or Ginseng Chicken Soup, Sam comes from Insam (ginseng), Gye is chicken and Tang is soup in Korean. another "must-eat" in Korea if you are seeking for authentic Korean cuisine, especially in this land of ginseng. Samgyetang consists mainly of a whole young chicken, stuffed with ginseng, jujube, rice, garlic and spring onion plus sunflower seed sprinkled on top, then served pipping hot in a stone bowl. As nutritious as the ingredients sounds, this dish is believed to promote health, especially when eaten on the hottest and most sultry summer days in Korea. Though I still believe you can enjoy it at any time in a whole year. Imagine savoring a warm soup in the middle of the winter, doesn't it sound more appetizing? haha

The one place in Seoul that still holds the title of  "the best place" to have this scrumptious dish is the very famous Tosokchon Samgyetang.
Tosokchon Samgyetang 토속촌 삼계탕
[Address]
5, Jahamun-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 종로구 자하문로5길 5 (체부동)
[Directions]
(Subway)
Gyeongbokgung Station (Seoul Subway Line 3), Exit 2
Go straight about 170m and turn left onto Jahamun-ro 5-gil Road.
It is located 10m ahead on the left.

Tips: One bowl is the standard portion of one person, it is really enough to make you full, so just one simple tips, there's rice inside of the chicken already, so avoid ordering another bowl of rice, if you think the portion is quite big for you. Oh, and another tips, do have a try of their special-made Kimchi! It's really nice. I do think they have their own secret recipes. Haha

or Korean Pancake with pa (파) means scallion, as the main ingredient. It is made of a batter of eggs, wheat flour, rice flour, scallions, and sometimes added with other ingredients such as beef, pork, kimchi, or seafood as variety. Like the one available in Tosokchon Samgyetang is only Haemul Paejeon or Seafood and Green Onion Pancake. This is also a common home-made dish in Korean. 

"sam" (삼) = three, "gyeop" (겹) = layered, "sal" (살) = flesh

literally means three layers visible in the pork belly, usually cooked on a grill set up on each table, where customers can do the grilling themselves (or also ask the help of the waiters), and eat the meat directly. Some even grill the meat right on top of charcoal, or on a hot plate, so there are various ways of serving based on the restaurants. Lettuce, raw garlic, perilla leaves, and kimchi are the most common companion of this dish with ssamjang (쌈장), or a paste consisting mainly of chili pepper paste, soybean paste, sesame oil, and gireumjang (기름장) or sesame oil with salt, as the dipping sauce for the meat. It is widely known that the best way to enjoy this popular dish is to put a slice of cooked meat on a leaf of lettuce or perilla leaf, add some rice, and a bit of ssamjang, kimchi and garlic, then roll up the leaf and eat it as a whole. 

We had our try of Samgyeopsal in  Haha's 401 restaurant, and it is famous for serving the Black Pork from Jeju, which is said to have a better taste, and to be in higher quality compared to the usual pork. 

(Haha is one of the permanent members of Running Man and Infinity Challenge, Korea's famous variety shows)  

Hongdae

Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, 395-17

Metro: Hongik University   , LINE 2 , Exit 9 

Opposite building Sang Sang Ma Dang상상마당 building  

떡볶이 or rice cake, Korean's favorite snack made from garae-tteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) cut in bite size, and boiled in spicy red chili gochujang sauce. Tteokbokki is easily found everywhere around Seoul, and mostly sold at snack bars or street stalls. 

The one place that directly comes into mind when we mention "tteokbokki" would be "Muksi Myeongdong" or "Muksi-donna". Their tteokbokki is taken to a whole different level, like woaahh! 

The gravy was so rich in flavor, and as you can see from the photo below, the gravy is more watery, compared to the usual thick sauce for tteokbokki, which also makes it as a good soup for the ramyeon noodle in it. The tteokbokki's texture is also chewy, which is very perfect, not to mention the odeng, or fishcake, so so good! Another "die-die-must-eat"!

And make sure not to forget to order the fried rice after you have finished with the tteobokki, cooked over the remaining gravy, on the same pan  (remember not to miss out anything on the pan before you order, because you won't see them again when they fried the rice), which tastes just as good! 

Oh, oh, one more thing! Mukshi Myeongdong serves its tteokbokki based on the customers' preference, so it's totally up to us what we want to have. 

When we order, we'll be asked to:

– Choose from one of the 5 main bases of Seafood, Vegetables, Ham & Sausage, Bulgogi Beef, or Cheese. (KRW 6,500)
– Add one type of noodles from Korean Vermicelli, Ramen, Korean Noodles or Udon (KRW 1,000)
– Pick a topping or more which includes Boiled Egg, Tempura, Oden, Grilled Dumpling, Seaweed Roll, Or Ham (KRW 1,000) 

(the detail information is from Danielfooddiary)

Tteokbokki Ramyeon

Mukshidonna Tteokbokki  (Samcheongdong) 
19-1 Anguk-Dong Jongno-gu, Seoul

Market Square @ Downtown East 1 Pasir Ris Close, E!Avenue #02-324 Singapore 519599

Tel: +65 63868562

Opening Hours: 11:30 am – 10:00pm Daily

Well, here's the end of my "what-to-eat" list. I really do hope you enjoy reading it, and hope you get hungry because of it XD (*devil's smile) and also hope it helps any of you looking for a recommendation. This list is made based on our experience and there are a loooot more that we haven't got to tried yet while we were there, but one thing is for sure, there are absolutely A LOT OF GOOD FOOD in Seoul, so don't be afraid that you'll starve or you'll hate the food, because they have a huge range of choices from the local one to the international ones, so I believe you'll enjoy your culinary journey there :d 

p.s.: If I get the chance to visit Seoul again in the future, (*pray hard), I'll make sure to update the list again, so it can be a more comprehensive recommendation list. 

But before that, here are several links to others' lists that might help you with more information for preference: 

DANIELFOODDIARY - KOREAN FOOD

Do you enjoy it so far?

Should I do more post like this?

:)

Thankyou for reading,

see you,

xoxo