Of all the markets we visited in Seoul in February and March, Tongin Market was the closest to where we were living. It also turned out to be the one least like the others. Gwangjang Market, Namdaemun Market, Cheongnyangni Market, Mangwon Market and the Noryangjin Fish Market are all markets first. Cheongnyangni and Mangwon markets are neighbourhood markets that include some food vendors. Namdaemun Market has famous food alleys but they’re really secondary to the real business of the market which is retail sales. Even Gwangjang Market with its prominent food alley is dominated by shopping during the day. And Norynangjin is a massive wholesale and retail seafood market with restaurants attached. Tongin Market, however, is different: it’s almost entirely about food vendors. It ended up therefore being a very different experience than all the other markets, feeling more like walking through an extended food court. We visited towards the end of February with a large group of students. This is what we found. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2024
Mizo Diner (Delhi, March 2024)
My Bombay food reports are done—see here for last week’s street/casual food round-up—but I still have quite a few to go from the subsequent five weeks we spent in Seoul. From Seoul we then went to Delhi for 12 days before returning to Minnesota this Wednesday. We didn’t eat out so very much in Delhi but I’m going to intersperse reports of those meals among the Seoul ones. First up, is a report on a lunch we ate at Mizo Diner in Humayunpur. In the unlikely event that you’ve been tracking my Delhi reports over the years, you’ll know that the North Eastern restaurant hub in Humayunpur in South Delhi has become one of my absolute favourite places to eat at in Delhi. Indeed, I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the city with such concentrated quality, regardless of cuisine. Our lunch at Mizo Diner only confirmed this view. I would go so far as to say that it might be the best of the meals we’ve eaten in Humayunpur, which is to say, it was very good indeed. It was also my favourite of our meals out on this Delhi trip, and the other places we ate at included some of our very favourite restaurants in the city. Here are the details. Continue reading
Kilchoman 10, 2006, for Clauso & Friends
One more review to close out the week in Islay whiskies and the month in whisky reviews. Like Monday’s Bowmore and Wednesday’s Ardbeg, this Kilchoman is an official release. It is not, however, one that was widely available: it was a single cask bottled for a private group, one of several casks from 2006 and 2007 that were privately bottled. The cask was a bourbon barrel. Bourbon barrels always make me worry about the possibility of too much vanilla etc. in the whisky, but, on the other hand, I do also really like bourbon cask Kilchoman; and so I’m also quite looking forward to this one. Let’s see where it falls.
Kilchoman 10, 2006 (57.9%; for Clauso & Friends; bourbon barrel 112/2006; from a bottle split)
Nose: A big wave of peat off the top, and it’s a mix of phenolic notes with charred woodsmoke and toasted cereals. On the second sniff there’s ink and more coastal notes below that (kelp, brine). Continues in this vein with some added sweetness (a touch of creme brulee). A few drops of water pull out quite a bit of citronella and meld it with the medicinal notes and the creme brulee. Continue reading
Namgyung (Seoul, February 2024)
Here, courtesy jet lag, is another quick report on a casual restaurant meal in Seoul. This was eaten in February and features Korean Chinese food. As you may know, like Indian Chinese food, Korean Chinese is its own hybrid cuisine. We don’t see very much of it in the Twin Cities but it’s very popular wherever Koreans live in large numbers—which is to say that it is very popular in Seoul as well. And dishes like jjangmyeon are iconic in the larger Korean culinary repertoire. Even though the missus loves Korean Chinese, we didn’t somehow particularly seek it out in Seoul—I guess there were lots of things we wanted to try there and some more often than others. Accordingly, this report of lunch at Namgyung is not of a meal at a lauded Korean Chinese restaurant, merely one that was convenient right after a lecture the missus had organize (on North Korean cinema) at the hostel at which my students were living in Yeongdeungpo. We took a bunch of the students with us to a late lunch after the talk. Here’s what we ate. Continue reading
