From our friends at Seoul Eats, a featured article on the Best Burgers of Seoul.

Today is the day that my diet begins. Finding and ranking the best hamburgers in Seoul has been a joy and a curse. Luckily, the restaurants have gotten better but there are more of them as well. Suffice it to say, hamburgers are not just a fad in Seoul; you’ll find burger restaurants dotted all over the city.

The first review that I did a year ago was received with an equal amount of praise and scrutiny. I found people are passionate about their burgers. For this review, I went to over 20 restaurants – a few more than once. This year I decided to not include franchise burgers to this list. Also, I decided to look at the signature burgers of each restaurant. My criteria for ranking were on the quality of meat, bun, toppings, service, and overall enjoyment.
Slyders

10. “Slyders” from Julio in Gangnam. This Mexican joint serves up some tasty mini burgers. Does this mean that they will be the new trend? I can see it happening. They use all Austrian beef and they have three different options: classic cheese, chili, and teriyaki (not recommended).
Price: Three slyders for 7,000 won
Phone: (02) 568-5324
Where: Gangnam
Jack Sauce Burger

9. “Jack Sauce Burger” from Bistro Corner in Itaewon. The sauce was a bit too sweet for my liking, but the hickory char-grilled hamburger patty is excellent.
Price: 7,500 won
Phone: (02) 792-9282
Where: Itaewon
Bacon and Egg Burger

8. “The Bacon and Egg Burger” from Tony’s Aussie Bar and Bistro in Itaewon. It’s breakfast on top of a burger. You get a cooked egg, bacon, and cheese on top of Australian beef. The burger is great with their hand-cut fries.
Price: 7,500 won
Phone: (02) 790-0793
Where: Itaewon
Sliders from Yaletown

7. “Sliders” from Yaletown in Sinchon. Yaletown is the youngest restaurant in the group, but they are making waves with their delicious cuisine and attention to quality. Their char grilled sliders (mini hamburgers) come on homemade bread with a dollop of mayonnaise and a single leaf of lettuce.
Price: Three mini burgers come for 8,900 won
Phone: (02) 333-1604
Where: Sinchon
The Webby

6. “The Webby” from Beer O’Clock in Sincheon. By the way, char-grilled= delicious. Here you get a char-grilled handmade patty topped with cheese, jalapenos, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, ham and BBQ sauce. Sure, it might sound like a train wreck of toppings, but it works damn well.
Price: 9,000 won
Phone: (02) 333-9733
Where: Sinchon
Paddy Mac’s Big Beef

5. “Paddy Mac’s Big Beef Burger” from Wolfhound Pub in Itaewon. Weighing in at over a half a pound (240 grams), you get a fist full of meat topped with two slices of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and 2 strips of bacon. The paddy is made from savory wagyu beef and it is well seasoned. You also get an option of fries, mash potatoes (recommended), or salad with your side of cow.
Price: 12,800won
Phone: (02) 749-7971
Where: Itaewon
The Hamburger

4. “The Hamburger” from Sam Ryan’s Sports Bar and Grill in Itaewon. If you want a classic bacon cheeseburger that’s the size of a baby’s head, then this is the place. The burgers at Sam Ryan’s are massive. They are manly burgers that should be enjoyed with a beer and football.
Price: 13,500 won
Phone: (02) 749-7933
Where: Itaewon
Mushroom Burger

3. “Mushroom Burger” from Banana Grill in Hannam (near the U.N. Village). Sauteed onions and mushrooms with a hint of balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise is a great combination. Banana Grill is all about flavor and they don’t ruin the burger by adding unnecessary ingredients such as lettuce, tomato, and onion when they are not needed. The meat is plush and well seasoned, the buns are toasty, and they serve great fries.
Price: 7,000 won
Phone: (02) 792-3088
Where: Hannam
The Chili Burger

2. “The Chili Burger” from Chili King in Itaewon. You need a fork to get started with this burger because you have to get through the generous heaps of chili on top of the beef patty topped with real cheddar cheese (we are not talking about the plasticy individually wrapped stuff). The chili is excellent on it’s own (what else would you expect from the Chili King) but magical on the beef patty and between the rolls. The jalapenos on this dish are an added bonus.
Price: 8,900 won
Phone: (02) 795-1303
Where: Itaewon

