This was what I was looking at in deciding whether or not to take the plunge. It’s 14,900 won for take-out before 10pm. The same pizza delivered is 18,900 won. After 10pm, add another 1,000 won late-night surcharge. I was awaiting anxiously.

While I was waiting for my pizza, I thought it might actually end up looking like the disgusting pizza above. It’s actually a Pizza Hut advertisement for one of their premium pizzas. I had my fingers crossed. The typical Korean style pizza has lots of random goodies like shrimp, potatoes, fruit, and corn to name a few.  I really didn’t want any extra goodies on my pizza. I was nervous.

The typical pizza also has lots of colorful sauce (usually bright colors like neon yellow) sprayed all over (I always ask for sauces on the side when I can, an attribute I owe to growing up with my mom). The pizza above was delivered from a Dominos’s pizza in Korea. Yes, that is a Star of David.

That’s what I was looking at 20 minutes later. It was Jun’s Pizza’s 2nd day, and I was his first customer taking advantage of his credit card payment service. He couldn’t use my Korean bank card because he hadn’t finalized the contract with them.  I was on the phone with Eunmi, who was translating for me. She said, “he’s going to come back tomorrow to get payment.” I ended up just using my American card after 5 uncomfortable minutes of looking at a Korean pizza delivery guy at my doorstep struggling to process a payment.

Part of his opening promotion was a oven-baked spaghetti dish for an extra 100 Korean won (about $0.10).  You’re looking at a Korean made Italian dish. Tasted a little weird. Strangely sweet, but not bad.

You’re looking at 45cm of Korean-Italian goodness.

That’s my hand holding the first piece of pizza. I couldn’t eat any more than 2 pieces. It wasn’t bad. It looked similar to the pizza on the flier. It tasted similar to delivery pizza in the states.  It was close enough to get the job done.

For 20,000 Korean won, I got a 45cm supreme pizza, a spaghetti dish, and a free liter of Coke, delivered. Decent value, decent taste, and a decent blog entry.

Those of you who read my blog regularly, you have noticed that I periodically put up posts about different restaurants I’ve visited. I don’t cook, an basically out of necessity, I eat out every meal. And just to let you know, there’s no economic benefit in me writing these reviews. If there is one, it’s just in providing good information for those of you either visiting or living in Korea.

I would say I have had bibimbap from 10 different restaurants in Korea, plus a few more in the US, but hands down, the best bibimbop I’ve ever had is at Min Seong Mak Kuk Soo near Geubendari station. Geubendari is near Cheonho, so if any of you readers are near the area, definately make a visit to taste one of the best executed traditional Korean dishes in Korea.

Just look at the pictures of the bibimbap in the Wikipedia entry versus the ones in the blog post. I don’t need to say anything more.

I switch between the dol sot bibimbap (hot, temperature-wise) and the yang poon bibimbap (cold), although the dol sot bibimbap is my favorite. Dol means “stone” and sot means “pot” in Korean. Yang poon is simply the name of the metal container. Eunmi commented that the yangpoon bibimbap was served in a “real” yangpoon pot at Min Seong Mak Kuk Soo, and is particularly hard to find in Seoul.

(Eunmi told me the owner can’t believe how I can eat bibimbap almost every day without getting sick of it).

10 Reasons Why Min Seong Mak Kuk Soo Has the Best Bibimbap

1) The overall taste is awesome.

2) All the ingredients are fresh.

3) The ingrediants are thoughtfully used, i.e. onions on the bottom with oil in the dul sot bibimbap to add more flavor to the rice.

4) They use the right pots.

5) The complimentary side dishes are high quality and generous (you know this places doesn’t “recycle” their side dishes)

6) All the customers leave the restaurant without leaving a single morsel left in their dishes (including the side dishes)

7) Fast and friendly service.

8} The bathrooms are impeccably clean (a rarity in most family restaurants in Korea). Generally, I check out the bathrooms before the food in a restaurant. If the bathroom is digusting, just imagine how they prepare the food, or worst yet, the hygiene of the employees.

