Seoul Restaurant guide_Wolfhound, Irish Pub

Restaurant Review - The Wolfhound

It was one of those days that called for a glass of cool beer.

After a bit of pondering, I decided on The Wolfhound.

It is located on the right in the Johnny Dumpling alleyway

The establishment is on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

The ambience is exotic, filled with free-spirited drinkers.

The dart games in most pubs are electronic, but the one here is very old-school, adding to the ambience.

On one side is the bar.

The liquor is served here, and the food is made one floor below. 

I ordered two glasses of Cass draft beer, a Green Salad, Wedged Potatoes, and a Beef Burger.

A basket of various sauces.

 The Korean Draft Beer was quite good - fresh and not flat.

This is the Beef Burger that exceeded my expectations.

The scent of charcoal wafts from the thick hamburger patty.

 No frills, just a chunk of great tasting meat.

 The Wedged Potatoes are served generously.

It is cooked carefully; not too crisp, not too soft.

Two Thumbs up.

As I cut the thick patty with a knife, the juicy meat releases the pleasant aroma of charcoal and cooked meat.

The meat is not overly minced, giving it more texture.

The wedges were so hot that I nearly burned my finger.

The garlic mayonnaise dip was excellent.

The strong, garlicky smell makes my mouth water.

The insides are plump with soft potato.

I applaud the simple burger with few toppings, a plain and thin bun garnished with lettuce and tomato, perfected with a large hunk of well-cooked patty topped with cheese.

 The patty is what makes the burger special.

Very satisfactory for a meat lover like myself.

What a great meal.

I loved the no-frills burger with the well cooked, juicy meat. Yum!

We added to our order a Miller Draft and a San Miguel Draft.

There a wide array of draft beer, and I give extra points to the free and exotic atmosphere.

Most of all, I give my biggest props to the burger. I have been to many burger places, and this one goes on my top list.

The key is that this burger focused on getting the basics right, instead of adding mountains of ingredients.

I absolutely loved it.

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Seoul Restaurant guide_Hongdae Choma

Restaurant Review - Hongdae Choma

Opened by the Songtan-based famous Chinese eatery Youngbin-ru, a new branch called Choma was added to the Hongdae area. 

This place was celebrated in many food blogs, which compelled me to pay a visit.

It is located in the alley just past the Hongdae parking strip.

Choma is located on the second floor.

According to other blogs, Yongbin-ru in Songtan is famous for their Champong.

*Champong : Spicy Chinese noodle soup.

table placement is not that different from other Chinese restaurants.

I went at four p.m. on a Sunday. Despite the fact that it wasn’t the usual meal hour, I still had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated.

The kitchen was in a flurry of activity. Over the counter hung a picture, suggesting that the young man in it is the third generation owner of a family business.

The first dish was a small serving of Tangsuyook, which is a dish of fried pork with sweet and sour sauce.

The fried pork pieces are large and well fried. I could not detect the rancid smell of poorly prepared pork, setting this establishment apart from other small Chinese restaurants.

I think the trick is that they fry the pork after the order comes in, rather than serving from a pile of pre-fried pork.

The taste was worth the wait. 

The sweet and sour sauce complements the fried pork. You can either dip the piece of pork in the sauce, or eat the pork without any sauce.

The colorful and vibrant Champong makes its appearance.

Pork, squid and onion bits are aplenty in this soup.

Unlike the Tangsuyook, the pork in the broth is chewier, and the cuttlefish is not very tender, despite the scores made with a knife.

Although it looks very red, the broth is not too spicy. It’s more pleasantly spicy than white hot. The soup has a deep flavor.

I could see why there were so many customers on a Sunday afternoon. 

The noodles were chewy and soft. Very well cooked. 

This is the white-brothed Champong my wife ordered. One taste and I fell in love with it. The broth was seasoned with chili slices rather than chili powder. It is not very spicy but whenever I chewed the chili, I could taste an indescribably exotic flavor. Because the white broth has a lighter taste, I could really savor the stir-fried squid, pork and onions. If you want to really taste the individual ingredients, the white-brothed Champong will be a better choice.

This restaurant does not sell the Chajang-myeon, a noodle with black sauce which is the usual staple in Chinese restaurants. But the Champong and Tangsuyook are so good that you won’t miss it.

It was as good as the food blogs promised it would be.

Address : 407-18 Seokyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul

070-7991-8963 

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Seoul Restaurant guide_Dojuk (porkbelly barbecue)

Dojuk(meaning : bandits)

It is well known that Hongdae is a food heaven.

A place gathering notice is Dojuk, a barbecued pork belly place. The main difference from the common pork belly restaurants is that the pork here is scored with a knife, making the meat tender and cook faster.

The pork is fantastic but the Kimchi Kalguksu(noodle cooked in broth) is even better.

Expect a small waiting period during meal hours. It’s best if you get there early.

Remember to cook the kimchi along with the pork. 

This is the menu. It’s not cheap, but the food is worth the price.

The sign proclaims that Dojuk only uses Korean sow (female pig).

No imported meat here!

The basic side dishes consist of whatever you can usually find in pork barbeque places.

Clockwise : green onion strips, white onions in sauce, kimchi, assorted veggies, garlic and a dip.

 The kimchi is fabulous.

The meat is cooked over a skillet. 

The scored meat is unique to Dojuk. It makes the pork tastier.

When the pork is halfway cooked, the waiter takes it away to get it cut into an edible size, as well as seasoning it with ground pepper.

All that is left is to wait for it to be done.

When the pork is almost done cooking, add garlic slices to the skillet to eat with the pork.

Do you want a bite? 

You can it eat with onions, too.

After you finish the pork, it’s time for the Kimchi Kalguksu! It is spicy and filled with flavor. The Kimchi is excellent! 

If you prefer, you can add sesame leaves and garlic.

Yum!

Dojuk is closed on Sundays.

Even bandits need rest J

Address: 402-17 Seokyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul

Tel : 02-322-6746

Tip : There’s no parking in front of the restaurant, but a public parking space is available nearby.

from http://blog.naver.com/bahna2?Redirect=Log&logNo=70106952178

and translated