Lots of places will serve up a plate of decent ddokpokki, but very few use fresh peppers to liven up their sauce. While not blisteringly hot, high-quality peppers lift this sauce from the ordinary to magnificent, enough to bring a little burn but not enough to make you sweat. The ddeok themselves are served on the unadorned and on the al dente side, so let them know if you’d like something a little softer and less chewy.

The specialty here are the twigim (튀김: fried foods). Their crispy, crunchy, eggy batter is enlivened with just a bit of rosemary for an wonderful hint of herb. Another sign that this is a cut above the usual standing snacking is the fresh seafood and vegetables that go into their fry. Tender, wonderfully soft squid fried up here will make you forget the boring blandishments of ordinary calamari. The shrimp were another standout, perfectly cooked just to the point of doneness so you can taste the sweetness of them while you appreciate the soft flesh.

Sesame leaves and peppers are stuffed with an mixture of meat, tofu, and kimchi for a crispy, meaty mouthful both savory and herbaceous. There’s no doubt that the people behind the counter at Sak have been working hard to make sure their seasoning and stuffings were just so. But one of the most spectacular items of the evening was the fried seaweed rolls. Most places just soak some tangmyeon (탕면: glass noodles/cellophane noodles/sweet potato noodles – the same kind you see in japchae) in water or broth, roll them up in a bit of kim, and fry them up without a second thought. Not at Sak; this place uses sweet, tender noodles that have been infused with some of the rich meat flavor of the best japchae. They have both sweetness and umami in a rich little roll, exquisitely tender inside, wrapped in the crispy-chewy kim, and finally fried up in the same shatteringly crisp batter as the other twigim. This is what snack food should be! What could possibly make it any more perfect?

Beer! Yes, unlike most bunshik places, Sak serves up a limited menu of sodas (including Dr. Pepper, Welches, and other relatively hard-to-find fizzes) and beers at reasonable prices. Wash down your ‘pokki and fry with a bit of beer or a swig of soda as you sit back and relax at the small counter inside the main doors or in the seating area one door down. Entertain yourself by reading the post-it notes left by countless counter-sitters before you as you sit back and chow down, or grab some to go.

Get to Sak by taking line 6 to Sangsu Station (상수역) and walking straight out of exit one. It’ll be just a few meters down on the right-hand side. Prices are modest, running about 700 won for a piece of twigim, about 2000 for a serving of ddeokpokki, and 1-5000 for drinks. Two can easily stuff themselves here for less than 10,000.

HT to Zen Kimchi and the extraordinary Eun-jeong for pointing this place out.

Within the neatly segmented interior space, a variety of seating options give a choice between snuggling on a sofa, sitting Korean style on the floor, or sitting at more conventional tables and chairs. A differently designed space might have trouble accommodating the different styles, but clever adaptation of the existing structure gives Song’s Kitchen a homey, organic feel.

Equally eclectic but comforting is their take on food. While the menu is limited and mostly aimed at folks who are nibbling and noshing their way home after work, most of what’s there is competently executed. Italian fare like pizza and pasta stand alongside seafood and kimchi fried rice and a warming mess of ddeok, seafood, and cheese inside an whole roasted pumpkin set the tone for hearty snacks to share with coworkers and friends. While not exceptionally sophisticated or creative, the food matches the cheery atmosphere well, and the drink list even better. Tea, juice, and coffee sit side by side with a limited wine and beer list, and a funky set of cocktails. While most places concentrate on trendy mixed drinks, the most interesting mixes here tend to be beer based, including Fatman’s favorite coffee beer combo (although their sangria ain’t half bad either . . .)

Desserts here are a little bit funkier, a little bit more fun than the usual waffle and ice cream combos. Sure, there’s topped waffles here to satisfy your sweet tooth, but a little more care has gone into their creation. Instead of going with the fad for dense, bread-y, overcooked “Belgian” waffles slathered with syrups and topped with whatever sweets were on hand, the Song’s Kitchen rendition shows a little more style. The waffles are smaller and thinner than the competition, but miles away in texture and taste. They may not have the plumpness of a Belgian waffle, nor the airiness of the street waffles, but they have the right balance of fluff and butter to make for an outstanding compromise. And unlike most, they stay tender and slightly chewy instead of instantly settling into gummy awfulness. The fruit selection that comes with them is very fresh and leans towards the tart rather than sweet, and the organic ice cream on the side is a smooth balancing touch that keeps from overloading the palate. The baked apple ring on top lends a little needed crunch to the proceedings.

Prices here are middling, with most entrees running in the 15-20,000 won range since the food is expected to be shared. Plates meant for individuals run a more modest 5-10,000 won, as do desserts. Drink prices are typical, with beer and cocktails running around 5-10,000 each, and wines starting about 30,000 a bottle.

To get to Song’s Kitchen, take line 4 to Hanseong University. Go straight out exit 6, and walk for approximately twenty minutes. Song’s Kitchen is below the elevated walkway on the right hand side, with the roof sign visible from the road.

위험: 과학 내용!
diet coke + mentos candy = FUN!

and for the explanation of why it works, we turn to Adam and Jamie of Mythbusters in this link.

Here at FatManSeoul we want to bring you the good, the bad, and the just plain weird of the food world. One way of doing this is by eating and drinking things that you may be curious about, but sensibly aren’t willing to try without giving it to a guinea pig first. Consider us here your personal lab animals, out to try the best, worst, and strangest of the foods out there.

In this edition, we put our tongue on the line to try the newest in Korean milk innovations:

파스퇴르 맛있는 치즈우유

Yes, that’s right: Cheese and milk, together again in one creamy drink.

Cheddar AND cream cheese have been re-united with their mother product, milk, for a creamy, cheesy drink. We’re not sure if that’s a good idea or a bad one, but the execution here is indisputably bad. Mind you, not horrifically bad. Just pretty bad. Bad enough that we predict it will vanish from the few minimart shelves it’s appeared on within a few weeks.

That little cartoon cheese on the front lied! It assured us it was very delicious!

Instead, it’s just an insipid combination of milk and flavoring so neutral as to be pointless. It could just have well have been banana milk. In fact, that’s what it bore closest resemblance to: Slimy, tasteless banana milk with that odd mouth-coating essence that marks it as undoubtedly artificial. If you like banana milk, well . . . it might taste ok, but wouldn’t you rather just have banana milk? If you don’t like banana milk, you have no reason to drink this.

Purchased at Buy the Way for 1200 won, and boy, don’t we regret it!