Category: City: Seoul

Comparing three Korean Fried Chicken dishes in Seoul

Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) is an essential South Korean staple. It is usually consumed in diners and pubs with a good amount of beer (in Korean they even have a word to indicate chicken and beer, chi-maek).

KFC (the Korean one) can be a great dish, even without beer. Here’s three examples from Seoul.

KFC from a non-descript diner

My first encounter with KFC on Korean soil took place in what I believe was a family-run diner. No English name, the picture shows the store-front. It was located near Sinchon railway station.

As customary, I was served some pickled Korean radish cubes. This particular establishment also added some popcorn.

I had half fried chicken and half with spicy sauce. The chicken was tasty and fried on the spot. The sauce was a lightly spicy tomato sauce that did not add much.

As it happens, the dish was only available as a whole chicken… The cost for my dish was 16,000 WON (around 14 USD) and it could have been shared between two people.

KFC from a famous chain: Kyochon

Kyochon was founded in 1991 and is one of the big players of KFC. They have stores nationwide and even one in Shanghai and some in the continental US.

I visited their branch in Dongdaemun Market (ironically, above a KFC outlet), easy to reach from exit 6 of Dongdaemun metro station. It is a spacious casual restaurant with a menu rich of fried chicken options and open 24/7. The big difference from the previous entry is that the special flavors are embedded into the batter, so the spicy chicken does not come covered in sauce, but it is the batter itself that conveys the flavor.

I opted for the “half half” option, with half regular fried chicken with garlic seasoning and half spicy. You can choose whether to have a whole chicken or only drumsticks or sticks and wings,. I went for the all drumsticks option.

It is worth noting (and the staff will tell you) that the chicken will take 30 minutes to arrive. They make it on the spot. It actually took 20 minutes, but it was not peak time.

The chicken alone was 19,000 WON (around 17 USD) and it was totally worth. I am usually skeptical of chains, but they did deliver a great fried chicken. The spicy one was glorious (but you will need the pickles to contrast the spicy after-effect).

KFC from a popular pub in Hongdae

The final specimen came from a pub in an area very popular with young people called Hongdae. In this district you can find pubs offering fried chicken and beer every 10 meters.

I ended up in Oksang Dalbit (옥상달빛) to try their garlic pepper fried chicken.

Located on the second floor of a small building, this was a very casual pub filled with students.

Their thing is that the chicken arrives in flames (I believe they use vodka and fire it up).

This was a portion of boneless chicken. A bit sloppy, but still enjoyable.

The chicken cost me the usual, in this case 17,000 WON (around 14.8 USD).

In the end, the one offered by Kyochon was the better in my books, but I enjoyed the KFC experience in all of the above places.

 

Feasting on Korean high cuisine at La Yeon in Seoul

In my first trip to Seoul I aimed high and I had a dinner at La Yeon; regarded as one of the best restaurants of the South Korean capital, it has been repeatedly awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide for South Korea and is on the list of the 50 best restaurants in Asia.

I contacted the restaurant through their web form and after a bit of back and forth they accepted to reserve a table for me (but only at 6pm and near the entrance).

The visit

La Yeon (that I am being told means “celebration” in Korean) is located on the 23th floor of the luxurious Shilla Hotel, along with a French restaurant. The venue offers a beautiful view of the surrounding neighborhoods.

I arrived punctually as always and I was seated in one of the seven spacious tables (yes, near the entrance, but that was not an issue actually).

Upon arrival at the table, I was promptly offered some nibbles: dried dates and some sweet potatoes crackers. I found them quite forgettable and hardly touched them during the meal.

I had a further look at the menu, but I already knew what to order. Actually, choosing was remarkably simple since they only had two sets menus for dinner: one called The Feast and one called Shilla that included some richer dishes, a beef dish and their famed royal hotpot. You could add the hotpot and/or the one (or more) of the beef dishes to The Feast menu for an additional cost.

At the last moment, I decided to add both a beef dish and the royal hotpot to my selection and that was kind of stupid because I brought the cost of The Feast menu slightly above the price of their Shilla menu and lost one dish… I should have opted for the more expensive menu directly. The staff well avoided to advise me on this point…

The initial welcome dish was cold bean curd pudding (tofu) and an iced sauce made with soy and green plum (with a sour flavor). The combination of the flavors was very good.

The first dish of the menu was some sweet red shrimps on a base of cabbage and yuzu flavored soy jelly. The shrimps were really sweet and fresh and was an enjoyable, even if not great, dish.

