Here is this week’s Seoul report. It is of a meal at a restaurant we’d wanted to eat at on our longer stay in February/March 2024 but had failed to do so: Tosokchon Samgyetang. We had wanted to eat there because we are big fans of samgyetang, the stew/soup of chicken stuffed with rice, ginseng root, jujubes etc. and Tosokchon Samgyetang is a renowned purveyor of the titular dish; also, they were/are located within walking distance of the serviced apartment we put up at on these longer stays. Why then did we fail to eat there in 2024? Who knows? The important thing is that we ate there on this trip; and it did not disappoint. Herewith a quick look at the meal.

Tosokchon is a traditional restaurant. I mean this both in terms of its aesthetic—inside and out—and in terms of their menu. The former features traditional hanok architecture and for the very limber the option of traditional seating in one of their several dining rooms; the latter means they have very little on their menu: a few different versions of samgyetang and just a few other things. It’s a very large restaurant, with several dining rooms around a central courtyard and a smaller satellite location across the street. Thus even though you are guaranteed to have to wait in a long line when you arrive, this line will move very fast. This line will also have several tourists in it. This is both on account of the restaurant’s fame and on account of its proximity to Gyeongbokgung Palace. The significant tourist fraction of the clientele also means that the menu has a lot of English on it and includes instructions on how to eat samgyetang. Which is all good if you’re eating there without a Korean speaker in your party.

The other good news is that the food is not in any way altered for a non-Korean palate. As I noted, the menu is very focussed. You can get samgyetang with regular chicken or with black silky fowl; for a little more money you can either of those versions with extra ginseng and other medicinal ingredients. In all four cases you will receive a bowl with an entire chicken inside it. We got two of these bowls to share among us: one with the regular chicken and one with the black chicken. We also got a roast/rotisserie chicken and because you have to order one item per person in your group, we also got an order of haemul pajeon (seafood and green onion pancake).

The food all came out pretty quickly. The banchan selection is limited—the focus, again, is on samgyetang and its accoutrements. Among these are little shot glasses of ginseng liquor. They gave us one each but then took one away—presumably they thought the older boy was of age; more for me. The menu instructions say you should sip on the liquor as you eat; I did so at first (be warned: it’s quite bitter) but then followed the lead of an older Korean woman at an adjoining table and poured the rest into my soup—and quite liked the addition.

It’s not a place to linger. It’s big and full and the focus is on getting people into their seats, getting their food to them and then getting them out. That was fine with us. We finished up, paid and walked home.

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

The total came to 81,000 won or just about $54 at the current exchange rate. A good value for the meal.

Okay, I got this report in with five minutes to go on Saturday in Minnesota. That means I am on track for the week’s reports and so will have another report for you tomorrow—in about 18 hours or so. That will be from Los Angeles in December.