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 

http://blog.naver.com/wedgeshot?Redirect=Log&logNo=70124323990 

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

Seoul Restaurant guide_Chef Meili's

If you believed  you would never find a good Austrian restaurant in Seoul, you're soo~ mistaken.

The master chef at Chef Meili's is the master of Austrian, German food and he was in charge of the food and banquet at last year's Oktober Fest. It's an ongoing, annual festival held at the Grand Hilton Hotel Seoul and I think he's served the position for years. It's likely that he served again this year and he will continue to in the future. 

Chef Meili is located in Itaewon, serving authentic Austrian cuisine. The name of the restaurant is derived from its chef, Mr. Meilinger.

The first floor is a deli, serving ham, sausage and sandwiches. The 2nd floor is the main restaurant.

 Assorted cold cut ham.

The salty flavor goes well with beer.

This is an Austrian beer, called Edelweiss Snow Fresh. It’s a bit like Hoegaarden, but with a fruitier note.

Tastes great - either alone, or with bread. 

 This is a Schnitzel, a type of pork cutlet. 

Apparently, this is a common dish in Austria. My main purpose of coming here was to try out the Schnitzel.

  

Remember to season it with lemon juice.

 A scrumptious looking piece of meaty goodness!

Goes well with cranberry jam.

A meal made richer with Austrian wine.

The potatoes were fantastic, but the portions were smaller than I liked.

Beef Goulash with bread dumplings. 

You can eat the meat with the bread dumplings by seasoning it in Goulash. 

The Goulash has a distinct and exotic flavor, and it goes well with bread.

Spatzle with seared pork and Gorgonzola cheese cream sauce.

The Spatzle is a type of Austrian pasta, shaped somewhat like macaroni.

Pork fillet

Having the Spatzle with creamy sauce is good...

…but I liked it with the Goulash even better.

Meatloaf

It has a unique taste..a little bit like spam, a little bit like pork liver.

You can buy meatloaf sandwiches at the deli downstairs.

 The final order was an Austrian soda.

It’s called Almdudler, with flavors of apple, peach and lemon. It’s not heavily carbonated, making it easy on the throat.

As Chef Meili’s is an authentic Austrian establishment with home cooked-styled meals, it is frequented by the Austrian embassy as well as Austria-themed gatherings.

Address : 130-1 Itaewondong, Yongsan-su, Seoul.

Tel : 02-794-7024

 from http://laputaa.blog.me/60127010102

and translated