as much as i adore spanish food, i got the kimchi craving. kind of ironic because the whole time i was living in korea, i’d have cravings for the good cured meats and stinky cheeses of europe which were in short supply or often beyond my means in seoul.
luckily, madrid has a fair number of koreans who keep the kimchi trade in business. han gang restaurante coreana is supposedly popular among the local koreans. while not great, the kimchi chigae and dolsot bibimbap were passable but the yook gejang was severely underspiced. my favorite dish there was the bibim naengmyun. they charge extra for a side of kimchi but if they think you’re korean they’ll feel guilty enough to give it to you for free. but i’m warning you now, the kimchi isn’t great. it tastes like it’s pre-packaged and not made by the loving hands of an ajumma. the only other banchan you get is a little plate of pickled peppers. the prices start at around 9 euros for most dishes.
the filipino waiter at han gang is friendly and speaks english. he told us about a korean market in town called “hans alimentación.” it’s a small shop on a tiny little street that sells korean basics like ramyun, various jangs and dried noodles. the kimchi was 10 euros a kilo — kind of steep but it’s homemade and much tastier than the stuff at han gang. we went through 2 kilos of it.
talk about finding your oasis in the desert, i discovered a korean restaurant in budapest! it’s on a quiet street a block away from the danube on the buda (west) side. the waitstaff is hungarian, and like most people in budapest, they speak excellent english. the cute young waiter i had today even pronounced “kimchi jjigae” perfectly.
this is my short list of seoul’s best new restaurants and a few old favorites*, as seen in the may 2006 issue of food & wine magazine. but if you’ve been reading my posts, most of the write-up is probably old news to you. that’s right, you can tell everyone you got the inside scoop, right here from suddenly susan.
*alas, due to an oversight in the editing process, the description of sujebi as hand-pulled pasta got changed to hand-pulled noodles for chon guseok.
i enjoyed this article about the origin of 짬뽕 (jjambbong). it makes me curious about the jjambbong museum in nagasaki. maybe i’ll check it out, after visiting the ramen museum in yokohama.
the jinji-sang (basic set course) at jihwaja restaurant at the national theater of korea in namsan. the refined yet satisfying royal court cuisine included guk, jjigae, jeon, fried fish, braised beef and seasonal vegetables.
galbi with a slew of sides at samwon garden, a sprawling bbq restaurant owned by the parents of golfer grace park. despite the disneyesque vibe, their naengmyeon is one of the best i’ve had in seoul. i also heard that when grace wins, meals are half off.
#7 curry donkkaseu with rice, salad drowned in thousand island dressing and 32 kernels of canned corn because what’s “western food” without canned corn? all for w4,500.
i'm suddenly susan. i grew up in new york city. my last home was in korea where i spent three years. i left in 2007 to travel the world, freelance writing to pay the bills. europe, jamaica, fiji, NZ, australia...and i'm still on the road, currently in cape town, south africa. follow me as i continue my journey across the globe.
meat and two sides at the U.S. base restaurant
