FatManSeoul

Yukhoi is where it’s at!  Don’t let its reputation as an iffy selection at the wedding hall buffet line stop you from enjoying its sweet pleasures.

There’s few foods in the world that feel as luxurious as an elegant serving of Korean-style steak tartare, and even fewer that are as easy to make.  But while the effort is small, the reward is enormous. Read the rest of this entry »

The only thing better than eating a delicious wrap filled with tender morsels of snail is getting served the same by swearin’ granny.

Yokjengi Halmoni Jip specializes in a pond snail cuisine. Read the rest of this entry »

The joys of country markets:

Bags of dried peppers and different grades of pepper powder fill the air with a spicy tingle and bring a welcome touch of fall color now that most of the leaves have fallen.

One of the great things about old-fashioned markets is the sesame oil vendor. Sesame seed oil is an essential ingredient in Korean cooking, and so having a vendor who presses the seeds fresh every day is a wonderful thing to have in your local area. Read the rest of this entry »

Fatman has long lamented the lack of lactose-loaded treats in Korea*, so we were happy to hear that Lotteria had made a new contribution to the field:  Behold the power of cheese balls!

Um . . . Lotteria? Where’s the rest of it? We don’t mean to be ungrateful, but these cheese balls are roughly the diameter of a 100 won coin. Ok, they’re slightly tastier than loose change, but considering this little set costs 2000 won, you think they’d at least be closer in size to the 500 won coin that each tiny little ball of fried industrial-grade mozzarella and batter cost? It’s like Lotteria mozzarella sticks, only with less actual cheese. They don’t even fill up the pathetic little paper tray.

Since they’re so small and pitiful, they don’t stay hot and gooey very long. They’re only about a bite-worth each, so if you misjudge the timing you’re likely to get a mouthful of very painfully hot cheese or rubbery, cold, awful cheese. Take your pick - or better yet, if you absolutely must go with some kind of fast food cheese offering, stick to the sticks.

*we’ve also lamented the lack of alliteration . . .

For those of you who just can’t manage to down an entire can of beer on your own, Hite has a solution to your woes: the Mini-Hite!

Now you can play Goldilocks and figure out exactly which Hite size is right for you: The big poppa Hite clocks in at 500 ml, the normal momma Hite at 355 ml, or the petite baby Hite at a teeny-tiny 250ml?

Oh My News에서 빼빼로 데이 역사 설명!  And a little wikipedia-lovin’ here (영어) and here (한국어).  Gotta love those completely commercial holidays invented out of the whole cloth!   And of course, the 빼빼로 홈피!

City-slick Korean chicks know what media to watch for the best and brightest of what’s to be - and for years the bible to what was popular in the states was Sex and The City.  Whatever it was to American women, whatever the controversy and silliness, young Korean women understood it as a benchmark of what was trendy.  And so when Charlotte was seen strolling arm and arm with her sweetie and a sweet treat, it became inevitable that Tasti D-Lite would find its way here to Korea . . .

And so it has. Read the rest of this entry »

Set in the picturesque area near Hanseong University, Song’s Kitchen is an old converted hanok nestled into a hollow, making for an almost Brigadoon-like space of cute kitsch. This cosy, artsy space plays host not just to a large collection of ceramic, glass, and ticky-tacky, but also to an impressive open kitchen that turns out Italianate Korean comfort food, some interesting cocktails, and a sweet set of desserts. Read the rest of this entry »

Gourmet magazine has more that just some delightful soju aperitifs in the latest issue - they also took a jaunt to Seoul’s very own Noryangjin Fish Market. Check it out!

image from Gourmet Magazine