Son of a Chef

Chuseok was a good reminder of various things. One of them being that I need to post more often. Lucky for me, there has been no shortage of food in the past few months, so I expect I will post a couple entries this week.

Of course, I keep visiting small local restaurants. From time to time, we will drop a review of a corporate location that’s exemplary but that’s not what we are about. If anyone does take me up on a recommendation, I always hope that the person who benefits the most is the one who cooks the food.

That is the case for today’s spot. In Seoul, on the edge of Seongnae market, a little 맛집 stuck out on the corner. I went inside and was greeted by familiar sounds, uncles talking loudly. One read a newspaper and another stared me down upon entering.

At this kind of restaurant, it’s hard to not stick out. The old market restaurants don’t get a lot of foreigners, and I think folks get stressed that the interaction is going to be difficult. After a pause of reading the menu, I place my order in Korean and the whole restaurant breathes a sigh of relief and returns to a more normal operation.

The daughter puts in the order with her mother in the kitchen and one of the uncles tells her to sit down and he’ll get me a beer. No opener at the table, uncle said not to worry and he popped the bottle’s cap off with a spoon and poured the glass for me. “Korean service!” He told me while laughing.

The YukGaeJang comes out faster than I expected. A hot day, a spicy soup and a nice cold beer. What more can you ask?

This YukGaeJang has some nice touches to it. They added an egg that firmed a little in the broth. The savory notes that brought to the dish were quite pleasant, I’d like to eat it that way again. It would be hard to find much wrong with the dish, it was just well done and left me feeling ready to walk again. Everything was properly cooked and the vegetables blended well with the notes in the broth. A couple sprinkles of gochugaru and I was happy with the spice level, too.

Across the room, the family sat together pouring some beer for each other. A wonderful looking plate of galbi sat between them. So many places were closed on Chuseok, I was thankful they were open.

As quickly as the food came out, I finished up and set back into the heat. Now no longer hungry, I was in a good mood to explore the market and find my way to meet an acquaintance later in the day.

If you are nearby Seongnae, Cheonho or even Olympic Park and want a fairly homestyle meal, give it a shot. Walking the market afterwards is always nice. Soon, I plane to return for a couple rounds in the market. It seems like a great way to spend a few hours or more. One day, I’m gonna get that duck.

Cheers, Hans.

Kakao

[KakaoMap] 정다운맛집
34, Cheonho-daero 162-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul
https://kko.to/oz3A0Jii-D

Naver

[네이버 지도]
정다운맛집
서울 강동구 천호대로162길 34
https://naver.me/5oEunHnq