9) Paper towels and toilet paper in the bathrooms. Some of you may laugh that I even mention this. But those of you familiar, you know what I’m talking about. Paper towels in a bathroom are a rarity in Korea. I’ve been there at least 50 times and I have never seen the paper towel dispenser or toilet paper dispenser empty. There’s nothing worse than needing to go #2 and realizing there’s no toilet paper.

10) The entire restaurant is spot-less. An indicator of the freshness of the food and the cleanliness of the kitchen in which the food is being prepared in.

Spicy red kimchi. Excellent, authentic Korean kimchi (not the cheap kind that is often imported from China). I have never left this side dish empty.

Baek kimchi. Baek means “white” in Korean. I have never left this side dish empty either. This one’s hard to find in Seoul.

Dulsot bibimbap (black stone pot) and yang poon bibimbap (metal pot) with assorted side dishes in the middle (there are more that are left out of the picture).

Store front of the restaurant located about a block and a half away from Geubendari Station.

Min Seong Mak Kuk Soo. You can give them a call at 02-473-8349 or 010-5123-5143. Both the dul sot bibimbap and the yang poon bibimbap are 5,000 won each. Taste one the healthiest traditional Korean dishes, in what is my humble opinion, the best bibimbap restaurant in Korea.

What’s funny is that the restaurant name Min Seong Mak Kuk Soo literally means “Min Seong Korean Noodle Restaurant.” This restaurant is known in the neighborhood for their noodle dishes, but really, the hidden gem is their bibimbap.

Since my arrival, I’ve had Korean food for just about every meal in Seoul. Since Korean food is so good and so cheap, there’s really no point in eating anything else. I’ve had maybe a dozen burgers while in Korea, most at McDonald’s or Burger King. I also had a hamburger at a popular Korean burger joint called “Kraze Burger” when Sam was in town, which was mediocre.

But, tonight, the American in me was craving a genuine American hamburger. Eunmi suggested a place called “Smokey Saloon” in Itaewon.  Quality beef is expensive, so I was prepared to spend a little extra for a good burger.

Line outside the restuarant. Capacity is only 22, and this photo was taken at 8pm on a Sunday night. Very popular restaurant. Be prepared to wait. There’s actually 8 locations, but it sounds like the Itaewon location is the original and maybe the best.

Eunmi ordered the “Volcano” which has chili, cheddar cheese, jalepenoes,  lettuce, and tomato. We both had “halvsies.” She had half of mine, I had half of hers. You can choose from maybe a dozen different specialty burgers, but I wanted to create my own. I looked for a kimchi hamburger, but maybe it’s better they didn’t offer it. The waiter said I had to order only what was on the menu, which made sense since they were so busy.

I ordered the “Cowboy” which has monterey jack cheese, mushrooms, grilled onion, tomato, and some special sauce (I told them to hold the sauce and instead asked for jalepenos).  Eunmi said I didn’t say anything when the food came.

“Real” french fries. Most fries I’ve had in Korea were gross either because they weren’t fresh or because they had some weird sauce drizzled on them.

A few differences I noticed with this Korean burger joint vs burger joints in America:

-they serve the french fries before your hamburgers, like an appetizer (with mayo and ketchup)

-nobody eats their hamburgers with their hands, they use forks and knives – I even saw some people “mulch” their hamburgers so that all the contents of the burger including the bun were in small pieces and mixed together

-they cook each of the burgers on a griddle with little metal tops so the meat cooks faster and more evenly

-most of the customers ordered soda beverages in a bottle with multiple straws so they can share (just the couples, or if its two girlfriends)

-expensive…. 45,000 Korean won for two burgers, one side order of fries, a garden salad, and 2 beers.

-unbearable wait to get a table, especially if you’re hungry… I saw several people waiting outside looking noticeably impatient

-tiny restaurant – capacity of 22 people, or 12 tables to seat two….if you have a large group, you will be waiting a very long time, or it just might not work..the restaurant is really arranged for small groups or couples

-bad pickles

Of the hamburgers I’ve had in Korea, here are the current Kimchi Soup rankings:

1) Smokey Saloon in Itaewon

2) Hooter’s in Apguejang (the burger was actually really good, and very friendly staff)

3) Kraze Burger at COEX mall (half the price of Smokey Saloon, half as good)

4) McDonald’s cheeseburger (just as good here as I remember when I had my first when I was 6 years old in Mpls)

5) Burger King Whopper (usually after I get my haircut at Hyundai department store)

6) TGI Friday’s in Jamsil (it was really bad, I think I got sick from it)

Although a little overpriced, and there is that wait to get in, Smokey Saloon was definately worth it. Smokey Saloon is located behind the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon near “Bungalows.” If you want to check it out, you can ask away in the comment section of this blog, or go ahead and call them at 02-795-9019.

