Korean Food Adventures

I am extremely fortunate that my husband has most weekends off and even more grateful that we have another shore tour. Back to back shore tours in the Navy are nearly unheard of. So on weekend mornings where I don’t have to work and the weather isn’t completely dreadful, we’ll go out exploring.

I may be biased since I’m half Korean, but the food is amazing. AMAZING! Better yet, super affordable. A majority of the restaurants here are small mom and pop shops or chains that make traditional Korean fare. Since we don’t really need anything and it’s a little bit too chilly to be taking babies out for extended periods of time, we centered all our excursions around food.

On Saturday, we went to E-Mart, which is very similar to Super Target, but bigger. It’s a large grocery store with a huge selection on the first level and an everything else you could possibly need store on the second level. It also happens to be connected to a 7 story mall that has an IMAX theater, putt-putt golf, gym, ice skating rink, wedding hall, and major subway hub. Got to love the city.

We picked up a few local produce items and went to the 4th floor of the mall to grab a quick bite. It did not disappoint. We ordered a dish called Bibim Mandu as an appetizer. Deep friend dumplings served with a cabbage salad and a spicy vinegar based sauce. So yummy.

My husband is a fan of TonKatSu which is technically Japanese, but it’s everywhere in Korea. He had the cheese variation, which happens to be his new favorite food. It looks a little ugly here, but I promise it’s tasty.

I had Nakji Dupbab, which is spicy octopus, veggies and rice served on a cast iron skillet. Don’t let the thought of octopus scare you, it was fantastic. I wish I took a photo before diving in and mixing everything together, because the presentation was so pretty. Guess I was too hungry.

The next day I had to work in the morning, so it meant we stayed indoors. The rest of my day pretty much looked like this. You’ll have to excuse the lack of makeup and messy hair. Real life. One kid on your shoulders trying to comb your nappy mane while you burp the younger one.

Later that night we stopped by a “beaf and leaf” restaurant by our house. We had planned on going to our usual spot, but the mister was feeling spontaneous and decided we should go to a place whose specialty was pork intestine. I was not a fan. Thankfully we ordered all kinds of different meats. The side dishes were delicious too. I’m not a 100% that we would go back, but I’m glad we went. Now I can cross pork intestine that tasted exactly like you’d imagine a pork intestine to taste like off my food bucket list (I kid, I kid).

Even though going out to eat in Korea is super affordable, groceries are not. Our cabinets were bare, so we had to make a trip and stock up on some food. Kiddie carts are probably the single most amazing thing about our commissary (military grocery store). Check out Vanessa’s choice of groceries. A cucumber, pomegranate juice, trail mix, a fruit bar and you can’t forget cookies. I didn’t tell her what to put in her cart and I only took out one item, a bulk package of lip balm. I was impressed by the general lack of junk, so it came home with us.

All in all, I think we had a pretty great weekend. Anything dealing with food usually ends up being a good thing. Pork intestine though, never again.
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever eaten?