A Practical Guide to Korean Food and Korean Fusion Food

(from the window)

It’s the day you need to be on board. As airport security gets tighter, you are advised to arrive at an airport at least 3 hours earlier nowadays. 3 hours! Man, how am I going to pass the time? If you are a frequent flier member of an airline then at least your membership can help you to ease your stress and hunger, but if you are not, you would wander around near the food court and think seriously about what you are going to eat that is good value.

I know if you are new to the place, it is not that easy to find a good place to eat. However it would help making a decision (not always though), if the restaurant got mentioned on TV or in the newspapers or won an award. Martina, where I stopped before boarding my flight to Australia, is in both cases. It is managed by Walkerhill hotel and is ranked as the best restaurant in Incheon airport in 2004. Not to mention, it was in newspapers several times as well. So here I gave it a try.

Michael ordered Kimchi bokkumbap (10, 000 won) and I ordered Bulgogi jjigae (13,000 won) and I have to say that they were the cheaper kinds of food from their menu.

Yet the food didn’t taste cheap. It was quite good. It better be. Although it is classed as a hotel restaurant, the combined price of 23,000 won (US $24) before service fees and taxes isn’t cheap to us.

The atmosphere was quite relaxing until the crowds of ajumas arrived. Yet after all, we were all travelers, so most people seemed to leave as soon as they finished their meal. One thing I didn’t like about the place was that we were seated very near the bar. It wasn’t a big bar, it was a quite small and short one. So you know what I am going to say. Yes, the cigarette smoke. We don’t like it very much, especially when we are about to have food. It made us very uncomfortable, but fortunately the smoking people didn’t stay very long. So if you go there, make sure to sit far from the bar.

My Bulgogi jjigae was quite hot. I nearly burned my tongue on the first spoon. It seemed slightly salty, but in general it was very nice. I got 4 side dishes (seasoned seaweed, stir fried mushrooms, soy sauce simmered radish, and Kimchi) compared to 2 side dishes (yellow pickled radish and Kimchi) for Michael (but he had soybean paste soup), yet I generously shared my side dishes with him. Though it was a shame that they served me only a small bowl of rice, because I couldn’t completely finish my jjigae without the rice. What a waste! I tend to like a restaurant better, if there are generous with the food. Be generous with rice, Martina!

Location and Info

• Duty free area, 4th floor – near gate No. 11 (East side restaurant) or near gate No. 43 (West side restaurant), follow the sign “transit hotel.”
• Open – 7:00~21:00
• Menu – Korean food and Western style food (steak, pasta, and sandwiches)
• Tel – (82) (0)32-743-3012
• Service fee 10% of the value of the meal and VAT 10% will be charged on top of that separately.
• Discount info – If you stay in the transit hotel, you can get 10% off the total price of the meal. Or if you have a “Leaders club membership card” (from SK telecom – the Korean mobile company) you will also get 10% off the total price.

Related Posts

Korean Buffet at Milky Way

Bulgogi Wrapped in Rice Paper

Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean)

After a 5 hour long journey from down south, Gwangyang, we arrived at East Seoul bus terminal. We were barely able to move because our bodies were completely surrounded by heavy suitcases and backpacks. Although my tummy was badly rumbling like a small cannon, we couldn’t really stop for a break until we unloaded our luggage at the hotel first. After 30 minutes on the subway and 20 minutes of direction confused walking, our bodies were finally able to be free from our heavy belongings, and we hunted out for a late lunch.

It was our first time being in Insadong. Everything was intriguing but also confusing. There were a lot of restaurants, but we didn’t know which restaurant to give our trust. While we were wondering around every small street of Insadong, I found a restaurant that was on my visiting list. Hurray! I was so happy that I finally got to eat something after a couple of hours of starvation.

The restaurant is called Toetmarujjip (House with wooden verandah) Doenjang Yesul (soybean paste art). I thought it was a kind of weird name, because I never pictured soybean paste being artistic.

This is the entrance. They have two floors, one in the underground floor and the other one upstairs on the first floor (second floor in Korea). I went to the first floor to get a better light for my photos (Apparently the underground floor is floor seating and the opstairs floor is bench seating).

