FatManSeoul

One of the few festivals not cancelled is the Buddhist Food Festival this weekend in Suwon ~ check it out! (영어와 한국어)

The Chosun Ilbo reminds you how to set your 차례상 (영어링크) and tells us that while wine’s on the wane, ginseng is the gift to have given.

The Korea Herald profiles one of Fatman’s favorite 막걸리집 and talks about new takes on traditional drinks.

For those of you feeling like ordering in, Kiss My Kimchi is compiling a master list of food delivery numbers, including all your favorite pizza, chicken, and fast food places.

Note:  This review also appears in Groove Magazine.

Italian food is very hit or miss in Seoul. While there’s lots of competant pasta and pizza places, there are few that strive for any real authenticity.

Giacomo in Gambyeon is a true treasure. An absolutely authentic Italian restaurant, run by CIA-trained Chef Lee Bong-shik, the food here stands head and shoulders above the typical Italian place found in Seoul. Although well off the beaten path in terms of location, Lee has turned this unconventional location into a lovely, well appointed space for casual dining. Everyone from business people at dinner meetings to families with children to couples on a romantic date can be found there, enjoying the delicious food, tasteful décor, and the entertainment of the open kitchen and projection-screen showing opera. Read the rest of this entry »

Fatman hopes you’re all enjoying a wonderful 추석 (chuseok), and chowing down on all sorts of delights. As part of the festivities, we (recycle and re)offer this guide to the most important part of the holiday: 차례 (charye), or the ritual offerings of food and drink to the ancestors. Most importantly, we show you how to deck the halls with boughs of 차레 foods and treat you and your genetic predecessors right. Enjoy your holiday, whether you’re out in the countryside with your family or hanging out in the strangely empty Seoul.
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Well, ok, make that more like 8 doughnuts.  Dunkin’ Donuts is going global by introducing 6 new donuts and 2 croquettes to their lineup:  Greek yogurt filled (Greece – who’dve  thunk it!), lentil curry croquette and chocolate glazed with lentils donut (India), kimchi croquette (Korea), olive oil and garlic donut and coffee roll (Spain), and the bean old fashioned and bean filled donuts of Japan.

muchas gracias, dunkin' donuts!

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Finding delicious food in Seoul is never a problem.  Finding delicious, organic food can be a challenge worthy of Hercules.

한국에서 맛있는 음식 찾는 것은 쉽지만, 맛있는 유기농 음식을 찾기에는 헤라클레스의 힘만큼의 노력이 필요합니다.

Eco밥상 sets the standard high, though, with a twist on the standards that not only makes them tasty, but environmentally friendly and healthy.  While the menu tends towards the traditional, the way in which they come out is often a little bit different than the average hanshik joint.

Eco밥상은 높은 수준의 음식을 제공하지만 약간의 형식에서 벗어나 맛있을 뿐 아니라 친환경적이고 건강한 음식을 제공합니다. 전통적인 한식이지만, 음식이 나오는 방식이 일반 한식집에서 볼 수 있는 것과는 약간 다릅니다. 최근 주목 받고 있는 경복궁 서쪽 지역에 자리잡고 있으며 Eco밥상은 먹는 사람들이 음식에 집중할 수 있도록 조용하고 안락한 공간을 만들었습니다. 이 음식점에서의 특별 메뉴는 바로 여기 보시는 닭고기, 인삼, 깍지콩으로 만든 죽이지만, 다른 음식도 이 음식 못지않게 맛있습니다.

Located in the up-and-coming area to the west of Gyeongbuk Palace, Eco밥상 has carved out a quiet, low key space where diners are encouraged to concentrate on the food.  The specialty here is a porridge made from chicken, ginseng, and green beans, but other foods shine equally bright.

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Fatman의 사진에 대하여…

최근에 우리는 우리가 찍은 사진에 대해 몇 가지 질문을 받았습니다. 그래서 우리의 촬영방법에 대해서 간략하게 소개할까 합니다. 첫 번째는, 우리의 장비입니다.

We’ve fielded a few questions recently about our photography, and we thought we’d make a brief post talking about how we shoot. First of all, our equipment:

gracias, Nikon!