Ardbeg 12, 1999, “Galileo”
I said on Monday that I’d be closing out the month with a week of reviews of single malt whiskies. I forgot to say that they’d all be Islay whiskies. On Monday I reviewed a relatively recently released Bowmore: the second release of the Bowmore Vault Edition. Today, I have a review of an Ardbeg released almost 12 years ago: the Ardbeg Galileo. This was Ardbeg’s special release for 2012, back when Ardbeg’s Feis Ile releases had just begun to take up residence in the realm of the ludicrous. The silly story attached to the Galileo was that a small amount of the whisky that went into it was sent into space at the end of 2011, purportedly to see how well it would mature in zero gravity conditions. Because that naturally was and remains a very relevant question for any contemporary distillery: as you know, we are on the verge of running out of gravity on Earth. Well, at least we can be secure in the knowledge that a corner of Islay will be prepared. It was also a controversial release among a sector of whisky geeks then on account of the ex-marsala cask content. This was clearly also well before proliferating cask folly made marsala cask maturation seem positively old-fashioned. Continue reading
Teumsae Ramyun (Seoul, March 2024)
I’d said I’d probably have a review today of one of our fine dining meals in Seoul. Yet again, I have lied to you. I have instead for you a review of a meal at almost the opposite end of the price spectrum, featuring ramyun (the Korean incarnation of ramen). This meal was eaten at the Anguk branch of Teumsae Ramyun, a chain which has been around several decades now. It is one of many similar restaurants all over the city (and the country) which serve cheap meals of packet ramyun that are further customized by the kitchen. Teumsae Ramyun has their own brand of ramyun which is used in their restaurants. They are known for their spicy ramen, which comes in three settings from low to high. They have a few versions of ramyun on the menu, along with a few options for gimbap, rice bowls and mandu/dumplings and that’s it. These are not restaurants to linger in. On weeknights they’re mostly filled with solo diners or pairs eating a quick, cheap meal on their way home from work. Well, we weren’t on our way home from work but we did also stop by on a weeknight. Here’s a quick report on how it went. Continue reading
Bowmore Vault Edition, Second Release
Alright, let’s close the month out with a week of single malt whiskies. And as the blog’s 11th anniversary was yesterday, let’s start with a Bowmore. [My first-ever review was of the lowly Bowmore Legend, and so I’ve marked every anniversary with a Bowmore review.] This is the second release of Bowmore’s Vault Edition and hit the market back in 2019. The Vault series was apparently intended to showcase different aspects of Bowmore’s character—I’m not sure if it’s still on the go—and the second edition emphasized peat smoke. It was matured in bourbon and then sherry casks. No word on age but the price on release was £70. This was down from the first edition’s original asking price of £100, which I guess might mean that even in the inflated market of recent years, drinkers are not uncritically buying up every official release from a name distillery no matter what ludicrous price is being asked for them. That said, I’ve no idea what the prices asked for later releases were. Let’s see if I like this one more than the Legend all those years ago. Continue reading
Some Casual/Street Food (Bombay, Jan-Feb 2024)
Here, finally, is my last food report from our time in Bombay from early January through the first third of February. It’s the only one of my eating-centered reports that is not an account of a single meal or multiple meals eaten at the same restaurant. Instead, this is a compendium of several far more casual meals eaten on the go over the course of our time there. It’s a mix of experiences: quick bites eaten on the street, things eaten as part of food tours, things eaten quickly at casual restaurants. A few of these things were among the best things I ate in the city, but almost all speak to an experience of eating in a city like Bombay that cannot be encapsulated in regular restaurant reviews but which is quite central to not just the story of food in Bombay but to the city’s larger cultural makeup. Continue reading
