Alright, let’s move over from Japan to Seoul and move a little closer in time to the present. We went from Japan to Seoul last July but this is not a report from that visit, all of which have already been posted. This is a report from the five weeks we spent in Seoul this spring on the longer trip we were there to set up last summer. We ate out a fair bit during these five weeks and I have a lot of reports to post. There were a few high-end meals in there but the majority were, by and large, in the affordable end of the spectrum. I’m going to try to get them out more or less chronologically. Here therefore is an account of eating at the first restaurant we visited on this trip, though it encompasses two meals: the first, a dinner eaten a few hours after arrival and the second, a lunch eaten a few weeks later.

We were staying in Insadong again on this trip and on our first night we did not go very far from our serviced apartment. We walked two streets over to the Insadong culture street and looked for a likely place that was open. This is not a part of town that has many restaurants that stay open late and so we went into the first place that would have us: Gossine Donghae Makguksu. This is a branch of a restaurant located on the ocean in Gangneung on the east coast. I don’t recall this Insadong branch (which I think might be the only branch) being open on our last visit. It was barely open when we arrived: they let us in only on the promise that we would be done quickly. We joined the few people finishing up their dinners and were pretty much the last to leave.

It’s a large and attractive restaurant, with three dining areas arranged around a central kitchen. All the ordering and paying is done via a tablet at the tables. We hadn’t really paid attention to the copious signage outside the restaurant and so pretty much focussed on getting a few of our favourite dishes. Appetites were not super high after some long flights (I had arrived from Bombay, the missus and boys from Minnesota a few hours later) and so we ordered three things between the four of us: galbi-tang, soondubu jigae and a set that paired a large bowl of mul-naengmyeon with a small order of sliced boiled pork and kimchi. We didn’t really have any expectations and were very pleasantly surprised by how good everything was—particularly the soondubu-jigae and the naengmyeon, which had an interesting savoury quality. As we were leaving we finally read the signage by the door carefully and realized we had not ordered any of their signature dishes. But we’d liked the food enough to want to come back again later and so resolved to try those dishes on our next visit.

That occurred three or four weeks later; on this occasion we were accompanied by a few of our students. The restaurant was far more full for weekday lunch than it had been for a late Sunday dinner. We got a table at the most interior of the three dining areas and quickly got down to business. We started with one of their signature dishes to share: noodle gimbap. Yes, this is “gimbap” which replaces the usual rice/bap in the seaweed rolls with noodles. They come with a variety of fillings and toppings (and even noodle varieties). We got the version with spicy fishcake and it was really quite good. Also excellent was their signature makguksu (on the English menu it’s listed as “perilla oil noodles”) made with buckwheat and tossed with a light dressing. It’s served with a kettle of cold savoury broth and I upset the missus by adding more of it to my noodles than she said I should have. No regrets. Also on the table were galbi-tang (once again), two orders of a stone pot bibimbap with grilled eel, and a large casserole of bulgogi in broth with vegetables and noodles. This was placed on a burner at the table and we cooked it to our liking. All of this was very good as well.

For a look at the restaurant and what we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

Price? Quite reasonable. The first meal cost the four of us $39; the second meal cost $78 for seven of us. A very good deal for the quality and I would recommend the restaurant highly if you are doing touristy things in Insadong and vicinity.

Alright, coming up next this weekend will be another Los Angeles report. And then we get back—hopefully—to the four catch-up reports a week schedule: one from Delhi/Bombay on Mondays, one from the Twin Cities on Wednesdays, one from Seoul/Japan on Fridays and one from Los Angeles on Sundays. By the end of the month I should be done with the Los Angeles reports and will then start doubling up on the Delhi/Bombay reports to speed getting those out as well.