After Busan, now is Seoul’s Foods Time!! I had a chance to eat some popular Korean Dishes at Seoul. Let’s see, what foods that I ate? From street foods to popular restaurant foods :9

Dosirak Cafe 

Dosirak means lunchbox, so in this café you will use some kind of plastic tray to eat. It located at Tongin Market, a traditional market in Jongno-gu area. This market is not as big as Gwangjang Market; however you will find many kind of local Korean dishes like sundae (blood sausage), japchae, mandu (dumpling), jeon (Korean pancake), and many more. One special food that you will find here is Gireum Tteokbokki or oil tteokbokki. This tteokbokki is different because it has no soup at all but it is stir fried with oil.

Dosirak Café at Tongin Market has uniqueness in their payment concept. They use an old coin or brass coin called Yeopjeon for the transaction. So, you have to exchange your money with Yeopjeon. One bundle of yeopjeon contains 10 coins and is valued for 5.000 KRW. I only buy 1 bundle and it’s enough to get some foods that you want.

How to Get There :

Nearest Station - Gyeongbokgung Station

Take exit 2 and continue straight for about 700 m

Address:

18, Jahamun-ro 15-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Contact : +82-2-722-0911 

Closed every Third Sunday of each month (Dosirak Cafe is closed Mondays)

Meokshidonna Tteokbokki

Actually, you can find tteokbokki easily at Seoul. They sell it in street even in a restaurant. Mukshidonna is one of popular tteokbokki restaurant. The main menu is of course tteokbokki but you can choose other ingredients to mix it in your tteokbokki. Cheese, budae sauce, ramyeon (ramen), vegetable, fish cake, egg, or meat dumpling; you name it! The price is also affordable. I went there with another 3 people. I only spend like 4.000 – 6.000 KRW for this delicious and big portion of tteokbokki :)

How to Get There:

Nearest Station - Anguk Station

Take exit 1 and walk for 10 minutes.

Address:

19-1 Anguk-Dong,
Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

Contact: +82 2 723 8089
Opening Hours: 11am – 8.30pm

Gwangjang Market's Food

Gwangjang Market is the largest traditional market in South Korea. It is so popular with local even international tourists. When you go to Seoul, you definitely have to go here. They sell many local Korean dishes from dumplings to a little extreme one beondegi (boiled silkworm pupae). Let’s see what food that you can find in this large market!

Jeon 

Jeon as I already stated previously is a Korea Style Pancake. It is really different from Western style pancake which like a cake. Korea Style pancake is basically a flour batter that has been fried. You can choose which ingredients that will be mixed with the batter like kimchi, green onion, or mung bean. These three ingredients are the most popular kind of pancake in Korea. They also will give you soy sauce mixed with onion. 

Bindaetteok

Bindaetteok means mung-bean pancakes. It is one of the most popular Korean pancakes variety. This pancake is made from mung beans that have been grounded and mixed with green onions, kimchi, or peppers. After that, they will fry it. The taste is nutty because it has beans in it and this pancake really goes well with Makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine). 

Makgeolli

Makgeolli is one of the most popular alcohol drinks from South Korea. This drink is originally made from rice that fermented however nowadays there is another flavor like apple, chestnut or corn. The color of this drink is milky white and it has like 6-7 % of alcohol. I prefer makgeolli than soju (another alcoholic drink from Korea) because of its sweet taste. Now, you can find this drink easily in a plastic bottle at the supermarket but in my opinion, makgeolli in traditional market is tastier. Drink this with side dishes like jeon. 

Mandu

Mandu is a Korean type dumpling and is a well-known food in Korea. It is different with Chinese dumpling or japanese dumpling. There are many stores that sell mandu at Gwangjang Market. Mandu is usually served with kimchi and filled with minced pork meat, minced beef, green onions, garlic, or ginger. When you eat it, dipped it with soy sauce. It taste really delicious with fresh kimchi and chewy with it's minced pork meat.

