When eating in Korea, the various styles of food are so interesting and diverse. Often pretty subtle, but as an example, kimchi from the Seoul area and kimchi from Busan is really different. Busan kimchi is richer, often made with oysters, and generally spicier.
What isn’t readily available, though, is a bit of North Korean food, and at Cheoga Jip, here’s a little taste of North Korean food that had us really excited.
Fascinatingly, Cheoga Jip literally means, “your wife’s parents home”. The reason for this, is that traditionally, when a son-in-law visits, he’s fed steamed chicken as a welcoming meal.
So guess what’s on the menu? Yup, steamed chicken, steamed mandu, and makguksu, a noodle dish that’s perfect for summer. There’s just no point not ordering the chicken though. It’s the garnish that is almost like a chutney, mixed with mustard, that you eat with a Korean leek. Totally and utterly amazing, and so clean in taste too. In fact, I was told by Korea’s biggest food blogger, Zenkimchi, that when the Washington Post food critic visited this place, it was one of his favourite meals of the year.
I agree.
Three points:
1. The decoration inside the restaurant is basically someone’s house from the 1970’s.
2. A whole steamed chicken, mandu, and three portions of noodles, cost less than £30.
3. The old North Korean lady who owns the place is lovely. So friendly, so welcoming, so smiley.
Anyway, enjoy the photos and have a great weekend.
Korea Foods 