Given how identified Korean fried chicken (KFC) is these days with Korean food, it might surprise you to learn that its popularity, particularly in combination with chilled beer (chimaek, as the combo is known), is a relatively new thing—probably arising in the late-70s at the earliest and not really becoming hugely popular—as a combination—until a couple of decades later. That said, it is very much an iconic thing now and the country is dotted both with outlets of many, many popular chains (all seemingly excellent) as well as many stand-alone restaurants that serve up chilled beer, fried chicken, and other things to eat with chilled beer. Walking around the city, especially later in the evening, you can see a number of these smaller establishments with younger people eating and drinking outdoors. We passed one such place, Chicken House, a number of times while walking late in the evening near Anguk subway station and finally repaired there for dinner one weekend after taking in the lantern festival near the Jogyessa Temple. Here’s a quick look. Continue reading →