Our host kept saying we needed to get "noodles out of a machine". I was imagining this would be something along the line of a hot Cup of Noodles dispensed by a vending machine a cup of bad coffee, so I didn't ask questions and continued to vacantly nod at the suggestion. This morning it was suggested we go there for breakfast. I thought, fine. I don't care if our breakfast isn't very good. We still have two more meals to make up for it.
I don't know whether to blame the inadequate description of "noodles out of a machine" or my lack of imagination because this breakfast was awesome!
Yes, technically, they are noodles that are produced due to a machine transaction. You walk into the small restaurant and punch in your order on a vending type machine. The machine prints out a receipt and you hand it to the wonderful cooks behind the counter who prepare everything just like a full-service restaurant, minus the servers. All the seating is at the counter so they can easily reach you.
And it is CHEAP. Under 5000 W for a huge bowl of noodles with kimchi, vegetables, and a delicious sauce, served with broth. I could eat this breakfast a few times a week, no problem.
We took the bus back to Insa-dong to visit when it wasn't raining. We shopped and snacked on wonderful street food. We shared small custard cakes with red beans in the dough.
My favorite snack of the trip was found here: hotteok, basically a doughnut fulled with ground peanuts and cinnamon. So, so good (1000 W).
We tried sikhye (rice punch), reminded me of boba, not my favorite. I found a small wishbone necklace that I bought, as I've been looking for my perfect wishbone necklace for awhile, and I ended up finding it in a tiny shop in Insa-dong, Seoul.
I think many of the rice dishes at my beloved Chego use bibimbap as their inspiration, so I was excited to try it. We sat at a tradition Korean restaurant. I didn't love it, I found it bland. Especially comparing it to Chego's rice bowls that burst with flavor. However, Hubs loved it, one of his favorite things that we ate. Either way, it looked beautiful (5500 W).
We walked up to Changdeokgung Palace and took a walking tour through the secret garden. It was so beautiful. I love when beautiful places are hidden in a city, and if they weren't pointed out to you, you wouldn't even know they're there.
The tour was fairly long and covered a good amount of ground. It was so peaceful and the sun was shining down on us.
I'm sure it's stunning with the cherry blossoms in bloom.
By the time we were done, it was time to make dinner plans. We took the subway to the Norgangjin Fish Market.
Stall after stall of fish, shell fish, and every other kind of sea creature you can imagine.
We bought a medium-sized, clear-eyed fish and the vendor scaled the fish for us.
We took the fish to a restaurant directly downstairs at the Market. They cook whatever you bring them, and it was so much fun. They grilled our fish perfectly and we ate it with rice, wasabi, soy, and sesame leaves.
We drank bottled makgeolli (fermented rice wine), Hite dry finish beer, and soju. A lot of soju, because a soju rep. was there and gave us a free bottle of his company's product which we happily drank. I left the restaurant very buzzed.
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| bottled makgeolli |
After our fabulous dinner, we took a cab to Apjeoung (near Gangnam) to a club to see two K-pop bands. I had a Max beer which was on draft. We were munchy so we ordered french fries for 10,000 W. They were fine but not worth 10,000 W.
The first band we saw was New Me, an all girl band, and the singer had a strong voice and the keyboardist was solid. I don't remember the name of the second band. The singer wasn't as good and the music wasn't as pop-y.
After that, we called it a night and took the cab back to the subway. It was an amazing day. Unique food experiences, a beautiful palace hideaway, and K-pop. What more can one want from Seoul?
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