I really like this picture. The lady taking the Eunmi’s order is Indian I think. Some of the other servers actually look a  Korean, especially since they spoke Korean Eunmi explained to me that they are Nepalese. Nepalese people sometimes look both Asian and Indian. Eunmi is pretty well traveled and has been to both India and Nepal.

Eunmi recommended Everest Restaurant as the best Indian food in Seoul. She said it was the real deal – genuine Indian food. A lot of the Indian restaurants in Korea are fancy with gilded gold plates and a lot of nonsense that doesn’t matter when you want to just eat good food.

I was very impressed with this restaurant. The food was awesome, the staff was very friendly (spoke both Korean and English). The Bollywood movies they play are entertaining.

Dead give-away its a good restaurant?

-hard to find

-not fancy, bare-bones decorations

-lots of locals

Not only that, it was located in a bad neighborhood, but it was still full of happy customers.

We ordered some nan, chicken tikka masala, and red curry chicken.

Close-up of the chicken tikka masala. Probably my favorite. It was flavorful and all good quality chicken.

The samosa was good as well.

Time zones. Notice the partial hour differences in the time zones. I never knew that. I thought all time zones differences were hourly.

Everest menu with the Nepalese flag on the left side and the Korean flag on the right side.

Everest Restaurant sign with phone number. I’ve going there for the third time in a month this weekend.  Give them a call. 02-766-8850

Bouncer at a night club in Singapore zapping Eunmi with a Swine Flu temperature reading gun. Pump was the name of this bar. They had a pretty good cover band playing.

I was the next victim of the Swine Flu Gun.

Singapore is known for having some of the best chili crab in Singapore.  Jumbo was strongly recommended and revered as one of the better seafood restaurants in Singapore. This restaurant is known for having some of the best chili crab town.  Eunmi had been talking about chili crab in Singapore for a month, so this portion of the trip was unavoidable.

Eunmi has finally reached the promiseland. She was concentrating on the menue as if she had to make a mid-crisis decision. I was not allowed to talk during this time.

Snapshot of the pot of gold. We ate way too much.

Eunmi in bliss.  The little brown things on the white plate were fried baby squid. I thought I ordered calamari. They tasted more like fried grasshoppers.

View of a harbor in Singapore at night.

The crane-looking structures on the right are part of one of those bunjee-launch things that you find at fairs and carnivals.

With a name like that, how can you resist?

Two “screaming multiple orgasms.”

Alcohol is really expensive in Singapore. Almost outrageous. These two drinks were $20 USD each. And that was a weekday night in a bar, not a night club.

You’ve never been to Singapore but you think its clean because you heard about the kid getting caned for spitting out a piece of gum on the ground? You’re absolutely right. I don’t know if there’s no garbage because everyone is so civilized in Singapore, or if everybody is just scared of getting caned. Whatever the case, their policies are effective. There isn’t a single piece of garbage on the ground.

Singapore is a gorgeous city. Everything in the city seems well designed. We spent most of the day just walking from place to place with an occasional train ride. Singapore isn’t geographically a huge city, but it is populous with 5 million people. It’s a city/country kind of like what Hong Kong was before it rejoined China. The entire country is tiny – only 275 square miles (that’s basically a 16 mile by 16 mile square). It ranks 3rd in the world for population density. However, the city didn’t feel overcrowded at any point during my visit.

Lots of construction.

Statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, the British stateman known as the “Father of Singapore.” He is credited for vastly expanding the British Empire, and founding Singapore (the “lion city”) in a strategically advantageous location for trade. Today, Singapore is the 2nd busiest port in the world.