We use the Nikon D60, one of their entry-level DSLRs aimed at the casual user. While we sometimes use the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II because it’s light and easy to haul around for long slogs, our workhorse lense is the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO.

우리는 DSLR을 처음 사용하는 일반 사용자들을 위해 출시된 니콘 D60을 씁니다.

가끔 AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II을 쓰기도 하는데, 이 이유는 장시간 동안 일을 할 때 가볍고 쉽게 들고 다닐 수 있어서 입니다. 참고로, 우리가 주로 사용하는 렌즈는 Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO 입니다.

When absolutely needed and not disruptive to other diners, we sometimes haul out our Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash.

가끔은 음식점에 있는 다른 사람들에게 피해를 주지 않기 위해서 니콘 Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash를 쓰기도 합니다.

We do post-process our photos through a variety of programs, but primarily GIMP. Post processing is generally minimal, with minor adjustments to things like white balance and color so the food you see in the photos looks like the food we actually ate.

우리는 사진을 게재하기 위해 다양한 프로그램을 사용하지만 주로 GIMP를 씁니다. 일반적으로 게재하는 과정에 있어서는 화이트 밸런스나 색깔만 조금 수정하기 때문에 여러분이 사진을 통해 보시는 음식들은 실제 보이는 것과 별반 다르지 않습니다.

Translation by Jiseon

This amazing infographic comes to us from the online magazine, GOOD:

GOOD is good!

Also be sure to check out their Picture Show:  Visions of Fast Food and tons of other fascinating food related posts on their website (which we found via Serious Eats.  감사합니다!)

Fatman and Zen Kimchi recieved a very gracious invitation to dine at the W Hotel  (of X Burger fame) for an evening of contemporary Korean cuisine. Nobody with tastebuds and the sense God gave geese would turn down an invitation like that, so off we skipped for a truly remarkable dinner . . .

The night started off with special cocktails invented for the evening, both based on munbaesul (문배술) ~ this traditional distilled alcohol is said to have a scent remeniscent of pear blossoms. For the record, there is no place in Seoul more swank than the Woo Bar of the W. If you are looking to impress a date, this is the place. We should mention as well the very knowledgeable and charming staff here, all of whom are every bit as lovely as the drinks. Read the rest of this entry »

Fried rice is a fabulous way to bid random leftovers goodbye, but what do you do when you want the deliciousness of fried rice but have already consumed every wilting cabbage, every softening carrot, every slowly spoiling egg in your refridgerator? Have no fear, Fatman is here to give you a special recipie for making delicious fried rice sans leftovers:
Ramyeon-fried rice!

You’ll need:

a cup or two of cooked rice (as old as possible. If your rice is fresh, stick it in the fridge, uncovered, for a bit to try and replicate that “oh, look, leftover chinese food!” feeling)

a half packet of ramen soup mix

the veggie packet from the ramen mix (if in a seperate package from the soup mix)

a splash of oil

and if you’re so inclined:
wegetables, cheese, sesame oil, eggs, etc . . . all the accoutrements are as welcome here as in any fried rice recipe.

Heat the oil (carefully!) in a frying pan. Add a dash of the seasoning packet to the oil, then dump in the rice. Howl in pain when you’ve splattered the hot, spicy oil all over yourself. Run to the bathroom and run cold water over your burns. Run back to the kitchen when you realize the oil is smoking and your rice is seconds from incineration. Stir, stir, stir like mad until the oil has coated the rice. Sprinkle a little more seasoning into the rice, and keep mixing. This keeps the rice from burning and spreads out the seasoning. Keep tasting to make sure you don’t over-season. Then, just when you think you’ve got it perfect, decide to add just a touch more, sneeze, and spill the entire remaining contents of the spice package into the pan. If the veggies come seperate, put them in a cup and add a little hot water. After about a minute, drain excess water and add them to the pan. Toss the rice around in the pan, trying to be dramatic and cool like the chefs on TV, then spill it all on the burner. Frantically scrape the spilled stuff onto a plate, turn off the gas (you did turn off the gas, didn’t you? OH NO!), and enjoy having combined two of the least healthy Korean foods in existance.

Voila ~ incredibly unhealthy, over-seasoned fried rice. It’s an MSG fiesta for your plate! 맛있게 드세요!

Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow digs mixin’ it up with Korean food, apparently.