to your bowl, along with some rice and some of the other side dishes, and mix it up before eating. and oh yum oh yum oh yum, is it tasty! the spicy sauce covers all of the other additions in your bowl, and the saute/grill that they utilize to cook the octopus puts just a bit of char on the octopus that comes through in such a tasty way.

and don't forget a seafood pancake! while i'm not a fan of green onions (or scallions or spring onions or or or), i have to say that the pancake is quite a delicious appetizer as you wait for the rest of your meal to be served. there's nothing like biting in to a crispy pancake, hot off the stove, filled with delicious seafood bites. YUM.

toh-seong ah-gu-jjim (토성 아구찜)

toh-seong ah-gu-jjim (토성 아구찜)
서울 용산구 이촌1동 - in the market outside of the ichon station (take exit 3-1, pass yong-gang middle school, and go in to the market) in 동부이촌동
tel: 02) 795-3055

what was consumed: spicy seafood bake, korean style (해물찜)

one of the dishes i miss most when i'm away from korea is hae-mul jjim. so when khj told me she wanted to check out a hae-mul jjim place, i was all for it.

while we were waiting for our bake, we devoured side dishes of seaweed salad, kimchee pancakes, and steamed cabbage.

toh-seong ah-gu-jjim offers a few varieties of seafood bakes (focusing on fish or focusing on shellfish; we opted for the latter) that's baked in a spicy sauce, as is tradition, served on a bed of steamed soy bean sprouts. a huge pile of shellfish appeared and we began to enjoy layer after layer, with bites of soy beans in between. yummy!

be sure to save room for fried rice at the end! the ladies at toh-seong will fry the rice in the bake's sauce and leave the rice on the grill just enough for the rice to toast. YUM.

dwen-jang-yeh-sool and sool (된장예술과 술)

dwen-jang-yeh-sool and sool (된장예술과 술)

서울 종로구 삼일대로15길 20; also at 서울 종로구 관철동 12-7tel: 02-733-4516

what was consumed: fermented soy bean paste stew (된장찌게)

mjk found a new acupuncture place and suggested we try a new dinner place, partly because the reviews commented on the delicious dwen-jang jji-gae as well as the soy sauce crab (an obsession of ours). we were happy to oblige.

after work, we walked over to dwen-jang-yeh-sool and sool. we were looking forward to more traditional korean fare, as much as we enjoy fusion and international cuisine. upon being seated and ordering, our table quickly filled with all sort of side dishes (ban-chan) - YUM - including a mung bean pancake, one of my favorites. the dwen-jangg jji-gae was salty, mixing well with rice or in a lettuce leaf. so delicious! the soy sauce crab was also up to par, though not as salty as i would have liked (especially in comparison to the dewn-jang jji-gae), though this didn't prevent me from devouring my entire plate. hehehe ...

one of the classic korean dishes is dwen-jang jji-gae (fermented soy bean paste stew). some people find the smell a bit strong (it is), but definitely something to try. and if (no, when) you do, look up dwen-jang-yeh-sool because they certainly do a good job!