Yeah it can be uncomfortable. Woke up after a night rain the other day to a clean car being covered in a layer
I didn’t check to see if the seoul marathon was cancelled. We left the morning of the marathon and I was already sneezing at 5 am.
Muscle mass is heavier than fat. The gain must be a result of the gym and a good diet boosting it!
And now, a quick report on Busan… The Jagalchi
market is easily the most impressive display of shellfish and other strange edible creatures I’ve ever seen. You can browse the hundreds of stalls selling live and fresh seafood and pick out what you want to have cooked upstairs at the myriad restaurants. I really wanted a king crab, but they were somewhat shockingly, expensive, roughly $100 per crab at 5 pounds or so each. So maybe that’s not so expensive, but I could not pull the trigger. We ended up doing an assortment of things, some sashimi that I frankly didn’t care for due to being too firm and chewy, some fried prawns that were fantastic, grilled scallops, equally fantastic, a seafood pancake. Really fun. Could go back every day for a month and be hair trying new things.
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It’s roughly still king crab season… I’ve seen reports of people paying $300 
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Damn… I think we missed out… we didn’t go to Mingles.
For trying Korean liquor/sool like makgeolli and soju, I liked a new bar in Seoul called Cricket (크리켓 ; if you’re searching on Naver Maps, which I recommend for transportation / map use in Seoul, as Google Maps is functionally useless there, it’s listed under Keuriket). Technically very well-done cocktails made by very talented young Korean bartenders who are serious about studying their craft, and an extensive list of bottles you can try by the shot, including some Korean wines. Owned by the same team behind Pine & Co bar in Seoul (Fine Aenko on Naver Maps; gotta love the vagaries of English to Korean to English transliteration).
In general, I found that there’s a new energy towards nationalistic pride within the food and beverage scene in Seoul, perhaps a sign of a maturing food/drink culture that recognizes the value of intrinsically Korean products versus just going by Western/European models as standards. I thought this was great, and hopefully will lead to more preservation of traditional Korean spirits and brewed drinks, including more variety available outside the Korea in markets like the US. Kyungmoon Kim MS has his import company KMS / Woorisoul that has some good options.
Personally I thought Michelin was not bad as a guide for exploring different types of restaurants in Seoul, especially the bib gourmand and plate selections. You could do far worse as a tourist by just sticking to Myeongdong, etc. Because of factors like the language barrier, the sheer size of Seoul, and the fact that it’s so dynamic (places and people move rapidly, often places don’t last long, or change in quality quickly over time), it’s hard for any one English-language guide to be truly comprehensive. I also wonder culturally how you really compare the highest levels, the 2 and 3 star places, since there’s so much involved in appreciating Korean cuisine (like any other non Western one). The OP’s point about the restaurants he tried and how he evaluates the validity of Michelin ratings outside France/the West brought to mind Pete Wells in the NYT and the slight hissy fit he threw about Noksu in NYC (and I say this as someone who thinks his reviews lately have been generally excellent). I haven’t been personally and I understand that Pete Wells has some experience and personal connection to Korean food, but I got more of a sense that the Korean distinctiveness of the restaurant could be easy to miss for someone who’s not Korean, and he was quick to criticize the restaurant for a fault that perhaps wasn’t truly a fault. Anyway, obviously taste is subjective and one person’s opinion can’t be entirely wrong, but this is one vote for supporting Michelin as a Western tourist visiting Seoul who wants to experience different aspects of the city’s dining life.
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Great write up @fred_o
It’s a very valid take on the dilemma of fine dining in Korea, and i largely agree. To call korean fine dining bland is wrong, because it simply exists on a different fundamentals of flavors and textures than western kitchens.
Happy to see Mingles deservedly becoming the best restaurant in Korea the other night. To me if there was an honorary number 2 regardless of location, it’d be Koan in Copenhagen.
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I lived in Korea for a few years back in 2014 (it’s been 10 years already… damn!). Now I go there for work once or twice a month, and it’s been really cool to see how the restaurant and especially cocktail culture has grown from those days.
Back then the bar at the Grand Hyatt near Itaewon would serve you an Old Fashioned made with Jameson and Honey. Only place that was semi-decent was Charles H that just opened.
Now you have places like Pine & Co, Southside Parlor, Bar Cham, lots to choose from.
Also for food, that’s when the food scene seemed to evolve from it being either trash can bench KBBQ, or La Yeon/Continental/Ryunique/Jungsik style fine dining. Lots of casual restaurants were popping up everywhere, and it’s cool to see some are still there (Vatos is still a must visit every time I’m in Korea. Don’t judge…).
Michelin Guide I think provides a safety net usually for people because some people think they would be more Western friendly… We never had any issues with service at any place… except maybe kalguksu alley. We weren’t able to even walk into the alley. The main ajumma sat us in the front by a closed down stall. It was delicious and it didn’t bother me. I just wasn’t able to get a photo/video. She refilled my bowl with more noodles and soup… it’s a compliment to “eat deliciously”.
This is just a tip for others that Korea isn’t like Japan in that way. Koreans eat and drink with emotion.
I took a picture of every very “American” style restaurant to send to friends saying “eating authentic Korean food today”.
@Mikko_Tuomi I’ve been told by a friend who’s a cocktail geek that the Hyatt possibly have some of the best cocktails in town. Definitely a visit worth!
Exactly this! And that you get refill of noodles or dumplings — it’s what it’s all about — “Jeong”.
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Coming back to add a few (OK, more than a few) photos from our recent trip.
In Jeju, Sukseongdo for black pork exceeded high expectations.
The old market area in town had a bounty of local citrus, seaweed, and much more.
On to Seoul, and our favorite among about a dozen different things on a walking food tour were the amazing wang mandu at Gamekol Son.
At night, the streets in the older neighborhoods were quite tranquil…
OK, even during the day…
And the architecture of the palaces is amazing, as are the traditional outfits worn by so many of the visitors/tourists.
Something fun on the way to lunch…
Said lunch, at A Flower Blossom on the Rice, was quite lovely, both traditional and contemporary at once, clearly rooted in the best ingredients of the area.
The Haedong Yonggungsa Temple hugging the rocky coast outside Busan must truly be the prettiest in Korea…
And the Ahopsan Forest bamboo forest in the nearby countryside bested any we saw in Japan.
Back in Busan, the Jagalchi Market is a true destination for anyone with an interest in seafood (both looking at and eating):
Lastly, loved the seed/honey ssiat hotteok on the streets of Busan, far better than a version we had in Seoul. Sweet, rich, delicious! Thank you, Korea!
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Heading back from the temple in Busan we had the most delicious jjampong