my appetite experience in south korea

i am almost finally at the end of my south korea posts! hurrah for you! but before i'd normally end it with a concluding post, i'll zoom into what i had stuffed myself to get me energized for those tough days. tough in the sense that those were cold wintry days!

to battle out the cold, i ate quite enough or even more than enough to be more exact. because most of the time i ate alone, i had the huge servings all to myself and as i saw it, eating seemed to be a social activity in south korea. they usually came in troops into a restaurant or a coffee shop. but now that i think about it, this can also be a normal occurrence anywhere for all i know. i was just this lone human being over there, feeding on such humongous portions.

it might not be as big as you'd imagine but i have a girl's stomach after all! and sometimes, i'd like to think that it's knotted in half that consequently, it can only accommodate that much. you just have to see it for yourself. uhm not my stomach but my food, okay? :p

Lotteria's Bulgogi Burger Meal

i only notice it now that there's an eye peeking through the fries and it kinda looks creepy but amusing at the same time. his name is mr. fries.

of course, that's only a figment of my hungry imagination. you can believe me otherwise. see you then in wonderland! haha

anyway, it may sound overboard but i actually planned what to eat for breakfast on the day i arrived at incheon airport. i had my mind set for a bulgogi burger meal in lotteria but that didn't materialize as the complimentary food from my flight was served for breakfast. however, it didn't take long because i had the burger for lunch on that very day.

i know the meal looked too western but at least i had it in bulgogi!

Korean Dumplings in Insadong

my lunch on my second day was in a typical hole-in-the-wall tucked in the midst of insadong. nothing too fancy but nothing short of being a really good meal either. the kimchi was absolute perfection and i hadn't had such kimchi before (which means kimchi outside south korea). not to mention, you can ask for a refill! as what korean dishes are known for, the pickled radish and kimchi were for free as they were only side dishes. if i'd be extremely penny pinching, i'd only order one piece of dumpling and just feast on the side dishes! a real value for money! lol

Korean Street Food

yes, i had a taste of korean street food in a form of chicken barbecue. it's quite safe, i know. however, there were steamed insects but they didn't even come into consideration. my apologies. i shared this mini street food experience by the way, with my girl guides for the palaces tour -- our final bonding before we went on our separate ways.

Korean Barbecue in Yeongdeungpo

oh no! my burnt food caught on camera! haha! good thing my mouth was indiscriminate to distinguish the too roasted meat, cunningly hidden in lettuce.

i had this huge feast for dinner on my second day. after i parted with my guides, i went back to my hostel but without a fill just yet. because the night was still young, i decided to head out and search for my dinner. my hostel was situated not in a touristy area that i only saw restaurants with locals hanging out, enjoying the weekend night. silly me was just passing by a number of restaurants, too hesitant to go into one. the signs were all in hangul that my head got dizzy. well, aside from hunger that is.

after several minutes though, i gathered enough courage to go randomly inside a restaurant. i already found myself in not so well-lit areas that it seemed not to be a very good idea to continue the aimless search.

the random place was not yet packed that there were only a few people having dinner -- and socializing. to be inconspicuous from this scene, i chose a far away table. this, after i was handed out by the woman with a japanese menu. she thought i was japanese. it has really been a long while since i earnestly read a japanese text that having to read them in a menu, was such a daunting task!

to cut the story short, i was able to order two servings of meat because that's the minimum. i understood this when i tried to insist to the woman that i only wanted one but sadly, she wouldn't budge. so yeah, that pretty much sums up my feast in the above photo.

Pajeon in Nami Island

yay! another serving of kimchi! okay, this overwhelming size of pancake is called panjeon. this is mainly made up of spring onions which i adore by the way. so, i got a happy belly that time!

Saboten in Seoul

i know. i know. tonkatsu is a japanese dish but i ate it in seoul so, this explains why it's here. i actually hadn't tried saboten before but this tonkatsu house is also available in singapore and in hong kong.

Korean Fried Chicken

i had my last dinner in seoul with a bang. a plateful of korean fried chicken! it escapes me now, how i ordered half of my chicken to be spicy and the rest ordinary. was it on the menu? most probably.

my plate of fried chicken doesn't look too big in the photo but you can count the number of pieces and that's only against me, myself, and i -- who all happen to share one stomach! in the background of the photo were the side dishes that were given to me, white radish cubes and some crackers in rings. charm charm since '06 chicken (that's what it's called) came out more of like a chill-out place where people match the fried chicken with beer or technically speaking, soju.

i didn't drink though. i was afraid i'd oversleep and consequently miss my flight. it's a little exaggeration for a late afternoon flight. lol

with my pojang of leftover chicken, i walked back to my hostel and faced the art of packing. to have my fried chicken for takeaway, i quickly googled the word that i proudly told it the woman in the shop but she was already expecting it because she automatically gestured takeaway. haha

French Toast and Sausage Meal in Paris Croissant

on my fifth and last day, i whetted my appetite with french toast at paris croissant in incheon airport. this was my brunch before i promptly went to the check-in counter. my official last meal in south korea because shortly thereafter, i cleared for immigration. buh-bye south korea!

--

there are a few missing meals in this very long narration (yet again). for one, i had my breakfast in my hostel and that's in the form of an oreo-like cookie and a cup of tea. being a girl has really its advantages! haha! one dinner i only bought shin ramyun cup noodles in 7-eleven and ate it in the mess hall at my hostel. time and again, cup noodles proved not to be in sync with my taste. sorry.

in summary, korean food appealed to my liking because it has a good proportion of vegetables and meat. what can i say? i'd likely gawk on vegetables over meat. :p

o-O