명동 Myeongdong 明洞 @Seoul, South Korea

One of the most popular shopping district in Seoul, 명동 Myeongdong 明洞 is a great place for eating and shopping. We popped over here quite a few times, both in the day and the night, and did some shopping (lugged back tons of face masks), and lots of eating (plenty of restaurants and street food). Happy people, less happy wallet, less less happy feet 😛

It was surprisingly quiet during the day, perhaps due to the period that we went, and it felt relatively stress-free. The crowd appeared when the street market opened in the evening.

In addition to 놀부Nolboo Budae Jjigae 樂伯部隊鍋 and 오우가 Ouga 五友歌, we have also tried:

명동교자 Myeongdong Kyoja 明洞餃子:

This place is famous for 칼국수 (Kalguksu) Knife-cut Noodles, and 만두 (Mandu) Steamed Dumplings, as evident from what we saw at everyone’s table, but we only had stomach for 1, and decided to share a basket of 만두 (Mandu) Steamed Dumplings (₩10,000 for 10).

The dumplings came within a minute upon ordering 😮

We were quite impressed with the thin dumpling skin and the generous fillings of juicy meat and vegetables.

There are 2 branches in Myeongdong, and we happened to chanced upon the main branch. See their website for details.

오설록 O’sulloc Tea House O’雪綠 Tea House:

Our legs were close to breaking from all the walking, and shopping when we spotted this place, and I was so happy to have finally found a tea place 🙂

Got myself a 녹차라떼더블 (Nokcha Ratte Deobeul) Green Tea Latte Double Shot 綠茶拿鐵雙份濃縮 (₩6,500), and I found it strong, slightly bitter, yet soothing.

The seats upstairs were also pretty comfortable, so we stayed here while our friend went for more last minute shopping spree…

Note that there is also a retail section on the ground floor, see their website for more details.

Coffee 1896:

We chanced upon this place while checking out the famous money changer in Myeongdong. Tried the 카페라떼 (Kape Ratte) Cafe Latte 拿鐵 (₩4,000), and 블루베리 라떼 (Beulluberi Ratte) Blueberry Latte 藍莓拿鐵 (₩4,500).

Both were pretty decent, but not really memorable.

이삭토스트 Isaac Toast

This is apparently a super popular and budget-friendly sandwich chain, with more than 700 outlets in South Korea (website, Facebook). With 7 sandwich options ranging from ₩2,400 to ₩3,200 at this Myeongdong outlet, it is definitely very affordable. Also, the queue moved rather fast, and we had just enough time to discuss and decide on the Ham Special (₩2,400).

Busy preparing

Full of ingredients

The bread was pan-fried with butter, before all the ingredients and sauce were added in and then wrapped, I was a little worried that this might be a rather greasy sandwich. My worries were unfounded. The lightly crispy exterior was not at all greasy, and the bread was quite soft and the butter made it smell so yummy. The cabbage gave this sandwich a lighter feel, and overall, this was a simple, yet delicious sandwich. Shared among the 4 of us, we finished it in no time 🙂

Street Food

• 어묵 (Eomuk) Fish Cake 魚糕 (₩4,000 per skewer): There were lots of different types of fishcakes to choose from, and we eventually opted for the variety skewer, so that we could try 5 different flavours at a go, without having to crack our brains so much 😛 It was warm and yummy, but I think our first love remained as the one we tried at Seomyeon (ok, ok, I know that one was a fishcake croquette).
• 떡갈비완자 (Tteok-galbi Wanja) Tteok-galbi Meatball 炸肉團 (₩4,000): Sweet and savoury, we liked this when eaten hot.
• 매욷맛 무뼈닭발 Cheese Boneless Chicken Feet 芝士無骨辣味鷄爪 (₩5,000): I was very keen to try this, but it turned out to be too spicy for us, and we were struggling to finish it 😦 Sorry hubby, and gals, my bad!
• 만두 (Mandu) Dumpling 煎餃 (₩3,000 for 5): We got this to negate the spiciness in our mouths 😮 Definitely a much milder street snack, with a nice crunch after being pan-fried.
• 계란빵 (Gyeranppang) Egg Bread 雞蛋麵包 (₩2,000): We tried 2 different stalls here, and though both were the same price, the one at the end of the street (in front of Uniqlo) had 2 eggs instead of 1, and was definitely more delicious 🙂
• 양배추 오믈렛 (Yangbaechu Omeullet) Cabbage Omelet 捲心菜煎蛋捲(₩5,000): Somehow, this reminded us of okonomiyaki, perhaps because of the sauce and bonito flakes, but actually, it was cabbage and meat wrapped in a pancake, and topped with an egg and bonito flakes.
• Kono Pizza (Bulgogi Flavour) (₩5,000): Pizza in a cone, it was rather unique, and easy to carry around as we strolled in the food street. Delicious, with stretchy cheese 🙂
• Seafood Skewer (₩5,000 for 2): Ah, we got some octopus and shellfish skewers from a stall that was actually selling some pork belly and vegetable roll as its main item. Nonetheless, the octopus was fresh with a good bite, and we preferred it to the shellfish.
• Pomegranate Juice (₩5,000): Tart and sweet, this was quite refreshing, especially after all the street food. There were at least 2 stalls selling this drink, and the price was between ₩5,000 to ₩6,000. Since the packaging seemed to be of the same size, and all were squeezing the juice from the fruit, I simply checked the price first (none of the stalls displayed price) and bought from the cheapest.

어묵 (Eomuk) Fish Cake 魚糕

떡갈비완자 (Tteok-galbi Wanja) Tteok-galbi Meatball 炸肉團

매욷맛 무뼈닭발 Cheese Boneless Chicken Feet 芝士無骨辣味鷄爪

만두 (Mandu) Dumpling 煎餃

계란빵 (Gyeranppang) Egg Bread 雞蛋麵包

양배추 오믈렛 (Yangbaechu Omeullet) Cabbage Omelet

Kono Pizza (Bulgogi Flavour)

Seafood Skewer

Pomegranate Juice