Dal Sik Tak (달식탁)

To start off, this was the first time I went to a restaurant that has a huge horse lamp statue in the middle of the dining room. So that left quite an impression. Dal Sik Tak (달식탁) is a traditional Korean restaurant that is located at Garosu-gil (가로수길), Sinsa-dong (신사동). The restaurant is located in the basement of a red building. I've past by this place a couple of times, but since I can't really see the inside of the restaurant, I never really tried eating there. I always find it too intimidating to try a new place that I can't see what the inside looks like :P But then, one of my friend recommended to try this place since apparently it's a pretty famous restaurant in Sinsa area. So I went with two of my friends and tried it out.

The food was really good. They serve traditional Korean food, but the taste is very different than the Korean food that I've eaten before. We ordered Mushroom & Tofu Hot Pot (버섯 두부 전골), Grilled Marinated Beef served with Cabbage and Greens (차돌박이 배추쌈), Mixed Rice with Dried Octopus and Bean Paste (부추문어쌈장밥), and Soy Bean Paste Soup (된장찌개). Each dish has a very distinct flavor one from the other so it was nice to try different flavor combinations. Despite the color of the Hot Pot, all the dishes we ordered weren't spicy at all. If you're looking for a place to eat in Sinsa neighborhood, this place is a good place to go to.

DAL SIK TAK (달식탁)

서울 강남구 신사동 541-11 지하1층
541-11 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

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Sinchon Samgyetang • 신촌영양센터

Samgyetang (삼계탕) is probably one of the most well known Korean food amongst the local as well as foreigners. I happened to went to a restaurant that, in my opinion, has better samgyetang than the famous Tosokchon (토속촌) samgyetang that is very well-known amongst tourists. But then again, it could be just me :) I actually ended up going to this place because one of my Korean friend took me there. The place is called Sinchon Nutrition Center (신촌영양센터). I've been here a couple of times and the two things I've ordered are the Samgyetang (삼계탕) and 삼채닭한마리 and they are both delicious. I think the thing that won me over is their broth—it's so light but tasty. Their kimchi is also good, but oh so spicy. I know Koreans usually eat these during the hot summer days to fight the hot weather, but it's even better to eat it during cold days in my opinion :) 

Sinchon Nutrition Center (신촌영양센터)

Address: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 13-37 1층
Telephone: 02-312-5460
Hours: 10:30 - 22:30 (Everyday)

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Nun Namu Jib (눈나무집)

With school stuff going on, freelance projects, and guests visiting town, this past month has been a pretty busy month for me. Now that things are slowing down (for a little bit at least), I'm starting to sort through the images taken during the times my friends were in town. We went sightseeing here and there and tried different restaurants and cafes, so I'm going to share a little bit of that here. 

Before my guests arrived, I was asking one of my Korean friend about what's good to eat in Samcheongdong (삼청동) area and he said there's a pretty famous Tteok Galbi restaurant that I should go and try. And so I went there with my friends. The place is called Nun Namu Jib (눈나무집), which literally translates to Snow Tree House. There were five of us so we ended up ordering a variety of things to try. The restaurant is famous for their Tteok Galbi (떡갈비), so of course we ordered that. We also ordered their Kimchi Mari Bab (김치말이밥), Mung Bean Pancake (녹두빈대떡) and Kimchi Fried Rice (소김치볶음밥). Everything was really tasty. The only thing that was kinda a surprise was the Kimchi Mari Bab was served in cold broth. We weren't expecting that but maybe it's a given amongst Korean? Even so, since the weather wasn't too cold, it was refreshing.

When we were there, everybody looked like they're locals and the menu is written in Korean, so I don't know how foreigner friendly the place is. The price of the food wasn't too bad either. Most items are between 5,000W-8,000W which is pretty reasonable. I do recommend if you want to try different things, going with a couple of friends are probably the best way to do it :) 

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김치말이밥

떡갈비

녹두빈대떡

Nun Namu Jib (눈나무집)

서울 종로구 삼청동 20-8
110-230 Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

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The Rubber Duck Project

Last month, the famous giant rubber duck arrived in Seoul and sure enough not long after its arrival, the social media world (read: instagram) is flooded with thousands of pictures of the yellow duck. Along with hundreds other people who is as curious as me, I went to Seokchon Lake (석촌호수) to see this floating sculpture that I'm pretty sure have travelled more countries than me :)

A little about the project, the 300 kilogram, 54-foot tall duck designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman and has travelled many countries since 2007  in a bid to "heal wounds" and "relieve tension" wherever it goes. "The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn't discriminate people and doesn't have a political connotation." —Hofmann. For you who is interested to see the duck, it'll be on Seokchon Lake 'til next week I believe. 

Pasiya's Injeolmi Bingsu

During summer, when the weather was still hot in Seoul, I went for a small bingsu quest with a friend of mine. We tried different bingsu places for almost a week everyday. I blame it on the hot weather, really. With the weather getting chillier lately, I don't crave bingsu as much, but thought I'd share a couple of shots that I got from that time. So for the first one, we went to Pasiya (파시야) near Ehwa University (이대점). The place is not too big, so it got crowded after a group of tourists came in. We ordered their Injeolmi Bingsu (인절미빙수) and Injeolmi Rice Cake Toast (인절미 찰떡토스트). I'm not a big fan of very very sweet stuff so these two menus were good. Not too sweet, very light, and refreshing. The Injeolmi Rice Cake Toast was pretty interesting too cos the toast is crunchy but the rice cake was very soft. I believe Pasiya is a franchise so you can find it on other neighborhoods as well. 

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