The famous and historical Raffles Hotel. Widely regarded as the most luxurious hotel in Singapore. The entire street level of the hotel is full of luxury shops. If you love expensive purses, this is definately the spot. If you have a girlfriend who loves expensive purses, stayaway from here.

Another nice hotel with sports cars being tropy parked. I think this one may have been the Four Seasons.

Interior of a Ferrari F430 with the steering wheel on the right side.  You drive on the left side of the road in Singapore. Probably since it was colonized by Britain, similar to Hong Kong.

While eating at an Indian restaurant in Little India, I took this photo since it was a pretty good sample of diversity in Singapore. Lots of Indians, Eastern Asians (particularly of Chinese descent), Malaysians, and Westerners.

Indian woman in traditional robe.

Street view during a weekday in Little India.

Kerbau Road in Little India, Singapore.

Indian woman shopping in a market for vegetables.

Indian shop owner selling decorations of some sort.

“Civil Defence” truck. Looks like a fire truck os some sort given the pipes and valves in the back of the truck. Can’t hold much water, so lets hope the fire is within proximity of a fire hydrant.

For some reason, “Kee” is everywhere in branding of restaurants and food in Singapore and Malaysia. Here’s a good one.

The photo above shows the freshest tuna available in Korea being filleted by the best. There’s a great video at the bottom of this post.

Lunch after our hike at Achasan was at a small sushi restaurant. For 19,000 Korean won, or about $7.00 per person US, we had some of the highest quality sashimi (plain raw tuna). It was the freshest tuna I have ever had. There were two guys filleting the fish literally 10 feet away from me.

Very nice. Notice how the fish is presented on a bed of small rocks.

Close-up of the fresh tuna.  Sashimi in Korea is served colder so the fish is fresher and firmer.

Another good close-up of the sashimi.

A variety of complimentary sides come with the meal including soup and salad.

Poor guy in pieces…..

Tuna artist at work.

In action….the remains are on the left….efficiently filleted.

Two tuna professionals carving.

Tuna fillet waste…

An interesting video of how a tuna is filleted. I tried to get as close to the action as possible.

This sign was prominently displayed on the table with all the food. Obviously due to the mad cow disease scare not too long ago……. I like clean and safe meat….

My friend Clayton introduced me to this awesome Korean buffet restaurant in Cheonho, an area in the southeastern portion of Seoul. Basically, all the different types of meat and side dishes are placed in the middle of the restaurant.  You load up your plate with goodies and bring back to your table to cook on your own grill.

Incredibly, the entire meal was only 9,000 Korean won, which is $6.70 US.  The best value I’ve seen so far in my stay in Korea….

Here’s the restaurant….

Street-view of the restaurant…..

Here’s my buddy Clayton standing on the left in front of the buffet table….

Here are different types of pork and duck…..

Here’s some beef, octopus (upper left container), and pig intestines….

Here are some fresh vegetables…

Spices, sauces, kimchi, and other yummy side dishes….

This is where we sit and cook our food…. yummy yummy…..

By the time we were done eating, we were unprofitable customers for the restaurant. If we were their average customers, they definately won’t last long…..

I think I know what I’m going to be for Halloween this year.

Flair is really, really popular at TGI Friday’s in Korea. It seems like they go the extra mile with the flair.

Up charge is the best!!

They offer essentials like burgers, Korean, desserts, ultimates, smoothies, and flings.

Ahhh… now I understand….

The meal I had was pretty tasty. I had a good old fashioned hamburger. I think I got diarrhea from it, but it was worth it.

Amazingly, Friday’s in Korea is immensely popular despite being quite expensive. Just to give you an idea, a bibimbop dinner at a full-service sit down restaurant is 5,000 won, or approximately $3.85 US. A Friday’s steak is around 35,000 won, or approximately $27.00 US. In fact, converted to US dollars (even with a weak Korean won), a steak at a Fridays in Seoul, South Korea is MORE expensive than in the US.  Beef in general is very expensive in Korea.

Most meats have to be imported from New Zealand and Australia, and there just aren’t very many cattle in Korea. I’m told that the cattle grown locally here in Korea are raised with great care, even massaged by farmers. Maybe this is why Korean beef is much more expensive than imported beef.