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.

After removing ourselves from the bar to the restaurant, we were treated to a multi-course meal of some of the most elegant food we’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. The meal was ambitious in that it sought to present Korean food as high class dining. Can we move beyond 5,000won 됀장찌개 without resorting to the stale cliches of half than 한정식 places in town? What kind of preparation and presentation would work to elevate Korean food into something that can be not just internationalized, but take the world in the same way that haute French cuisine has? Is it even possible?
Ask Fatman. We tasted the future of Korean cuisine that night at the W, and it is delicious!

Fatman’s love of 육회 is well documented, and this rendition was superlative. “Beef tartare” it may be on the menu, but this particular combination of flavors was all Korean. It was paired with Fatman’s favorite tipple of the evening, a sparkling “Opere Brut” from NV Villa Santi. While we never would have thought to pair a spumante with steak tartare, we loved the combination of the silky meat with this wine ~ it was both soft and crisp at the same time, like a tutu.

From there on, the menu turned into a guessing game, matching the W’s version against more traditional renditions of Korean dishes. Any guesses what this was?

Need a closer look? This was one of the most visually stunning dishes of the evening, with a beautiful structural element to the presentation.

Fried ginseng, chestnut, ginko nuts, jujube, wrapped in chicken . . . one dip in the gloriously rich, medicinal broth leaves its provenance as samgyetang in no doubt. Other elements of the traditional meal were brought in, but in exceedingly clever ways, like the black garlic paste on the side of the soup plate that lent the dish a little extra something.

The flavor profile is exactly that of the traditional stuffed spring chicken, but refined and tailored to a much more modern, sophisticated palate.

The next plate brought abalone risotto and chili marinated black cod, for a hot-and-mild combination. On its own, the risotto was creamy and nice, but a little underwhelming and mild. However, paired with the marvelous zing of the chili marinated cod, it worked as great soothing counter. The black cod may well have been the highlight of the evening, with a riveting sweet smokey note underneath the spice of the marinade.


The next course could serve as an object lesson for those who feel that Korean food lacks the potential for sophistication and refinement. It doesn’t get much more refined than this gorgeous seafood soup. It took a few moments to register as a variation on 매운탕, but once made, the connection was unmistakeable.

The broth had a magnificent layered seafood taste, and the seafood itself had a fresh, clean taste that really put the dish into the category of extraordinary. The individual elements all held their own, distinctive, but worked together in a way that trademarks Korean fish stews. Between the fish, the shellfish, the greens, and the little bits of ddeok tucked away underneath, it covered a whole range of textures, as well. It also had the most wonderfully fragrant wine of the evening, a 2006 Daniel Rion & Fils Bourgogne. It was a stronger wine than the bouquet suggested, and stood up to the spice, but we don’t want to drink it so much as bathe in it.

Having turned up the heat with the last few dishes, Hickey and co. cooled things off with a palate refreshing sorbet that took inspiration from sujeonggwa, the ginger, cinnamon, and persimmon punch of yore. With just a hint of rice wine underneath, this did the trick perfectly, bringing the tastebuds back to readiness with the switch in flavors, temperature, and texture. Now that we’d had a bit of a break, it was time to get down to business: Beefy business.

Let the reign of 한우 begin! Bring on the Korean beef!

The hanwoo appeared three different ways on a single plate: As a meltingly soft sirloin, slow cooked short-rib, and a stuffed zucchini. Of the three, the rich sirloin was the most western of the three in taste and presentation, but let that not dissuade you ~ it was like eating beef flavored butter, a hunk of pure meat. Stuffed vegetables of any kind offer a challenge, but the zucchini offered a nice touch of freshness and helped keep things from being to heavily meat-oriented. Finally, the slow cooked short ribs were a decadent, wonderful version of the traditional 갈비찜: soft, tender, and richly flavored.

But on to dessert . . . Chef Hickey and his team really showed their committment to and knowledge of local ingredients here at the end, starting with their pepper poached Naju pears and black sesame ice cream.

The pear was beautiful, offset by just a hint of spice from the peppercorns, but the real star was the glorious black sesame ice cream. Cool, creamy ice cream was the perfect showpiece for the rich nuttiness of the sesame, enhanced by a crisp sesame cookie. Uniting both the ice cream and the pear in a single bite made for a particularly fruitful pearing, with the slightly spicy pear working as an exciting foil for the creamy, nutty ice cream.

The evening concluded with tea, coffee, and some surprising petite fours. While petite four conjurs up images of grandma-esque miniature cakes with bad frosting, these were gorgeous Jeju hallabong jellies, these were like condensed sunshine.

Fatman would like to thank the W Hotel and the staff of the Kitchen and Woo Bar again for an amazing dining experience. Seoul offers many delicious things to eat, but few so comprehensive, so elegant, or so beautifully prepared and served. We very much hope that this evening was a token of things to come, a promissory note of more Korean notes from the W Hotel and Korean food as a whole.

To read a Korean review of the evening, let us point you to the fine food blogging of 김범수 of 팟투바하의 ‘맛있는’ 라이프 스타일. Bon appetite!

For even more pictures of the meal (what?  are you saying you don’t take hundreds of pictures of what you eat?) visit our flickr page.
(we’d also like to apologize for the unforgivable delay in getting this up! mea culpa!)

Enter the Egg.

This quiet little coffee shop is off the camera-toting couple-clogged main drag, making it a tiny little haven housed in colonial-period homeyness.  Cute without being too cutesy, this cafe has plenty to offer in terms of tea and coffee, alongside a modest collection of tipples and treats.   Especially worthy of note are their traditional tisanes made from quince, jujube, and maeshil:  all of theirs are made in-house and are really exquisite, with a much deeper flavor than most places can achieve.  Coffee and espresso drinks here are competently done, so don’t worry about burned or stale beans ruining your cappuccino fix (note:  foam here tends to be on the dry side, if that’s your thing.)

Egg also has a modest menu of sandwiches, sweets, and brunch items as well as snacks to accompany any alcoholic indulgences you may chose to make from their short wine and beer list.  Sandwiches are very Korean in style with a slightly sweet edge, but well loaded with meats, veggies, and condiments and can be had in set menus that are almost a bargain among the overpriced restaurants of the district.

More interesting and strangely compelling are some of their pancakes, including one that includes every part of breakfast baked all together:

Bacon is baked into the pancake itself, which in turn is topped with cheese and egg drizzled with maple syrup.  The sweet and savory elements meld together for an unusual but decidedly delicious take on the typical breakfast plate.

Nonalcoholic drinks such as their excellent teas and coffee begin at 4000 won, with meals beginning from about 6000. Expect to shell out 5000 or more for a bottle of beer, and wines start around 20,000 won.
To find Egg, turn right out of exit 1 from Anguk Station. Take another right at the first street, and continue north along the stone-walled road. Egg will be just past the high school and middle school, on the left-hand side, almost directly across from 먹쉬돈나

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.