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.