Sinseon Seoulnongtang, Myeongdong, Seoul, Korea

Sinseon Seoulnongtang is a restaurant specializing in Seoulnongtang, which is ox-bone soup. A friend of mum’s recommended this restaurant and since we going to Myeongdong to shop, we thought we would check it out for lunch. There was a queue already when we got there but thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long, 15 mins max?

The menu is really quite simple – soup and lots of it.

All of us pretty much ordered the Seolnongtang – Australian ox bone and brisket, which came with a bowl of rice. The soup was pretty flavoursome, it wasn’t as thick as I had hoped but it was tasty. The ox bone and brisket I loved! It was the perfect meal for a cold day in Seoul!

We also ordered dubuyachae seolnongtang – ox bone stew and boiled with tofu and vegetables. The tofu and vegetables were a nice addition and gave it that extra flavouring.

I can’t remember how many serving of this dumpling we ordered – 4 I think, and I am pretty sure I ate 4 dumplings in one sitting. It is undoubtedly the BEST dumpling I have had. Filled with pork and vegetables, the dumpling was moorish and juicy. It was so hard to stop at one, or two for that matter. It was quite large which made it very filling!

Service minimal, it’s a eat, pay when you are done kind of place so turnover is quite quick, even if there is a queue outside. Food definitely recommended, I really loved the dumplings and the soup was pretty flavoursome!

GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10

Sinseon Seoulnongtang

3-1, Myeongdong 10-gil,

Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Kyochon Chicken, Dongdaemun, Seoul, Korea

I was on the hunt for the best fried chicken in Korea. We were there for 5 days and believe me, it wasn’t enough. I wanted more time to shop and eat. So many things to see and buy and so many places to eat and especially if you are on the hunt for the best fried chicken and best Korean BBQ!

Kyochon Chicken specialises in Korean Fried Chicken and opened its first store in 1991 and have expanded and opened 150 stores within 8 years around Korea. They even opened branches in USA and China. The best thing about Kyochon Chicken is that they do delivery! As we were waiting, we did contemplate of having it delivered, but thought it would be better if we ate in.

Kyochon Chicken has many branches in Seoul, we ate at the Dongdaemun branch after an afternoon of shopping. The fried chicken comes in five different flavours – original (soy), red (spicy), honey, salsa and fried series and comes in four various – whole chicken, mixed wings, and drumsticks.

We ordered 2 servings of the whole fried chicken and oh my – it was seriously tasty. Crispy skin, tender meat, it could potentially be one of the best fried chicken I’ve had in Korea!

We also ordered the spicy whole fried chicken. It was spicy but not as spicy as the one at Two Two fried chicken.

And as if that wasn’t enough fried food, we had a serving of chips also – chips were ok, fried chicken is definitely their specialty.

The branch in Dongdaemun was small, we had to wait a good 25 mins and it was definitely worth the wait! Poor Dragon and C though, they were starving by the time we sat which was about 7pm (yes, Dragon eats early but she definitely enjoyed the fried chicken!) Compared with Two Two Fried Chicken, think I like Kyochon Chicken slightly better!

GA’s ratings: 8 / 10

Kyochon Chicken

217-105, Sindang-dong, Jung-gu,

Dongdaemun, Seoul, Korea

Ph: +81 2 2231 9337

Lotte World, Seoul, Korea

Lotte World is Korean’s version of Disney Land. Good thing about Lotte World is that there is an indoor part as well as outdoor part, so if it’s raining, one can still go to Lotte World. It is not only for kids but for adults. I dragged the whole family here and they absolutely loved it. Tickets aren’t cheap but what fun parks have cheap tickets right? Adults who are over 65 pay child fare which isn’t too bad.

The problem with going to amusement parks are the queues and crowds. The adults didn’t really go on many rides, Dragon and her cousin went on 5 rides maximum and they had a ball. Dragon especially loved the merry-go-around, she insisted that we go twice. I am not a big fan, going around in circles, it really does give me a headache but as long as she enjoyed it that’s the main thing.