1. “The Fresco Burger” from Jacoby’s Burger in Haebangchon. This is the Eiffel tower of hamburgers in Seoul. You have a moist and richly favored hamburger patty topped with mozzarella cheese, bacon, tomato sauce and a tower of onion rings. It is a beautiful thing to behold and a tad difficult to eat. The crunchy onion rings with the tar tar sauce, plush garlic beef patty, and mozzarella cheese fuses beautifully. After your burger you will be smiling with a halo of shiny beef grease around your mouth. Oh, and you can customize your burger just the way you want.
Price: 10,000 won
Phone: (02) 3785-0433
Where: Haebangchon

The Best Burger Franchise in Korea: “W-burger.” Woah, they have excellent meat that’s a little pink in the middle just like I like it.
Price: 4,700 won
Where: Throughout Seoul

Honorable Mention: “The USO Hamburger” at the USO near Samgaki Station. Get the military burger with fries for only $2.
Phone: (02) 795-3063
Open: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Weekdays
Where: USO

In a Class of their Own: The W-hotel Hamburger. Now I’m not talking about the X-burger (150,000 won) but its little brother. It’s a classic hamburger on an oat-wheat bun speckled with pumpkin seeds and topped with melted cheese. The meat is a mix of lean sirloin and marbled wagyu beef. The meat is so good that I’m sure that Buddha change his religion just to have it.
Price: 25,000 won
Phone: (02) 465-2222
Where: W-hotel

By Daniel Gray

Korean chef Roy Choi who made truck food famous with his kogi tacos in southern California is now about to expand his food empire.  What started a year ago with a single truck and a bunch of Twitter followers has now become an empire of 4 trucks and a soon to be restaurant in west L.A.

The new, still unnamed restaurant won’t use the Kogi name, Mr. Choi says, and he doesn’t plan to serve the taco. Instead he will try to update the rice bowl. “I see bacon-fat-studded chestnuts and fresh herbs on braised lamb; steak with a soft-poached egg and hand-crushed sesame seeds; organic rice, braised pork-belly, fresh-water spinach in a beautiful broth with sesame leaves,” he says, rattling off ideas. The food, he says, will be inexpensive enough that people who normally eat McDonald’s can afford it.

We named Roy Choi as one of the most influential Korean-Americans in 2009 and his impact was truly evident with new Korean taco trucks popping up everywhere and restauranteurs serving up their version of a Korean taco.  Roy Choi embodies the hard working culture of Koreans and many Korean-Americans can relate to his life.  He may not be the most eloquent guy but his focus and diligence has brought him this far and his belief in himself has turned the food world upside down.  ”There is something very Korean about Roy being Roy,” says David Chang of New York’s Momofuku restaurants, who is also of Korean heritage and who met Mr. Choi last spring. “It’s about working your a— off, and not believing that you’re any good.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

Seoulites love their late nights. It might sound crazy, but they especially love their nights when they’re cold. I’ve even grown to love the phenomenon. After a long night of clubbing or drinking with friends, some of the best places to visit are the pochamacha: Korea’s Tent Restaurants.

These orange colored tents usually have clusters of jacketed men and women enjoying a final bottle of soju over steaming bowls of soups, yellow omelette rolls dipped in ketchup, steamed white tofu topped with spicy sautéed kimchi, or –my favorite—- Daktoritang.

Daktoritang is a spicy ginger chicken stew made by slowly braising morsels of chicken, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables in a ginger sauce which is made red by gochujang (red chili paste). It is usually served with rice, but at my particular tent restaurant it had noodles. When cooked right, the chicken falls right off the bone and the potatoes become miniature heaters and sponges: they sop up the alcohol in your stomach while keeping your entire body nice and warm.

One of the best pochamachas you can visit is in Hongdae. “Samgeori Pocha”, which translates to “Intersection Tent”, is a run of the mill car park by day, but the place comes to life after 7pm, and it stays alive until the sun comes up the next day. There is always a line and, inside, you’ll find fashionable university students bundled in hats and overcoats as they laugh and joke around with their friends.

