A few weeks ago, I met up with some friends in Seoul to do some sightseeing. We decided to experience some Korean culture so we headed over to Dongdaemun Market.
Unfortunately, a quick perusal (after taking a train ride and two subway rides there, of course) of the guide book told us that it was a mostly night market. However, at this point it was late afternoon and the words 'food alley' caught our attention so we decided to check it out anyway.
It was good that we did because it was a really interesting experience. We kicked things off with a meal in a little side shop. We were all pretty hangry so we picked the first uncrowded place we saw. As you can imagine, living as an expat in Korea comes with many awkward exchanged due to language barriers. Eating in Korea frequently means pointing to a picture and hoping for the best. With the exception of a chicken kidney dinner mishap, I've been lucky enough to have pretty good experiences with ordering food in Korea -until Dongdaemun Market!
We knew we wanted bibimbap (a rice, egg, and vegetable dish) so we pointed to the menu and eagerly awaited our sustainance. When our food arrived, it wasn't exactly what we'd had in mind. We'd ordered bibimbap with raw beef! Yummy? A few were brave enough to try it, but most of us (myself included) just stared at it in horror.
We knew we wanted bibimbap (a rice, egg, and vegetable dish) so we pointed to the menu and eagerly awaited our sustainance. When our food arrived, it wasn't exactly what we'd had in mind. We'd ordered bibimbap with raw beef! Yummy? A few were brave enough to try it, but most of us (myself included) just stared at it in horror.
After our 'adventurous' lunch we wandered around a bit. It was a really cool experience. There were food carts everywhere and a lot of side shops. And the place was jam packed! I can't amagine what it would be like at night.
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| Mmmm insect larva |
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| Delicious? |
After the market, we headed over to the Hongdae area to finally get some food. After our encounter with our 'undercooked' bibimbap, we decided to go with something a bit more familiar: burgers! They were really good, too. Korean's usually put this strange sweet tasting sauce on their burgers, but we managed to find some awesome (sauce-free) ones.
Overall, it was a nice day. I really enjoyed getting to experience Korean culture. However, sometimes its nice to have a little taste of back home as well!
I'm not sure if I'd lose weight because I wouldn't eat many Korean foods... or if I'd gain weight from eating ramen and potato chips all the time. Love reading about your adventures!
ReplyDeleteThey actually do have a lot of good food here. Korean BBQ is awesome and grilled kimchi is one of my favorite foods. But of course they have a lot of food that's strange to me too.
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