We arrived around lunch time and were all ravenous. Was recommended by one of the staff to try this restaurant called La Paloma, which is on the first floor in Adventure land and the restaurant serves various grilled and fried foods. Our family loves fried chicken, so we ordered two servings of this. Mum still thinks that this is the BEST fried chicken she had in Seoul! Big CALL but it was good. The chicken were cut into small pieces and was incredibly crispy. Meat was deliciously tender – I can see why she really enjoyed it but saying the BEST she ate in Seoul was definitely a big call.

We ordered a couple servings of the pork cutlet which was served with fried rice and some macaroni salad which was interestingly nice.

We also ordered a serving of the fried rice which went down so quickly that I didn’t even get to snap! Dragon definitely enjoyed the fried rice and the fried chicken. So grateful that she is quite an easy baby to feed – as long as there’s chicken she is one happy girl.

Outside, there is an ice-cream / ice block store which we kept coming back too called the ice factory. So many different flavours in different shapes.

Dragon and I had two servings of the watermelon heart-shaped ice block – it was so refreshing and prefect for a hot day. As you can see from the picture below, Dragon couldn’t wait to dig in!!

We had the panda – which was vanilla ice cream with chocolate through them – it was seriously good. The cookies and cream (can’t remember what shape it was) was also very good. Like Dragon, I could and would like to try every single one of them but.

We spent a good 7 hours in Lotte World, we were absolutely shattered but it was a great day with the kids and family. Will be back to Lotte World in October – yes we are visiting Seoul again! We seriously loved Korea, can’t wait to go back!

Wangbijib Myeongdong, Seoul, South Korea

One cannot go to Korea and not have Korean bbq! It was my mission to have Korean BBQ at least twice or possibly three times on this trip. A friend suggested that I go to Wangbijib Myeongdong which specializes in charcoal-broiled meat. This restaurant (chain) is quite popular, as prices is quite reasonable. A set meal for one person can cost anywhere between KWR8,000 – 12,000. We ordered a couple of set meals and lots and lots of meat.

Started with a mix of banchan – my favourite was definitely the kimchi.

I quite enjoyed this salad actually, mixed with raw egg – quite tasty.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of all the meat we ordered, but the beef ribs were probably my favourite and we ordered two servings of this.

We also ordered Korean seafood pancake which wasn’t too bad.

Service was good, food was deliciously tasty. We didn’t make a reservation but we did rock up at about 6.30pm and by the time we left at 8pm there was a long queue of people waiting outside.

Definitely worth visiting if you are in Myeongdong and if you want some Korean BBQ.

GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10

Wangbijib Myeongdong

Seoul-si Jung-gu Myeongdong 8 ga-gil

26, 2F (Chungmuro 2-ga)

Tel: 02-3789-1946

Two Two Fried Chicken, Myeongdong, Seoul, Korea

When I was searching for places to eat in Seoul, the first thing I googled was Fried Chicken – I have missed good KFC – Korean Fried Chicken, especially those in Sydney. I have yet to find one in Hong Kong so this was priority!

Two Two Fried Chicken is located in the shopping central of Korea, Myeondong. It has over 500 outlets in Korea alone. The menu is simple – fried chicken and lots of it! The menu is in English also, so easy to read with colourful pictures! There are other dishes on offer, but we were here for one thing only – FRIED CHICKEN!

Between the 5 of us, we ordered THREE servings of fried chicken – overkill much? But it was necessary and I can’t tell you when the last time I had KFC! Started with the original – it was excellent, crispy skin and the meat was tender. Dragon absolutely loved it – I lost count how many fried chicken she ate, she just kept asking for more.

We also ordered half plain and half smothered in sweet and spicy sauce. The sweet and spicy sauce was a little too sweet for my liking, and believe it or not too spicy for me? Not sure what is going on with my taste buds!!!

We also ordered a serving of the garlic fried chicken – the garlic flavour was strong, even the next day when I ate it. The skin wasn’t as crispy though but the meat was still seriously tender.

Overall, I still prefer the normal fried chicken – like any other places the normal fried chicken is always the best. Service minimal but fried chicken was good!

GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10

Two Two Fried Chicken

6-4 Namsadong 2(i)-Ga

Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Ph: +86 2 2275 2297