Here, the daktoritang is served in a huge steaming bowl and the spicy-gingery sauce is watery like blood. Underneath the bowl is a portable gas range which is ignited as the meal arrives at your table. As you sit, the bubbling stew will become richly flavored with the chicken while the starch in the potatoes break down and thicken the broth. When you add noodles, the dish becomes a spicy Korean version of chicken noodle soup.

There are many other offerings at Samgeori Pocha to go along with your soju, beer, or makgeolli (Korea’s rice wine). One favorite of mine is tofu kimchi. This dish consists of sautéed sour kimchi with pork surrounded by slices of steamed tofu. The warm, flavorless tofu is the perfect carrier for the pungent flavor of kimchi.

And be sure to get the Gyeran-mari, which is an egg omelette that is tightly rolled into something resembling a log. There is also live octopus, beef stew, seafood stew, raw fish, and spicy octopus stirfry. The extensive menu has every kind of Korean food that you can think of.

Dining at the Pochamacha is an experience that every visitor to Korea should have — especially in the winter.  To get to Samgeori Pocha, take Subway Line 6 to Sangsu Station and get out at Exit #2. You will see the front gates of the Far East Broadcasting Company. Follow the front gates toward Hongik University for 30m and you’ll see the sign.

Daniel Gray works for O’ngo Food Communications. You can follow his food adventures at www.seouleats.com

Written and Photographed by Daniel Gray

From our friends at Seoul Eats, here’s a review of Namdaemun (남대문) Veggie and Honey Hotteok (호뗙).

Today we went to Namdaemun in Seoul today and we saw this ridiculous line of people waiting for something. At the head of the line were Veggie Hotteok and Honey Hotteok. Hotteok are like ricecake donuts that are usually stuffed with honey or sugar and cinnamon.

Here they veggie hotteok that are stuffed with yummy japchae!

They only cost 600won for a honey hotteok and 800 for a veggie hotteok.

See the long line of people? I think there were 20 people in line and it kept growing all day.

Here is the queen hotteok maker.

You can see the big flat honey Hotteok in the back and the yummy veggie ones up front. Oh, and yes, that’s a big pool of oil.

So you first make the rice dough pocket and then stuff it with honey or with japchae and then you slowly fry it in the pool of oil. You have to flatten it down after it gets golden brown.

See. It’s quite a production.^^

Time to make the Hotteok

Personally, this was the best part! There are whole oranges and slices of apple in the sauce for the Hotteok!

Yummy! Yummy!

Michelle Min is a freelance graphics designer and photographer based in Seoul.

Continuing our top ten of most influential Korean-Americans in 2009, we meet a man who stormed America with his food truck.  How influential was Roy Choi and his Kogi Truck?  The Zagat guide for 2010 began including the ratings of food trucks and it would be safe to say that the Kogi truck made the most influence on the Zagat guide to include this new category.  How many restaurateurs can say they were profiled in the New York Times, LA Times, Newsweek, ABC News and many other national media outlets?  Not many if any, but a little truck that zooms around southern California with Twitter followers may have made the biggest news in the food world in all of 2009.  New trucks were popping up all around the country and this was a direct correlation to the success and popularity of the Kogi Truck.  Of course David Chang is the most famous of Korean-American chefs, but it was Roy’s grassroots efforts and guerrilla mentality that got Kogi Truck on the American map.  Roy Choi has a pedigree – a La Bernardin alum and Culinary Institute of America valedictorian - but he chose to do something very innovative with the invention of Korean Kogi Tacos and delivering them on wheels.  No one else out there used Twitter and social media as a marketing tool better than the Kogi Truck.  Roy Choi and the Kogi Truck were honored at this year’s prestigious Bon Appetit Awards, where he spoke in front of America’s top chefs and restaurateurs.

He (Roy Choi) spoke of delivering cheap, healthy, sustainable fast food to kids and adults in underprivileged neighborhoods who from birth to death eat nothing but fast food. (Later Choi explained to Eater that what they do would be the equivalent of an NYC truck going into the South Bronx or Bed Stuy at midnight). He spoke of starting with $1,500 and a family of co-workers and growing it into a 53 person company. He got a standing ovation. Ten minutes later, reps from both the Today show and the Food Network were scheduling spots with Kogi.

Roy Choi and the Kogi Truck is #9 on our list of top ten most influential Korean-Americans in 2009.

