Posts Tagged ‘justenoughkorean.com’

Ever since we travelled to Beijing in June 2009, Jermil and I have been on a quest to find some flavourful Chinese food in Korea. Walking around in Sinchon, Seoul today, we stumbled upon a sign for Well Chai-New Style Chinese Restaurant. The menu had food titles written in English, and the interior of the restaurant was modern and inviting, so we thought we would sample the cuisine.

How to get to Well-Chai:
Take the Seoul subway Line 2 to Sinchon station, and leave the station from Exit 3. Walk straight and at the first major intersection, turn right. Walk for a few minutes and on the left side of the road you’ll see a big yellow sign that says “Nolita”, the elevator for Well-Chai is in that entrance way.

Why you should try the Chinese food at Well-Chai
Both Jermil and I ordered from the lunch menu that was reasonably priced (8 000 – 10 000 won per dish). We got the “pork garlic pork” and “barbecue beef”and both of us were delighted with our meals. Here’s why we recommend Well-Chai:
• The quality of both the pork and beef was very good.
• We were impressed with the delicious sauces in which the pork and beef were prepared.
• We loved the plentiful stir-fried vegetables that were part of our lunch platters.
• Our meals came with a generous portion of authentic Chinese fried rice.

We also ordered a separate appetizer of crab dumplings (crab rangoons) that were served with a tangy dipping sauce, and they were amazing! Good Chinese food is not easy to come by in Korea, but we really enjoyed Well-Chai, and the food reminded us of some of the flavours were sampled in Beijing!

We need your help!

Of course, since we were in a Chinese restaurant in Korea, we were served several kimchi side dishes, including, what we think was the spicy Korean version of egg drop soup. Jermil really enjoyed it, and our waitress told us the name of it, but we can’t remember it! If anyone has had this spicy soup, and knows the name of it, let us know in the comments!

I’ve seen this scene all too often and I just had to blog about it.

While wandering down a busy on a freezing Saturday evening, I see a girl in a short skirt outside a store called The Face Shop (english | korean) yelling into a microphone. I can only assume she’s giving the details of the specials that are going on and trying to entice you to come inside and check them out.

Directly across the street, another girl is doing the same thing, yelling into her microphone. But she’s standing in front of a Baskin Robbins (english | korean).

Sometimes, they take turns yelling at the people who pass. Mostly, they yell over each other. It’s weird because they aren’t direct competitors business-wise. One sells lotion and the other sells ice cream. But they seem to be at each other’s throats!

Who is the winner? The answer is clear once you check out this video.

Even though it was as cold as strawberry ice cream cake, we actually made it to the 2010 New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Seoul, South Korea. Here’s what we experienced.

The directions we found on the internet for what to do for New Year’s Eve in Seoul were accurate for the most part. We read on another blog that you can’t get off the subway at the Jonggak station and were told to get off at the Jongno-3 station. But when the train stopped at Jonggak, almost everyone on the train got off. We decided to follow them and see where we’d end up.

We went out exit 1 and saw the Bosingak bell across the street. We went back into the subway and tried to come out right near the bell. We failed somehow but hung around the crowd there. (picture)

We saw the walls of policemen who were there to keep the crowds where they wanted us to be. I saw that the policemen had tiny fire extinguishers strapped to their shoulders. I figured those were in case someone got themselves set on fire during the fireworks and roman candles portion of the night after the New Year officially starts.

At some point, we saw the crowd running in a certain direction. We didn’t know where they were going or why they were running but I figured we should get running too!

We ended up by some stage where the New Year’s Eve show was taking place. They had 2 hosts who explained everything that was going on (all in Korean). The show consisted of Korean drumming, rapping, and a lot of singing.

They also had the countdown to the new year. I guess they warned us that it was coming (in Korean) but we didn’t catch it at first. They started counting from 10 and by the time we figured out what it was, it was almost over.

Roman candles were set off starting from just before the new year until a while after. But I didn’t see anyone shoot any near me. I expected everyone to be shooting roman candles recklessly. But it was way safer than the normal roman candle shootings that you see at night by every beach in South Korea.

The subways kept running for a while after midnight. We caught a train at 1am. I believe the subways in Seoul kept running until 2am on New Year’s Eve.

Overall, it was a really good New Year’s Eve event. Even though it was FREEZING COLD out there, while we were in the big mass of people, it wasn’t bad at all. See more pictures below!

If you attended the New Year’s Eve celebration in Seoul this year, let us know what you thought of it!

If you attended the New Year’s Eve celebration in Seoul this year, let us know what you thought of it!

Changdeokgung Palace is THE PALACE TO VISIT if you’re only checking out one palace in Seoul. That’s according to “Dokkaebi Maps & Guides” that I found.

If you ask me, I’d suggest going to whichever palace is closest to you. “Why?” you ask???

BECAUSE THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME!!!

But the unnecessary difference that Changdeokgung Palace offers is a mandatory guided tour!!! English tours are given only 3 times a day. But it doesn’t matter. Take a tour in Korean, Chinese, or Japanese. Preferably if you don’t speak any of those languages!

They can be way more fun than the English tour if you do what I did while I wandered around the palace during the Korean tour.

I would make up stories about space aliens and old torture chambers and the Americans attacking way back in 1621 (of course there was no America back then but that’s the point).

To get to Changdeokgung Palace, take the Seoul subway to Anguk Station and go out exit 3. Follow the main road and you’ll find the palace on your left after about a 5 minute walk. Or go to this link for a map.

Check out my pictures below from the last time we went to good old Changdeokgung Palace!

Have you ever been to Changdeokgung Palace? What did you think of it??? Let me know in the comments!

Have you ever been to Changdeokgung Palace? What did you think of it??? Let me know in the comments!

I used to think Kraze Burgers had a pretty strong selection of hamburgers. I also thought the Friday’s Burger at T.G.I. Friday’s (the only hamburger they have) was mighty tasty. But now I don’t think I can ever go to those restaurants again! Those burgers aren’t bad by any means. It’s just that they can never compete with Smokey Saloon.

I stumbled upon Smokey Saloon while wandering around Itaewon looking for a nice place for a Sunday brunch. I didn’t know what it was but I saw a line of people waiting to get in so it must be good right? I never see that at restaurants in Korea.

Smokey Saloon has multiple burger combinations for your choosing. They also have a few sandwiches and a shrimp burger if you want to unleash your inner korean.

I chose the “Ambulance” which has a fried egg on top, 2 slices of bacon, American cheese, and a hash brown on the bottom. I topped them off with a side of coleslaw and “sloppy” fries (chili cheese fries).

The entire meal was fantastic. (See more pictures below!) But don’t take my word for it. See what Candice has to say about it in this video taken inside of Smokey Saloon, where, I do declare, you will find the best burgers in South Korea.

What’s your favorite burger restaurant in Korea? Like this post? Think it sucks? Give me your opinion in the comments.

If you can’t see the video below, check it out on justenoughkorean.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSc9jqwJjE8