South Korea’s capital is a hard nut to crack, travel-wise. For visitors, it can be difficult to gain insider-level intel on the city’s ultra-hip world of trendy cafés, boutiques and artsy spaces—not to mention hard-to-find restaurants with un-translated menus. (OpenRice’s counterparts, for example, Wingspoon and Naver, are virtually entirely in Korean.) Luckily, during my visit in April, which also happened to be a reunion with two college roommates, one of them—Angela, the Korean-American and fluent one who has lived there for six years—served as our tour guide. And with the way she showed us her town, it was impossible for us not to fall in love. So, a bit belatedly, I’ve decided to share our itinerary with all you readers. If it helps you pass the hours just a little bit more like a local when you’re there next, then I’ve done my job.
Upon arrival, we made a beeline for
Sigol Babsang (549-9 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, (+82) 2-546-1567), a restaurant serving traditional Korean fare just off of Garosu-gil, a trendy street that by day is great for shopping, people-watching and latte-sipping. We relaxed atop cushions on a raised platform against walls lined with old newspapers and devoured a feast of bulgogi, kimchi pancakes, bean-paste soup, egg soufflé (less weird and more yummy than it sounds) and an army of banchan (little side dishes). For dessert, we headed across the street to
5CIJUNG Cafe (1F, 525-11 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, (+82) 2-512-6508,
www.5cijung.com), a homey little spot that specializes in cakes, homemade scones and delicious banana jam (that they also sell). Their liquid concoctions are unique and delicious, like the soothing banana ginger tea and the tangy iced blueberry vinegar-ade.
The next morning we (that is, three twenty-something girls) decided to be adventurous, and made our way south of the city center to
Namhansanseong, a state park just outside Seoul (563 Sanseong-ri, Jungbu-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, (+82) 31-777-7514,
www.ggnhss.or.kr). It’s a mountain fortress dating back to about 60 AD that served as a protective city wall of sorts, and it's surrounded by picturesque cultural relics like temples, shrines and pavilions. We trekked up to the wall and took in the views, giggling at our fellow hikers—hardcore Korean men and women who’d donned intense outdoor gear and accessories for the little climb.
By the time we got back to the city, we were famished—and what better way to build up strength than with some authentic Korean steak, barbecued simply with garlic and cabbage on a burner right in the center of our table. At Daedo Sikdang (150-7 Samseong 1-dong, Gangnam-gu, (+82) 2-561-2283-4), the high-quality rib-eye (from cows raised in Korea, of course) was the star of the show. True, it wasn't cheap. But it was delicious—even more so when a waiter swooped in to make kkakdugi (a white-radish kimchi) fried rice in the same pan that held the dregs of the beef we'd just devoured.
The last stop of the day was late-night shopping in Dongdaemun, the wholesale district. We opted to patronize APM Luxe (199-17 Sindang-dong, Jung-gu, (+82) 2-2231-0936)—which is open from 8:30pm until 9am and sells the kinds of clothing and accessories stocked by boutiques across Seoul, except at bargain prices—we perused floor after floor of merchandise until we were ready to collapse.
Refreshed the next morning, we went to an area called Samcheongdong for lunch and a stroll amid the old-fashioned, refurbished Korean houses, too-cute-for-words boutiques and cozy cafés. The Korean specialty du jour was wang mandoo guk—literally, giant dumpling soup. And those dumplings were especially enormous at
Bukchon Kalguksu (84 Sogyeok-dong, Jongro-gu, (+82) 2-739-6334), where at the front of the restaurant a team of veteran chefs with hands like lightning kept stuffing, folding and creasing more and more doughy pockets of goodness. Our best shopping find?
Le Bunny Bleu (18 Sogyeok-dong, Jongro-gu, (+82) 70-8812-8102,
www.lebunnybleu.com) which sells hipster-esque shoes that look a lot like Toms.
