Hangry, Hangry, Hangry! and how to cure in just 7 minutes

Fueled on caffeine from our little morning stop at Coffee Brown we've ended up ... well, actually, I don't quite know where we were. We found a one of the huge Hyundai department stores that housed an impressive basement level wonderland of all-things food, including a macaron shop with flavors like black truffle, gorgonzola, milk & even foie gras (but they were sold out). Of course we get a few for later...

We try to find some noodle place, that supposed to serve the noodles so spicy, that whole chilies make up a large part of this lunch staple. We wander around for hours, well okay, maybe 20 minutes. I get a bit hangry (that's when I get so hungry, that I turn a little grumpy, or angry - which happens after about an hour or two with no food;)) and I totally give up on the noodle idea. We wander some more, now just looking for some more fuel, in the form of solids. We randomly turn up a little alley, and spot this place bursting at the seams with people casually enjoying lunch amongst all the bustle.



Silver extractor pipes seem to be crawling from the roof, the waiters aptly navigating their way around these pipes and stopping by tables armed with shears. We head in, and they clear a table for us just as someone gets up to leave. Something gets babbled away to us, and we just nod. Then the lady points to a menu on the wall..



Hmm, when she comes back we just point at the table next to us, which have something simmering away that smells delicious. She comes back moments later with a few bowls of kimchi - a white cucumber kimchi, an intense chilli & raw squid version and a bunch of sesame leaves rolled in a spicy mixture.



Then a little pot is placed before us, and they walk away. We guess we wait, so sit patiently. A few minutes pass and I just cannot resist lifting the lid for a peak!



It looks good, I see kimchi and some chunks of meat. We still sit patiently ... then a young guy who has been behind the register comes over and tells us we are about to enjoy the "7 minute kimchi stew". Awesome!! He has a pair of shears in his hand, and lifts the lid and starts chopping.



It's a pretty frantic event, the clanging of the shears against the pan and red juice splashing all over the table. What's left are little bite-sized chunks of pork and cabbage kimchi in a thick, spicy broth.



We each get a bowl of hot rice placed in front of us, and a gesture towards the silver tub on the table. The tub is full of big flakes of crispy green seaweed. We pile it on, and top with great big spoonfuls of the kimchi stew.



Wow, hangry what now? I was so content, full & happy for hours after this lunch, which means only 1 thing - I need a little more kimchi stew in my life;)

Coffee Brown, Hongdae, Seoul, South Korea

Hongdae before noon? Forget it! We got there early, like before 10am early, thinking we would have the whole day wandering around this funky little area close to the Uni. Well, there was a lot of wandering, and peering into windows of little shops & cafes that were not yet open... But then we turn a corner and spot life, a little balcony above us, with wide open windows and a few people looking down onto the bare streets.



Coffee Brown is a little take-away coffee shop downstairs, which has a narrow stairwell leading to the up-stairs open seating area. We perch ourselves at a big wooden table in the window and recline back into the tiny chairs (or perhaps we're quite big in Korea;) and order a few chilled caffeinated beverages. Kim has a shaken black coffee, which comes with a nice layer of frothy crema.



And moi, an iced latte. We sit and watch, but don't see much.. a few delivery trucks and some uni kids. We head off on foot fueled with caffeine, and intend on heading back later in the afternoon.

Jongno Bindaetteok, Seoul, South Korea

After checking into our Candy Robot room, we had headed over to Gwanghwamun district, starting the evening off at Tosokchon Samgyetang with some ginseng black chicken soup. We then wandered a dozen blocks, looking out for Jongno Bindaetteok; suposedly one of the best Bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) in town. We walk past a bustling little shop, the big glass window revealing a large flat grill, filled with pancakes, and crates of the cloudy rice wine, makgeolli, on the sidewalk thinking wow this place is awesome but unable to spot a sign wander on looking for our prey.

We have a bit of trouble seeing, or understanding, the street signs, decide to take a walk around the block, and if we can't seem to find Jongno then we would head back to this little place.



Wandering around the back alleys, we find so many interesting little places, it's a Thursday night, and the streets are bustling. We don't seem to find the Bindaetteok place we are looking for, so make our way back to the one that caught our eye in the beginning. There are groups waiting for seats, and what looks like people waiting for take-aways. We poke our head in, and there is a tiny 2 stools at the end of one table where we are ushered over to by one of the ladies on the floor, who asks if we want beer, why yes of course, and then returns moments later with a large bottle of Cass. The Cass is a pale lager, and super-light. This beer is produced by OB brewery, who brews all of their beers with rice, rather then the Western standard of malted barley.



Only another few moments have passed, and the lady then stops again with little plates filled with kimchi. There's an apple kimchi, the pieces of fruit still crisp, and with a nice, spicy coating. Theres a radish & cucumber kimchi, which is sitting in a very light, vinegar pickle, and lastly, an addictive onion, dried chilli & soy sauce.



The lady asks us "haemul ... gogi?" (seafood .. meat) We order 2 x bindaetteok gogi, or crispy golden pancakes made with fresh ground mung beans & meat. We both look around and are amazed at the variety of people that are eating in this little place ... there are young groups of people, individuals all perched around a communal bench, young kids with their parents and men in suits... oh, and 2 giant, blonde foreigners with a DLSR camera sitting on tiny little stools;) We enjoy observing the magic that all takes place on one giant flat top.



Behind the grill stands an older man, constantly feeding the fresh mung beans through a stone-grinder. The guy on the grill is spinning around and ladelling the fresh beans over into the pancake mix as fast as they are being ground...



Once they work through the backlog of orders, 2 gogi are dropped in front of us. They are a beautiful, golden colour, and have just been roughly chopped to allow for easy eating. (The Korean chopsticks are all beautiful - made of stainless steel, that taper to a pointed end with a flat, rectangular handle that is adorned in beautiful decoration.) As cutlery is placed on the table, the lady grabs a single napkin, and lays a spoon and pair of these chopsticks on that. We observe a lot of people using the chopsticks to move food to their spoon, and then from the spoon to their mouth, so follow suit. The first piece of bindaetteok that reaches our mouth, oh wow. Crispy, with little pieces of the fresh mung bean still recognisable, but the ground pieces giving the whole cake a silky texture. There are chunks of marinated meat, spring onions & kimchi. We play around with the different kimchi combinations, with this crispy pancake my favourite are the onions in soy with dried chilli.



Every table surrounding us, are drinking from these green bottles... We decide to move on from beer, and join them in the drinking of makgeolli. A green pet bottle is plonked on the table, with 2 plastic bowls to drink from. This stuff is cloudy, rice wine (similar to a Japanese amazake) that is quite strong. It's best when cold, so we drink it quite fast, although don't manage to finish the whole bottle...



After we pay, we cross the road on our way home... and notice the huge sign! We found the right place in the end, and were so glad we did.



Then we notice the giant bags of vegetables, ready to be turned into pancake filling and of course kimchi. Seoul ♥



Gwanghwamun
Dangju-dong, Jongno-gu
T: +82 2 737 1857
12noon - 2am