At Obok in Jongno-gu’s Bossam Alley (Seoul, March 2024)
The Seoul food content train rolls on, barreling from one food alley to another. On Thursday I posted a look at our lunch in Namdaemun Market‘s famous Hairtail Alley; today I have for you a look at another very well-established alley, albeit one not located in a market that is famous in its own right and not one that’s prominent on the tourist trail: Bossam Alley in Jongno-gu. Located not too far from a major street (Jong-ro) lined with massive office buildings, the alley nonetheless feels like it’s far away from the rush of Seoul. It takes up about 150 feet of Supyo-ro 20-gil and if you don’t know it’s there you could pass by none the wiser. You have to go a hundred feet or so into Supyo-ro 20-gil before it even begins. You’ll know you’re there when the alley suddenly narrows dramatically and there’s pig parts everywhere being cooked outside the restaurants that open from one side of the alley. We walked through the alley slowly and then picked a restaurant more or less at random: Obok. And I am happy to say that we had a very good meal there. Continue reading
La Luna, Ensamble
And here’s a third La Luna to close out this week of La Luna mezcals. Unlike, Monday’s and Wednesday’s bottles, this one is not made from a single variety of agave but is a blend or ensamble of three. Two are Tequilana and Manso Sahuayo (the varietals Monday and Wednesday’s mezcals were distilled from) and the third is Cupreata. This bottle, despite having a black label, is different, by the way, from the original “black label” with which La Luna launched, which was 100% Cupreata. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on some of that to try blending my own ensamble with different proportions of the three constituents. Anyway, let’s see what this one is like.
La Luna, Ensamble (46.12%; blend of Manso Sahuayo, Cupreata and Tequilana; from my own bottle)
Nose: A fairly balanced opening with some lime in the high notes, some vegetal bitterness in the low and a fair bit of sweeter fruit and a bit of smoke in the middle (charred pineapple). On subsequent sniffs it’s quite savoury. A few drops of water and…it doesn’t really change very much. Continue reading
Eating in Namdaemun Market’s Hairtail Alley (Seoul, February ’24)
One of the mental scars from my trip to Seoul in March 2023 was not being able to eat at Namdaemun Market‘s Hairtail Alley—an enclosed section of the market that features many, many small restaurants that specialize in galchi jorim or hairtail/beltfish/cutlassfish stew and other related dishes. I hasten to add that it’s not that some external force prevented me from eating there; only the rare exercising of personal good judgment. At that point in that trip I had eaten several excessive meals by myself and was not up to the task of eating an order of galchi jorim by myself. And so I left it to the Feb/March trip when I would have lots of company. Well, I am happy to say that I did go back to Hairtail Alley with lots of company on this trip, and that I ate galchi jorim (and other related dishes) and it was good. Herewith the details. Continue reading
La Luna, Manso Sahuayo
Mezcal week rolls on. You may recall that I am reviewing three mezcals from La Luna this week. On Monday I reviewed Lot 63 of their Tequilana. Today I have for you a review of Lot 23 of their Manso Sahuayo. Unlike Tequilana aka Blue Weber this is not a well-known agave variety or one that is in wide use. As per Mezcal Reviews it is an unclassified variety. I’m not sure if it’s found outside of Michoacán. It grows wild there but the plants used for La Luna’s mezcal are apparently cultivated. I have no idea what the typical yield from this variety is or what the characteristics of mezcal made from it are. It goes without saying that it is completely new to me and I’m curious to see what it’s like.
