Food Intelligence

Hate getting those pesky fingerprints on your beautiful iPhone’s capacitive touch screen? Too cold to use your fingers on the iPhone? Need to play Taiko Drums but don’t want to use your fingers because you’ll bruise them or you’re a hand model and can’t afford to harm them? Try CJ Snack Sausages. They’re supposed to represent meaty fingers. Just don’t think about that when you eat them. Link to the post of the post here.

I have to admit, while I was planning my trip to Seoul, I was thinking to myself, “what is there to eat in Seoul?”  I obviously forgot about the old college days at Sam Hawk, eating Bulgogi and Hamul Pajeon, and the older childhood days eating Chao Ma Mian.  And when I finally arrived in Seoul I realized there was so much more.

One of the disadvantages of staying at the W Walkerhill (there aren’t that many) is that it is not close to any malls or local eats.  To make up for it, there is a shuttle that takes you to two major subway stops: Gangbyeon (green line) and Gwangnaru (purple line).  I slept in the morning after I arrived and was starving by about 11am, so I took the shuttle over to Gangbyeon, where there is a Techno Mart, which includes about five floors of consumer electronics, a Lotte Mart supermarket, some other clothing shops, and a food court.  I found this food court after eating at Lotteria, a fast food McDonald’s clone, because that was the first place I saw.  The bulgogi burger was definitely a treat, though, and I recommend the Tandoori chicken burger if you happen to be near one in Japan.  

Anyway, I decided to return to the food court in the evening and stopped at a stall that had food on display, which turned out to be the right choice: the lady sat me down and waited for me to order, and I was waiting for a menu, which, I guess they don’t have, so she pulled me back to the food display and I pointed at the noodle soup above.  She probably said something like, “are you sure, it’s going to be painful”, and I agreed to it.  

It was a refreshing pain.  Everything about the Jjamppong (thanks, Wikipedia) was amazing.  Despite the spicyness, I could still clearly taste all the vegetables and seafood – which, if you were eating more typical spicy noodles like this, you would only feel the burn since your taste buds have been taken out of commission.  I finished it down to the last spoonful of soup (to my mother’s dismay, I always leave the last spoonful of soup in the bowl, because all the leftover spices and junk are there!).

Since that bowl of soup, I am now addicted to Shim Ramyun and Neoguri, both of which are available in our local supermarket (bonus!).  I used to wonder why/how my old college roommate, Gary, could eat that stuff all the time and still be alive.  I now know.

There were some other good eats at the food court, all for your typical food court prices: very cheap.  And as with all food courts, it’s easier to eat solo, but it’s just as easy to bring a family.

Last taste: 13 November 2008.

Location: Techno Mart Food Court, Just Outside Gangbyeon Station (Green Line #214), Seoul, Korea.