Kimchi Mandu - 5.000 KRW

Tteokbokki
I can say that the tteokbokki at Gwangjang Market is different with the one in Mukshidonna. The tteokbokki here is more traditional with no added ingredients. Just pure tteokbokki. Me personally prefer the Mukshidonna tteokbokki. It's taste kinda weird for me. However, when you go to Gwangjang Market, you should try it :)

Tteokbokki - 3.000 - 5.000 KRW

Bibimbap
Who doesn't know bibimbap? This Korean dish is internationally popular. Bibimbap means mixed rice. Warm white rice with many kind of vegetables like spinach, beansprouts, mushroom, or zuchinni on the top of it. After that, you mixed all of that with gochujang (chili pepper taste), soy sauce, or doenjang (fermented soybean paste). Bibimbap served in a large silver bowl here and also with a warm soup. It will give you a local experience :)

Bibimbap - 4.000 - 5.000 KRW

Fried Mandu - 1.000 KRW

Odeng with Sausage Skewer - 3.000 - 4.000 KRW

Bungeoppang - 2.000 - 3.000 KRW

Yeoltan Bulgogi - 8.000 KRW

Gooso Dakgalbi

This restaurant is famous for its spicy stir-fry chicken. Actually, it is already modernized because its different with the traditional one. I really recommended this restaurant. The chicken meat is tender and the sauce is an art itself. With addition of melting cheese. Don't forget to order a fried rice when the dakgalbi is almost finished. They will mix the rice directly in front of you. So perfect to end this eating session :)

Accommodation

For accommodation in Indonesia, I usually use these two websites for comparing the hotel price. The first one is Traveloka and the second one is Agoda. I think these two websites have the best hotel price for now. Actually the difference is not too high, but these days I use Traveloka Mobile more. It happens that if you have Traveloka mobile app, the price is lower than if you book it from computer or laptop. 

For my last Belitung Trip, I stayed at Maxone Hotel in Tanjung Pandan City and I recommend it. The hotel was nice and clean. It also has a minimalist and modern features. The price is not so expensive but worth it. The room is big enough for two people and the bathroom is clean. All of the hotel staff also very kind and always ready to help the guests. Maxone hotel also built in a good location. It is in the center of the city and near to everywhere. 

Transportation

There are only a few aviation services to visit Belitung Island, Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air, NAM Air, or Citilink. Once more, I usually use Traveloka Website to book my flight schedule. You can compare the price. For my trip last month, I chose Sriwijaya Air. Please pay attention to the information, because there are some flights that make you to transit first in Bangka Island. I recommend searching for a direct flight to Belitung Island.

Gangan Laut and Fresh Seafood - 275 k

Mie Belitung Atep - 10 k

Ice Kopi O by Kong Djie - 8 k

What to do in Gamcheon?

For me, Gamcheon Cultural Village is like a magical town. From a slump neighborhood, they change it and it became a very beautiful and artsy village. So, what to do in Gamcheon Cultural Village? Many people will take out their photography gears. People with photography enthusiasm will be taking pictures everywhere. Every part of this neighborhood is good to be your camera’s target. From unique murals, art installations, narrow alleyways, and the view from the top. Nowadays, people will take a picture and post it in their social media like instagram or path. In this neighborhood, there are many instagramable spot like angel’s wing or another unique wall painting.

After the change, many art and craft stores open in this neighborhood. You can have many art and craft experiences in this area like pottery crafts, woodworking, and textile or even flower arrangement workshop. I think art is really fit Gamcheon Cultural Village. Besides art and craft activities, there are also many cute cafes open around this area where you can have a coffee or tea while enjoying the view of Gamcheon Village. By hanging out in the café, you can also socialize with the local people. As I said before, the view from the top of this neighborhood is a must sightseeing object. Feel the magical view from a perfect combination of mountain, colorful buildings, and sea with some rays of sunlight. 

From my opinion, the best season to visit Gamcheon Cultural Village is spring or summer. Spring and summer means the blooming flower. You can see many flowers blooming along the road. It’s not too cold so you can move freely around the neighborhood. Imagine if it is winter, the steep road and alleyways will become slippery and it will be difficult to move around because of the cold. This village open from 9 am until 5 pm and the admission is free. Don’t be scared to get lost, you can get a map from the village information center. Also, don’t be hesitating to ask people there.  

How to get there:

By Public Transportation

Don’t hesitate to ask people if you are confused. Ask the bus driver first to be sure that it will bring you to Gamcheon Village. 

For more information, visit this website :

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1998211

Or

http://www.gamcheon.or.kr/