According to my homework, their specialty was soybean paste bibimbap. So without hesitation, I ordered it and this is what they served in less than 5 minutes.

• Steamed rice with bean and barley in a big bowl
• Thick soybean paste stew (Gang doenjang) – includes tofu, spicy chili, shallots, and some pieces of meat
• 4 side dishes (Jangjorim, Stir fried anchovies, Young radish Kimchi, Seasoned sea lettuce)
• Dried pollack soup
• Green chilies (not spicy), chopped garlic chives and endives in a basket
• Soybean paste (dipping sauce for chili)

I added a little bit of garlic chives, endives and thick soybean paste stew in a bowl and mixed them like bibimbap. Thick soybean paste stew itself is quite salty but as a mixing sauce with rice, they compliment each other well. I didn’t think the bibimbap was spicy, though if you feel spiciness you can drink a spoonful of dried pollack soup to dilute the taste.

• Price for Doenjang Bibimbap (된장비빔밥) : 6000 won (US $8)
• Location : follow the second picture from the top, Insadong, Seoul
• Tel : (02) 739-5683
• Merit : You can enjoy a Korean country style simple meal.
• Demerit : The bowl of rice wasn’t enough for my hungry tummy. I should have ordered an extra bowl of rice, but I was a bit ashamed to do so.

Korean food from Seoul

Ddeok (Korean Rice Cake) Cafe – Jilsiru

Korean Buffet at Milky Way

( Fried chicken in garlic sauce)

YongGung is a local Korean Chinese restaurant we often go to. I used to consider this restaurant as one of the finest Korean Chinese restaurants I have been to so far, even if the waiter-persons are usually snappish. I went there just after the Lunar New Years day (February 19th) and all I wanted was to have some good food to keep the good memories of them before I left the town.

(Stir fried noodles in black bean sauce)

We ordered Fried chicken in garlic sauce (Gganpunggi 깐풍기), Stir fried noodles in black bean sauce (Jaengban Jajang 쟁반자장), and Stir fried rice (Bokkumbap 볶음밥).

Atmosphere – It was less busy than usual. It was just after Seollal (Lunar New Year’s day) and I could assume that the town was nearly empty and people who went there had mostly just got back from their long journey, so they didn’t want to cook. With less customers and less noise it was easier to get attention for ordering yet during the meal I prefer having slight noise as a back ground.

(Stir fried rice)

Food

• Fried chicken in garlic sauce (Gganpunggi 깐풍기) – It was quite spicy, spicier than last time I had it. I suppose the slightly sour and sweet taste dilutes the spiciness, but I couldn’t taste any of those sweet or sour tastes. There were no lemon pieces which they had last time. I think that is why I felt the extra spiciness. What is more the fried chicken wasn’t fresh nor crispy. It had a glossy and oil soaked texture. Would you give a good point for this?
• Stir fried noodles in black bean sauce (Jaengban Jajang 쟁반자장) – The noodles were alright, but the amount of seafood like small size squids and shrimps was a lot less than usual. At least they used to give 4-5 each of them, but I had only 1 shrimp and that was it.
• Stir fried rice (Bokkumbap 볶음밥) – It didn’t look fresh either. The rice was too cold when they served it. They also usually give one deep fried dumpling (mandu) but they didn’t give it to us. If you are not going to serve it don’t display it on the menu.

Price – I usually thought the price was moderate, but for the food we had above, it is definitely over priced.

Conclusion – This is usually a good restaurant, with good atmosphere and great food. However, on my final visit, it really disappointed me.

My suggestion to the restaurant – If you are not ready to serve the customers ingredients-wise, have a day off that day. Don’t disappoint repeat customers. I want to eat what I am expecting.

Have you had a similar experience like I had? You visit your regular restaurant but the food doesn’t taste as good as you remember or something seems to be missing. What do you do when your regular restaurant disappoints you?

My Korean Chinese Recipes

Deep Fried Chicken in Garlic Sauce (Ggan Pung Gi in Korean)

Korean Black Bean Paste Noodles (Jajangmyun in Korean)

Sweet and Sour Chicken 2 (Tangsuyuk in Korean)