Gwangjang Market, Seoul

Gwangjan Market was one of our ‘fuel’ stops on the way to Dongdaemun Market. The market itself is huge with an extensive selection of shops selling textile products. But we were there for the food market. There are two main alleyways in the market crammed with many little restaurants and food stalls. Raw fish, blood sausages, pig’s trotters and some seaweed rice rolls are just some of the items this market offers. If you want THE Seoul street food experience, this is the place to go.

The stalls are mainly run by Korean middle-aged women, who tempt potential customers by waving fried food in their faces. We settled ourselves down with a friendly lady who offered us freshly fried courgette. Later she showed us that she had been in one of the local food magazines, oh bless her.

There was a mountain of jeon in front of us. I recognised most of the vegetable ones and crabsticks. We ordered some essentials (kimchi and beer) to start. The kimchi was very different from the ones I had tried in other Seoul restaurants, it was sweeter and less fermented. It went down really well with the oil saturated jeon. To be honest the food was not very tasty, but this place is great for people watching. I feel the same way about Borough Market, I hate it being so crowded and touristy but I cannot help but love it for its noisy and chaotic vibe.

Gwangjang Market

Eating Barbecued Baby Octopus in Seoul

The Koreans are the kings of extraction fans. They have these metal expandable tubes hanging from the ceilings of barbecue restaurants, the suction is so powerful that not a hint of the greasy smoky smell will be left on your clothes after the meal, even if you are wearing a jumper! Our first meal in Seoul was in a little barbecue restaurant specialising in baby octopus. It was between our hotel and Myeong-dong, not easy to find, but I knew we were at the right place when I saw the wall covered in signed photos of K-pop celebrities.

Ordering was challenging, as everything was written only in Korean. The only preparation my husband did for the trip was to find out the word for beer – Mekju, and used it continuously for the next five days. Also the fact that I was the one who looked oriental had cornered me into doing all the ordering. Luckily there were only six items on the menu. But still, after a few attempts to understand it, we ended up having whatever the table next to us was having. Later I figured out that the first three items on the menu were three different types or parts of baby octopus (KRW18000 each). There was also an assorted plate of baby octopus (KRW26000), fried rice (KRW5000), and soju (KRW2000).

We found out that we had ordered the assorted plate when the food arrived. There were some round-shaped slices (possibly the head), some short tentacles and some long ones, all covered in a vibrant and scary looking red sauce. The plate had ‘spicy’ written all over it. The meal also came with a plate of lettuce leaves, whole green chillies, a bowl of beansprout broth, miso paste and raw garlic slices on the side.

The octopus was cooked on a metal rack placed directly on top of a bowl of charcoal sunk into the middle of our table. Unlike the Korean restaurants in London, you do everything yourself. It was lots of fun cooking our own food, and we got a stern look when we left the food on the grill for too long.

I wrapped the octopus in a lettuce leaf with garlic and miso on top, it was so tasty but O LORD IT WAS HOT! I reached for the beansprout broth and downed it in no time. It was not the tastiest thing (imagine slightly salted warm water) but it did the job. My husband teased me by telling me it was a fingerbowl, and how I was an idiot foreigner. It haunted me for a couple of days, until a friend who lives in Seoul confirmed that they were for drinking from. Phew. I also saw some guests tuck into the raw green chilli by dipping it in the miso, and then followed by a whole shot of Jinro - THAT is the hardest of hardcore eating. I didn't dare to try.

I do not have the address of this place but I have marked the location on Everplaces and it looks like this:

Octopus and strong spice is not the most digestible combination, so consumption of large quantities of Korean rice tea afterwards is highly recommended.

Myeong-dong and mini tips for Seoul

Some observations about Seoul:

• Korean couples wear matching outfits, from top to toe literally.
• Teenage girls use their camera phones as mirrors.
• No matter what you buy, you get facial masks as a free gift.
• Soju (Korean vodka) is cheaper than bottled water.

I wanted to add number 5 - there is no escape from kimchi, but it is not quite true. There was no kimchi in the Korean fried chicken restaurants. Mmm... more about KFC later...

In October I went to Seoul for a 5 day trip, we stayed at the PJ Hotel which is conveniently located in the middle of four metro lines, and a short walk to a touristy shopping area called Myeong-dong. The hotel is modern and clean, and mainly serves Japanese tourists so the service was great (lots of bowing). I cannot tell you how pleased I was when I found a Toto toilet in my hotel room, an instant +10 comfort points (imagine what is like eating kimchi with nearly every meal). Our room looked over a school baseball ground, not exactly the million-dollar city view you would find in one of the big city hotels but somehow heartening.

PJ Hotel

There are some local restaurants near the hotel. We did not get to try any, although it would have been fun for the sake of an authentic experience.

Myeong-dong is everything you would hope for – well, if you like shopping. Apart from a couple of shopping malls, there are also countless of cosmetics shops. They all sell virtually the same stuff, and reappear in every single alley way. DO NOT USE ANY OF THEM AS A LANDMARK. To blend in with the local culture, I bought myself some cutting-edge cosmetics products – snail essence facial masks. Yup you heard me. I also got a poisonous snake mask as a free gift. My skin will be as beautiful as this guy, lucky me!

Besides shopping, there are also many food stalls distributed throughout the main streets in Myeong-dong. The first one we encountered sold these sugar-coated spiral potato crisps on a stick, sausage optional.

GyeRanBang - hot fluffy cake with a whole egg in the middle

Toasted dried squid and sweet potato fries

Poached giant clams

Various fried snacks, including glutinous rice cakes in Gochujang

Myeong-dong Kyoja is a popular dumpling restaurant in the area. It was one of the quickest meals I had in a long time, wow they moved faster than the Chinese! The service was a bit indifferent (towards rude), reminding me of Wong Kei in London’s China Town. The filling of the dumpling is denser, probably less fatty, than those in China. Some claim it was the best meal they had in Seoul, it was decent but certainly was not the best. Wait until I show you the hanu beef...

Myeong-dong Kyoja

Here are my mini tips for Seoul:

• Rent an EGG. It is too easy to get lost in Seoul, so the internet can save your life. You can hire a 4G WiFi hotspot called an EGG from Korean network company Olleh, at the airport or other branches in the city. For 8000KRW a day, you can tweet/instagram/facbook anytime you want. You know you want it. And you get a facial mask as a free gift too, obviously.
• Take the airport bus. Airport bus is the most convenient way to travel/from the airport. There are more than 30 routes covering most of the hotels in Seoul as well as some of the suburban areas.
• Taxis can be cheaper than taking the Metro. Take the grey or white ones, the black ones are for tourists and charge at a higher rate.
• Fruit is expensive in Korea, eat kimchi instead.
• If in doubt, point. People are generally nice and helpful if you ask nicely. I cannot speak Korean but managed to get what I wanted by just pointing at signs/map/pictures of food etc most of the time.
• Read these blogs: TomEatsJenCooks, SeoulInTheCity