If you don’t know about the Kogi truck, then you’ve been living under a rock. Roy Choi and buds started humbly with a truck and an idea to cook and sell kogi tacos on the streets of LA. It’s taken the country by storm and it seems like everyone is trying to start-up a truck. Who would’ve thought that truck food could be so popular. It caused such a craze that now food trucks are covered for the first time by the new Zagat guide for 2010. We covered these guys back in January and who would’ve thought they would explode onto the food scene like they have. Walk down memory lane with a video from the Kogi guys on how it all started.

There is a reason why her food has been labeled “dining art.” At first glance, the food at Jeong-Hyun Ahn’s “Wooriga” looks too beautiful to eat. At her quaint, elegant haute cuisine restaurant overlooking Dusan Park, Mrs. Ahn breaks with Korean convention: her entrees are served course by course, so guests are not confused by a table littered with plates, and find themselves able – even obliged – to enjoy the artistry put into each dish.

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Heralded chef Corey Lee – former chef de cuisine of 3 star Michelin restaurant French Laundry – has found the venue that will house his new restaurant “Benu.”  The whole culinary world has been buzzing since Corey announced his departure from French Laundry.  It looks like he’ll be setting up shop in a 66 seat venue at the Two space in San Francisco’s SoMa.  So what does Benu mean? The name refers to ancient Egypt’s mythological version of the phoenix.  It will be American cuisine with global influences.  We’re going to guess there will be some Korean influences.  Just a guess

Source: SF Gate

Korean food seems to be the latest hot topic. Even my friends ask me about Korean food or ask me to take them out someday so they know what to order. Korean food is unique and has quite an interesting history. Let’s not kid ourselves, its evolution isn’t as glamorous as French cuisine but it’s our own and it is very delicious. Mmmm Mmmm! So for my friends out there who are interested in Korean food, here’s a quick 101 about Korean food. It’s the basic basics. Next week, we’ll introduce you to kimchi jigae!

1. Bap (steamed rice) and Juk (porridge)
Boiled rice is the staple food for Koreans, it is eaten with almost every meal. In Korea people eat short-grained rice, as apposed to the long- grained Indian rice. Korean rice is often sticky in texture, and sometimes it is combined with beans, chestnuts, sorghum, red beans, barley or other cereals for added flavor and nutrition. Juk (porridge) is a light meal, which is highly nutritious. Juk is often made with rice, to which abalone, ginseng, pine nuts, vegetables, chicken, or bean sprouts can be added. As well as rice porridge, red bean porridge and pumpkin porridge are also delicious.

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This is an unofficial review of Gilmok, a restaurant in Los Angeles, which is known as The Corner Place.  I went on vacation last week out west.  I arrived late into Los Angeles and once I got off the plane, my friend drove me directly to Koreatown since I was a bit hungry after a long east to west coast flight.  Since it was a bit late, he decided to take me to Gilmok, which appeared to be another Koreatown restaurant that didn’t look to remarkable.  We walked into the smoky restaurant which of course was a byproduct of kalbi grilling.  But that’s not what caught my attention.

After we ordered and chatted, a big bowl of noodles arrived and it was poured into smaller bowls.  I didn’t think to much of it because I was really hungry for the kalbi.  My friend suggested that I start eating the Dongchimi Guksu (noodles in a cold, pickled radish base soup) because the kalbi was just put onto the grill.  So I naturally picked up my chopsticks and scooped up some noodles.  I knew right away that the noodles were pure ecstasy.  It was simply AWESOME!  The first thing I said to my friend was, “These are amazing!  Better than any kind of Guksu in New York.”  Then I proceeded to say, “How come you’ve never brought me to this place because I’ve come out to LA so many times.”  His response was simply, “You always want In & Out.”  Doh!  C’mon man!

Let me repeat that these noodles were better than anything that I’ve tasted on the east coast.  They were so simple yet so savory and I asked my friend what made it so amazing.  Rumor has it is that there’s a little bit of Sprite poured in.  Just a rumor but hard to tell if there’s really a hint of Sprite.  Who cares because it was outstanding!  If you’re in Koreatown in Los Angeles, go check out Gilmok and order the noodles and kalbi.  You will not be disappointed!  Gilmok is located at 2819 James M Wood Blvd, Los Angeles.