Day 7:
As I have said before, eating my around Seoul is not exclusively about Korean food. Increasingly like London and other major cities, Seoul has really started to diversify into being a mecca for good alternative food, and this is what led me to finding a particular burger joint in “Little France” quarter of Seoul called “Napkin Please”. There was a small array of burger selections, but the one that caught my eye was the highly recommended Sloppy Joe’s something not that familiar back in London. This all-American classic was just precisely what I wanted.
A true sloppy mix of ground beef, onions, and a tomato sauce, on a bun, served with shoestring fried lathered in chilli beef, melted cheese, and chillies. I can see why this place is called “Napkin Please”. Eating it with hands was an impossibility! Of course, this was washed down by an ice cold Coke (what else?) and made for a decent lunch. Loved it. Although not particularly French, even though we were in the French Quarter!!!
So, onto the next part of the day, and onwards I went to a place called Mapo-Dong, where we caught up with Gizzi Erskine filming at the Suh Suh Galbi House, where the idea is you stand and eat in what was, frankly, a Spartan-like surrounding, where the emphasis was on food, i.e. the Barbecue.
Taking what looked like a large oil drum, where there was a bucket of a type of Korean charcoal absolutely blazing out some heat, the food gets cooked and you stand around eating Korean Beef Ribs. Bear in mind that there was an hour long queue to get in, and the restaurant was filled with different types of people from every walk of life. This was how Koreans really eat!
Filming this with Gizzi was great fun, where we managed to wash down the galbi with plenty of Somek (Soju with Beer) and had a great time with the crew, especially catching up with old buddies like MJ, Adam Hobbs (the most talented cameraman I’ve ever seen – www.adamhobbs.tv) and Nils Clauss, who works closely in collaboration with Adam.
There are far better photos of the BBQ on Gizzi’s Instagram @gizzierskine and with Gizzi receiving a “Selfie Stick” as a present, there are some awesome selfies on her Instagram too! Funniest moment was watching Jik Kim, my “little bro” here in Korea, totally clam up during the interviews with Gizzi, despite being a bit of a motormouth when relaxed!
So, were we going to stop there? Hell no! Onwards we went to a Lounge in Itaewon, where Jik and I seemed to be the only fellas in the whole lounge. Cocktails ensued, with a stack of Onion Rings to accompany the food…
But alas, Gizzi has been very professional and decided on heading back to the hotel to complete some work to meet her deadlines. However, I was still a bit peckish, so we finished off some Mango Patbingsu, one of my favourite desserts ever.
Patbingsu is basically red beans with shaved ice and condensed sweetened milk, and you can add toppings to it, like ice-cream and other fruit. But the night was early, so we discovered that Judy Joo was over at Kkanbu Chicken Restaurant, and a Korean fave of Korean Fried Chicken and Beer ensued as Judy and her chefs from Jinjuu London tested out the various types of Korean Fried Chicken.
So, quite a feast really! A fantastic mix of different food experienced today. Filming was great fun too. And watching Gizzi experience the “Selfie Stick” provided a lot of laughs.
Sunday is a day for rest. I am also in serious need of sleep.
Korea Foods 