I'm serious, I've never had samgyeopsal this delicious before. I'll just jump right into it; the place is called 하남돼지집 (translates into Hanam Pork House) and it's a chain restaurant with quite a lot of branches in Seoul. I went to the Gyodae (Korean Natl. University of Education) branch because it was closest to my office. My colleagues and I arrived at 7 but we had to wait a good thirty minutes to get seats because the place was already packed by the time we got there.
The seats are actually boxes in which you can store your bags. Super convenient!
The most important side dish here is myeongyi, which is an ultra-special vegetable that's exclusively grown in Ulleungdo, so it's super rare and expensive. The first dish is free, but if you want extras you need to pay 2,000 won. Which is seriously worth it, because if you wrap this around your meat, it's just... beyond perfect.
Anyway, the pork is already grilled for a bit before it's brought out, at the corner of the restaurant. Then it's brought out, and the waiter does all the work, cutting up the meat grilling the rest for you while all you need to do is sit back and wait until everything is ready to eat. This is very different from your typical Korean BBQ restaurants, where everything is pretty much done on your own. This saves not only time, but also the risk of burning the meat or not cooking it properly and just having a bad meal. At this particular branch, all the waiters and staff were super funny and nice, and when they saw me whip out my camera they said they'd pay extra attention to presenting the food so that I could get good pictures. How considerate of them! :D
THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD. The meat. The fried rice, the soup, the egg, everything. But mostly the meat. It was juicy and tender and cut in just the right sizes, and grilled to perfection. One portion costs 13,000 won, which is actually on the pricey side, but for the quality of the food and services, I wouldn't mind paying even more. This was hands down the best samgyeopsal I'd ever tasted, and I couldn't stop thinking about it the next day. If you have only one chance to try Korean BBQ, this is definitely the place to go. I'm not exaggerating. Trust me!!!
The seats are actually boxes in which you can store your bags. Super convenient!
The most important side dish here is myeongyi, which is an ultra-special vegetable that's exclusively grown in Ulleungdo, so it's super rare and expensive. The first dish is free, but if you want extras you need to pay 2,000 won. Which is seriously worth it, because if you wrap this around your meat, it's just... beyond perfect.
Anyway, the pork is already grilled for a bit before it's brought out, at the corner of the restaurant. Then it's brought out, and the waiter does all the work, cutting up the meat grilling the rest for you while all you need to do is sit back and wait until everything is ready to eat. This is very different from your typical Korean BBQ restaurants, where everything is pretty much done on your own. This saves not only time, but also the risk of burning the meat or not cooking it properly and just having a bad meal. At this particular branch, all the waiters and staff were super funny and nice, and when they saw me whip out my camera they said they'd pay extra attention to presenting the food so that I could get good pictures. How considerate of them! :D
THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD. The meat. The fried rice, the soup, the egg, everything. But mostly the meat. It was juicy and tender and cut in just the right sizes, and grilled to perfection. One portion costs 13,000 won, which is actually on the pricey side, but for the quality of the food and services, I wouldn't mind paying even more. This was hands down the best samgyeopsal I'd ever tasted, and I couldn't stop thinking about it the next day. If you have only one chance to try Korean BBQ, this is definitely the place to go. I'm not exaggerating. Trust me!!!
I.hate.you. (kidding) ... or am I (hahaha)
ReplyDeleteNote to future self: Never (EVER) to check in at Saem's (food) blog on an empty stomach. Your photos definitely did justice to the food - I know cos I'm salivating as we speak.
Seriously tho, you have got to get me THERE when meet in Korea again. Promise me that. Lol
Have a smashing day and weekends ahead dear friend of Steve's (: