Well, of course being in Korea, we HAD to have the famous Korean BBQ!
We had it twice in Hong Kong, but it was always on the expensive side (HKD$100+), and the amount of salad provided was not free flowing. As I’ve mentioned before, kkaetyip (but the shopkeepers didn’t understand me when I said that. But saying “kaenyip” works) is the best tasting leaf out there! When I heard I could have as much of it as I wanted in Korea, I was so happy. Game plan: ignore the boring lettuce, just chow down on the kaenyip!
So, during our 7 days in Seoul, we went for Korean BBQ three times! I still didn’t think it was enough though :Unhyeongung. This place was a short walk away from our Anguk lodgings, not more than a 15 minute walk away from the main Insadon street. It’s near Jogno-Sam Ga station, in Jogno.
Normally two sauce are provided, one is a dwaenjjang (fermented bean paste)-based sauce. It’s not bad. But the other sauce is incredible, especially considering how simple it is to make. Yes, it’s that sesame oil sauce I’m so fond of! 4 parts sesame oil, 1 part salt and LOTS of ground white pepper too! Arrggh how can something so simple be so good! Now whenever I go for Korean BBQ in Adelaide, I ask for it. The manager (actually he’d from Hong Kong) always thinks I’m weird, but oh well XD.
For meat, we had 3-layered pork: a thick layer of fat, meat, and then fat again. So tasty. But oh so unhealthy…
The store was rather large, and the dining area was just one big square. When you go in, there are lots of little round tables set up with grillplates in the middle. Actually there is not much table space. If I remember correctly, they used actual charcoal here, but it was also gas-fired. What a good idea! Not only do you have the charcoal flavour, but you also avoid the long waiting times needed for the charcoal to start burning!
It was already pretty busy when we went there, and with all the sizzling going on, our clothes really stunk after that. We were pretty much the only customers actually eating rice and not drinking beer.
It ended up being 7,000 won per person. A bit more expensive than your average cheapo meal in Seoul, but hey, it’s meat! Unfortunately, the store that day had already run out of kaenyip! I was bitterly disappointed, so I had to have BBQ again!
Barbeque #2 was the best we had. This place was a bit of a dive in one of the narrow alleys off the end of the main Myeondong shopping street. That’s the end that’s across the main road from the Lotte department store buildings. We met Rob after his work and had dinner in this place after a day of random window shopping.
The store had only 3 tables on the first level, but I think there was a seating area on the second floor too. Because it wasn’t busy at all, the managress came out to cook a bit for us! I remember (I think) a bunch of Japanese tourists came in. Seemed to be a tour group, anyway they all tramped up to the second floor. After awhile, some other Japanese women came in too, but they were on their own an sat down at the table next to us. The Korean manager guy came out and talked to them in Japanese. Hmm, his Japanese was pretty good! Linguistical skills are so important!
Our meal came with some enoki mushrooms. I don’t know if they charged us extra for that, but it was very yummy. Upon being told by Rob that we were foreigners, the manageress quite amusingly taught us how to eat Korean BBQ with all the sauces. She seemed pretty nice. Piping hot barbequed enoki mushrooms go soooooooo nicely with that sesame oil sauce -droooooool-
This time round, we had beef ribs and beef neck, if I remember correctly. These cuts were more expensive, but it was definitely worth it! The beef neck was the more expensive cut and boy was it good. So tender, so tasty~~~
Conclusion: there was kaenyip , there was the sesame seed oil sauce. I was so happy.
Dinner was 9,000 won per person, although Rob said it was an expensive area and that it would have been cheaper around Sinchon >_