La Luna, Manso Sahuayo (48.51%, Lot 23; from my own bottle)
Nose: Less “green” and acidic than the Tequilana; quite a bit more earthy from the get-go, with a lot of decomposed leaves and damp earth. As it sits there’s some dill and some pine, and then some fruit begins to peep out (charred pineapple). With more time still, some savoury notes emerge (light ham brine). A touch of water and the lime and savoury notes expand a little. Continue reading
Kyochon (Seoul, March 2024)
We ate a decent amount of fried chicken in Seoul. This is, of course, the decent thing to do: fried chicken is an iconic Korean food. I’ve already reported on a more old-school-style fried chicken meal eaten at the Cheongnyangni traditional market. We also ate fried chicken in other market settings and also from the occasional street food stall on the go. This report, however, is on a meal at an outpost of a fried chicken chain, perhaps the most prominent one of them all: Kyochon. Established in 1991, Kyochon now has many, many franchise locations in South Korea and beyond, including a few in the US—though I believe the ones in the US are directly operated by the company. We ate at the location closest to us, not too far from the Bukchon Hanok Village. Here’s how it went. Continue reading
La Luna, Tequilana
It’s been a few weeks of nothing but whisky reviews. Let’s do another week of mezcal. This week’s reviews will all be of releases by La Luna. Based in the mountains of Michoacán, La Luna produces mezcal from a range of agave types and seems to be quite widely available in the US. I base this latter statement on the fact that their mezcals are easy to find in Minnesota, and ours is not a state where a lot of specialty booze is easily spotted on shelves. You can find out more about the company here. The first one I am reviewing this week is Lot 63 of their Tequilana made from Blue Weber agave and bottled at 48.51% (the abv varies by lot number). This is the same agave that is used in the production of tequila. You may have encountered the statement, “all tequila is mezcal but not all mezcal is tequila”; well, this mezcal may effectively be a tequila—though unlike most tequilas this is made in an artisanal manner with the agave cooked in ovens and very long fermentation times and so on. Let’s see what it’s like. Continue reading
Slink & Bardot (Bombay, February 2024)
Here, finally, is the long-promised last formal restaurant report from our time in Bombay. We were there from the middle of the first week of January to the middle of the second week of February. There was a lot of eating out, most of which has been chronicled already on the blog. Those who’ve been reading along know that the majority of those meals were in more or less traditional restaurants. The one exception in my reports so far was The Bombay Canteen, where I ate twice. The other was Slink & Bardot, a restaurant in Worli where I also ate dinner twice. This report is on the second meal. Continue reading
Royal Brackla 22, 1994 (G&M for Binny’s)
Let’s close out highlands distilleries week with another pick for Binny’s in Chicago. Unlike Wednesday’s Teaninich, this one was bottled by Gordon & MacPhail and while it’s also from a hogshead, it’s from a refill sherry hogshead. The distillery is another that I’ve not reviewed very many malts from: Brackla, or as they style themselves, Royal Brackla. After this review I will have reviewed only two more Bracklas than I have malts distilled by Ardnarmurchan (see Monday’s review). Well, I hope this one—which is older than both the two previous combined—will be quite a lot better than either: this has not been a great week so far on the blog for highland malts. The portents are good. The last Brackla I reviewed was also a Gordon & MacPhail pick for Binny’s and I liked it a lot—I reviewed that one four and a half years ago. And I also quite liked the first one I reviewed—that was almost 11 years ago, only a few weeks after I started this blog. Where does the time go? Anyway, let’s see what this one is like. Continue reading
Teaninich 10, 2007 (Signatory for Binny’s)
This week of reviews of malts from highlands distilleries began on Monday with a young release from a new distillery I had never tried before: Ardnamurchan. It continues today with a malt from a much older distillery: Teaninich. I’ve not reviewed so very many malts from Teaninich either—there is not a massive amount of it about—but I’m always happy to have encounter one of them in my glass. This one is another single cask bottled by Signatory for Binny’s in Chicago. It’s a hogshead, which is good news as that austere northern highlands style that Teaninich is part of shines best from bourbon casks. Anyway, let’s see if it’s shining here.
Teaninich 10, 2007 (58.5%; Signatory for Binny’s; hogshead 702710; from a bottle split)
Nose: A sweet arrival with cereals and apple; some wet wool in there too. On the second sniff there’s some honey and some simple syrup; behind it there’s some hot tarmac and some wet stones. With time the simple syrup trumps the fruit. Water tames the simple syrup a bit and brings out some cream. Continue reading