Seoul Dining - Five Days, Five Dinners

[yflyer]

Health Club is nice -- small but efficient…great views. Breakfast at Cornerstone is AWESOME -- great fresh squeezed juices and house made kimchee. Timberhouse is one of my favorite bars -- I've met the most hilarious people there.

You could experience all that in 24 hours.

I still have a stash of Hyatt Gold Passport points...some day Mrs yflyer and I will go there!

We have had great experiences with Hyatt. One magical stay at the Park Hyatt Milan (Mrs yflyer almost wanted to renovate our bedroom to mimic the hotel room after that stay) and another very nice stay at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, perched atop the Jinmao Tower in Pudong.

[yflyer]

I'd maybe do the trip for the oysters, not so much the maehwa

Reminds me of a daytrip from Seoul across to the East of Korea and back with two other SQTalkers last year, great memories


Now, that's a dinner to try!

Yup, those oysters looked really good!

Mrs yflyer was ok with trying octopus...I was the one who declined in this case. Need more time to mentally prepare...

[yflyer]

Yum yum indeed!

Now if only the Korean restaurants in SG could achieve the same standards!

[yflyer]

Wow. This really is an amazing food/meal report (not sure what to call it!). Looks like you had such a wonderful time.

Thanks, SQtraveller! Yes, a great trip. I wasn't sure what to call it either, but I guess a trip down the gastrointestinal tract still qualifies it as a trip report ...

[Kyo]

That was Korean chilli sauce...

Mrs yflyer really liked the oysters (and she has eaten quite a few varieties over the years...). I'm surprised that these oysters are not more well known outside Korea.

I'd maybe do the trip for the oysters, not so much the maehwa

Reminds me of a daytrip from Seoul across to the East of Korea and back with two other SQTalkers last year, great memories

Mrs yflyer must have anticipated Kyo's dining suggestion...

Now, that's a dinner to try!

[CarbonMan]

Yum yum indeed!

[SQtraveller]

post deleted

[yflyer]

And that wraps up this TR on a very enjoyable week in Seoul, made all the more memorable with Mrs yflyer as a companion (and TR co-author!)...

Thanks for reading!

[yflyer]

Dessert looked Western, and comprised of mascarpone, yuzu marmalade and Angelica root ice cream.

Angelica root ice cream? That must have been a first! Chinese call this root "dang gui"...you cannot find a more distinctively Oriental, some say medicinal, taste than that!



Mrs yflyer's comment: "The dang gui ice cream was amazing! You wouldn't have believed dang gui ice cream would work as a concept!"





Mrs yflyer's final comment to me: "You have to eat here the next time you are in Seoul..."

[yflyer]

Her main course was beef kalbi with Korean sauce...



This came with pears, pickled vegetables and yogurt cream.



Mrs yflyer's comment: "Tender and sweet..."

[yflyer]

Next up was one of their signature dishes, sea urchin bibimbap...



There was seawood, crispy millet, mildly sweet kimchi, and of course sea urchin (uni)...



Mrs yflyer's comments: "The flavours were subtle yet complex...the rice was savoury, you had the crunchiness of the crispy millet (like rice crisps), and the 'umami' taste of the seaweed, together with rich sea urchin flavour...a little spicy, but it offset the richness of the uni"





Mrs yflyer's conclusion: "A great dish!"

[yflyer]

Apart from some inspired bibimbap, most of my other lunches that week were either lunch meetings, or takeaway "grab and go" affairs while prepping for meetings.

Mrs yflyer, on the other hand, had a little more time each day to contemplate and savour her mid-day meal...

Her lunch, on Day Five, at Jung Sik Dang, was a set menu with a very modern take on Korean cuisine...





This was a decidedly Western-influenced setting and menu, while still grounded in Korean flavours.

Her amuse bouche was burdock with coriander, and taco shell with clam and avocado puree...



Mrs yflyer's comment: "Very different and original...the ingredients went well together...I'd never had clam and avocado before...very original in concept..."

Next, came the starter, which was oyster covered in squid ink powder, then deep fried...



Mrs yflyer's comment: "The oysters were sweet, crispy, went well with pickled vegetables..."

[yflyer]

I took a bite...delicious! This dish works! And the formula must have been fine-tuned over the years, because it is nearly impossible to mess up when mixing bibimbap...as long as you mix the ingredients thoroughly, the end result is usually fine, and almost always delicious.

[yflyer]

As usual, a whole array of complimentary side dishes were provided.

A large pot of soya bean and kimchi stew was placed in the middle of the table, on a stove, to share...



And the bibimbap came in DIY form, the unmixed ingredients and rice each provided separately in a bowl, for you to mix to taste...



Including a very generous portion of raw beef...



I observed my colleagues' actions and tossed and mixed the ingredients in my my bowl with the de rigeur metal chopsticks...

[yflyer]

After a business meeting which was almost a case of "lost in translation" although the desired outcome was achieved, my Korean colleagues asked if I was interested in trying bibimbap.

"Of course!" I replied enthusiastically, "I love bibimbap!".

"But this is no ordinary bibimbap", my Korean colleague intoned gravely, "this one is a little bit special...very traditional...it's raw beef bibimbap..."

Of course I was game! He was pleasantly surprised at my enthusiasm, as I suspect some other foreign visitors may have been a little less keen on raw meat, no matter how traditional...

We headed to the restaurant, in a busy part of Gangnam-gu.







This place was apparently popular with Korean celebrities...