Then there was a chicken porridge dish with ginseng. This is a classic Korean dish and it was served with some kimchi soup. I was advised to alternate the two. Overall a nice dish, but really nothing special (you can easily find this in Seoul).

The third dish was char-grilled eel with soy sauce and a light touch of red pepper paste. I did not like this dish much as the eel flavor was not particularly well balanced by the dressings.

Next I had a beef dish: a few bites of Korean beef ribeye with some vegetables and salad. The beef lived up to the reputation of high-grade Korean beef and was sensational. The beef was super tender and juicy.

Then I was served the famed royal hotpot. This could feed two people. It came beautifully presented in a small hotpot holder. The royal hotpot is basically a glorified soup with rich ingredients. I could recognize abalone, beef cubes, white fish, a couple of ginkgo seeds, but there was more. The dish is called sinseollo in Korean.

Then the main dish arrived with a contour of small side dishes Korean style. The main was mixed rice and vegetables with beef tartare. I love beef tartare and Korean have a reputation for raw beef meat, but this dish was completely disappointing. Apart from the boring side dishes and the unremarkable rice, the tartare came in the shape of cold strips of marinated beef. They were very cold and that killed the flavor.

The dessert was a scoop of corn ice cream on a base of crème brûlée. It was a nice dessert.

The very last dish was two bites of Korean jelly with cold cinnamon and ginger tea.

The check

Total check was 295,000 WON (around 260 USD). The royal hotpot added 60,000 WON (I have noticed that in the new menu this add on is 80,000 at the time of publishing this review). The basic The Feast menu cost 175,000 WON, while the Shilla menu was 270,000 WON and included a beef dish and the royal hotpot.

I need to agree with Andy Hayler that it is very low value for money.

Overall, my reception of the dishes was mixed. Some were really good, like the beef, but there were also many disappointments.

If you go in this restaurant, shoot for the higher priced menu. It does not make sense what I did (taking The Feast and paying for the add-ons). The Shilla menu has more interesting components.

Shame on me that did not plan well enough (but initially I did not consider to take the royal hotpot and the menu). But also shame on the staff that did not advise me (but their English was not great).

Where in Seoul:
Consult the hotel website for address, current menu and inquiries.
Tip: take a taxi to get to the hotel, it is not practical to go on foot as it is perched on a hill. They do have a shuttle bus from the metro station (Dongguk University) to the lobby, if you go this way, budget some extra time.

Italian Gelato in Seoul: Zucca and G. Fassi

In every major Asian city I visit I try to see if I can find some Italian style ice cream (gelato). In Seoul I visited Zucca’s Artisan Gelato and I also came across the Asian outpost of a famous gelateria from Rome, G. Fassi.

Zucca’s Artisan Gelato

Located in Itaewon, the Seoul’s neighborhood famously bordering the massive American Military Base, Zucca’s Artisan Gelato now enjoys a fully gentrified surrounding with a lot of international eateries. Zucca in Italian means pumpkin, but in this case is just the family name of the owner.

The space occupied by Zucca’s is mostly used up by the counter, but there are a few seats. They also serve Italian coffee and a few other desserts such as tiramisu cake.

As the name suggests, they should make their gelato according to the Italian tradition.

I had two scoops, chocolate and crushed figs. I found them excellent with actual pieces of caramelized figs.

Two scoops cost me 5,500 WON (or 4.85 USD), a good price as compared to other Asian locations.

Where in Seoul:
129-2, Itaewon 1-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (just a short walk from Itaewon metro station)

G. Fassi

Heralded as the oldest gelateria in Rome (dating back to 1880) the Palazzo del Freddo di Giovanni Fassi is an institution in the Italian capital and they now have affiliated shops in Los Angeles and Seoul.

I came across their kiosk in the food court of one of the branches of Kyobo bookstore near Gwanghwamun Station (actually, you can get to the food court by taking exit 4 from this metro station).

I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of original flavors and in the end I opted for chocolate and black sesame.

The two scoops, that were meticulously weighted by the staff, cost me 5,500 WON.

Finally, I should note that they were also selling a gelato bingsoo. I did not have time to try it, but I appreciate their attempt to experiment (bingsoo is the quintessential Korean dessert).

Where in Seoul:
1, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Address in Korean: 서울특별시 종로구 종로 1 (종로1가)
I understand that they also have other locations, this is probably not the largest.