The Weekly Hanguk (Korean) selected “33 restaurants you must go to before you die,” sorted by province. Some interesting choices on there.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture and KTO have selected “99 local tourist sites Koreans should definitely visit.” Give the list a look.
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Thanks for the distraction. I went through and mapped the Seoul restaurants on that list.
http://goo.gl/maps/uV4BJ
Going through them and reading the reviews, it looks like these writers’ criteria were pretty atmosphere, cartoonishly expensive food, and/or line out the door. Most of the reviews by regular folk complained about the food, the service, and the overhyped reputations of many of these places. The pizza one looked interesting, but I bet Al Matto in HBC does it better at a better price. The udong place may be good, too. But it immediately made me think of Mimine in Hongdae, which also gives you those fried tempura crumbs–to put on ddeokbokki. That’s a lovely combination!
::sigh::
It’s the typical list of pretentious restaurants that Korean “foodies” think are cool. But I wouldn’t bring anyone to any of those places, it looks like. But I’m also one of those people who thinks that Woo Lae Oak is one of the most overhyped stuffy famous-for-being-famous old folks homes out there.
You want good honest Korean food that puts flavor first, go to Bean Table (south of Yangjae), San Maul Boribap (Gyeonggi), Durim (Jongno), SamHae Jip (Euljiro 3-ga), or even any of the O-Ra-i charcoal grilled dalkgalbi franchises. Heck, if there ain’t no Two-Two Fried Chicken on the list, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
With as much great food as I ate while I was in Seoul, I think you’d have to make a list going neighborhood by neighborhood, if not street by street.
Great, now I miss the fried chicken…
That’s probably an accurate description, but I still love the place—that be some good naengmyeon, and the sirloin sogeum gui is divine.
PS: IMHO, no list of Korean restaurants in Seoul would be complete without Dwimaru Doenjang Yesul in Insa-dong.
Had a Korean pal recommend Two Two Chicken to me. It is ridiculously over-salted. I concluded that my friend, like my mother in law, must have killed his palate years ago.
I will find my restaurant suggestions elsewhere, thanks.
Zen – what do you think about the Blue Ribbon Guides? Trustworthy or not?
I’ve been enjoying the chicken at 오븐에빠진닭 AKA 오빠닭. I prefer the 마늘양염닭. But the straight-up plain baked chicken also rocks. Their spicy versions are spicy by Korean standands – so be prepared if you opt for the 매운 version of any of their offerings.
I agree with the first comment. Korean [pseudo]foodies haven’t really gotten past the phase of being pretentious. One day they’ll learn how to value the food, itself. One day…
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