Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Asianista]

Cool thread, I'm getting hungry just reading all the replies!

Before I forget: Tzecuk, the pickled/salted vegetable and fatty pork meat, Hakka style, is called 梅菜扣肉 or 梅干扣肉. I miss it dearly and would sell my soul to have a regular/easy access to that in Seoul.

About the different places around Seoul to eat authentic Chinese. Old Gil, if you don't find anything there to suit your fancy, I honestly don't know what to tell you...

Well, as far as Canto/Fujian food goes, never saw anything like that but would be glad to eat some! Almost all the Chinese population here is either from Shandong or Dong Bei, including a lot of Korean Chinese (chao xian zu).

Foreword:

- Better read Korean or speak/read Chinese at these places.
- If you miss lamb skewers and hot pot, these are all good places to try.
- The prices are all really decent. Expect around 8000 won for a bunch of 10 skewers. Hotpots are also not expensive.
- Most places make their own shui jiao, make sure to try some, as they are usually sooooooo good!!!
- Don't worry about the booze, you'll never get thirsty in any of these places. The bigger Qingdao bottles are illegal imports (no taxes paid), and easy to find here. You can even buy a box of 12 in most grocery stores for around 25 000 won (go by car...) LaoQuan beer is even cheaper and still beats any local stuff IMO!
- Competition is fierce, so if a place serves bad food or has high prices, it won't stay in business long! Can't really go wrong!

The 'ghetto' area (Garibong dong or Jia Le Feng in chinese) near Namguro station is a safe bet for authentic Dong Bei and hotpot, and weird looks from migrant workers. Namguro station, exit 3, walk straight down, cross the street and walk into pedestrian market. Ghetto alright, but some cheap and yummy eats to be had there. A store in the wet market area (about halfway down the street, on your left) sells cilantro, sauces and condiments, peanut oil (yes!!!!) and also has mahjong sets (for the nostalgic!) The fried stuff someone talked about seems to be 油条。The place I always go to on that street is 王中王, Chinese-owned and run. It's further down the street, left hand side, corner, first floor and basement. No englisheee but yummy food!

Daelim Station, around exit 12, take alley on the left: Chinese area goes almost all the way to Digital Guro station (ok, 'area' is wishful thinking, but they are tons of restaurants and stores in that area.) Way LESS GHETTO than Garibong/JaiLeFeng.

Digital Guro station (the other end of the area near Daelim): exit 5, walk down and past the big new LG apartment buildings and there is a nice little Chinese-ish street, with some really yummy skewers and hotpot places, with enough booze to make anyone happy. My personal favorite for skewers is 鑫鑫肉串。The boss is cool although the place is small. Make sure to eat some shui jiao! More places are found in surrounding streets.

Moreover, if you're still hungry: Sindaebang station, around exits 1 and 2, a bit further from the station, there are some skewers/hot pot places there. I seldom go there, the places are more spread out but still pretty good.

(((((There is a place in Sincheon on a second floor on one of the bbq streets, I'll get better explanations on how to get there. The skewers are not always 'that' good, but the hotpot is decent. It's ok for a fix if you don't want to go all the way down the green line! ))))))

These are the places I go to with my Shandong hubby and the reason why I packed on weight since I met him! He also cooks a lot at home, but this address is kept private!!!!!

Old Gil, the other Chinese learners/aficionados, it would be really nice to meet up and go eat together!

我也会j讲中文。我们可以一起练习！Seriously, I'd like to get some Chinese speaking friends here (other than hubby's friends), and I also need some language exchange partner (same kind Old Gil has, not the other kind!)

Anybody can play mahjong???

[Old Gil]

To be honest since I did this thread I've hit some real nice spots, Xiao Fei Yang is good but pricey, the Konkuk place is the SHIT, and those Hongdae spots are real nice as well. Seriously though as long as that 건대점 doesn't shut down before i"m out in April I'll be a happy man, but also I definitely need to check out Bulia as per Seoulsucker's recommendation.

Asianista whenever you feel like some 练习 I'm down, anybody else too I need to maintain my 水平 as I'm sure we all do.

[Bucky]

Sorry to bring up an old-ish thread, but any luck at "yum cha" around here?

I'm a Hong Konger by birth, and never before have I missed "yum cha" and "cha chaan teng" this much.

[Yaya]

Watch out for the cheap Chinese food that is delivered to your home. I sense you'll shorten your life a few years if you eat too much of that stuff.

That said, the best way to eat Chinese food is to do so OUTSIDE of Korea. There are a few good places in Korea but they are too few to count.

If you happen to know a Korean Chinese, perhaps he or she can help pick a spot in Namguro, where a burgeoning Chinatown is.

[Old Gil]

Daerim station has some good spots too, apparently they have jianbing guozi in the AM. I asked a Chinese friend who lived in HK for many years and she said that Jackie Chan's in Jamsil is the only spot she' heard of, but it's a chain and kind of generic. Ho Lee Chow might have some

[pr1ncejeffie]

Holy cow.... you guys up for Mahjong!?!?!?!! My mom was definitely a mah jong addict.

[ticktocktocktick]

[Bucky]

[Yaya]

One thing inescapable about Korea for the most part is that the Chinese food here is mostly Shandong style. Guangdong aka Cantonese style is the most popular in the world, and so few places in Korea serve that, though I've had good hot and sour soup (called salatang 살라탕 in Korean).

An example is sweet and sour pork (called 탕수육 in Korean). I had it at a joint around Namguro station, and it seems in Shandong style that the sauce is kept separate from the meat.

[Harpeau]

The Mao Restaurant isn't too shabby. That's up near the Hyatt Hotel.

[redaxe]

Gonna try Bulia tonight on Seoulsucker's recommendation, because it sounds fantastic. I'll add a brief review here later to let y'all know if I agree. I lived in Sichuan for a year so I know good hot pot when I taste it!

[lille]

[niftyness]

BUMP

need

chinese

food


feed me.

[Yaya]

I'm surprised that more Chinese restaurants catering to the North American taste haven't sprang up in Korea. Ho Lee Chow is now a franchise but aside from a few lame attempts to do "fushion" Chinese (i.e. Jade Garden and Jackie's Kitchen), the market here for non-Korean Chinese food just sucks.

[Bloopity Bloop]