The food in S. Korea was very expensive for a fellow Malaysian like me. Firstly, the conversion rate is 1,000 won to RM 3.20. Secondly, most meals cost around 5,000 to 8,000 won. Do the math and you'll see why it is very expensive.
Anyway, to spare you the rant on how weak the Malaysian currency is, I'm going to continue on with the memorable places I dined in during my trip.
#1 Seafood Forest
Location: A restaurant near Ilchubong Sunrise Peak.
Price: 64,000 won for 4 (if not mistaken)
Taste and experience: Seeing the live abalones move, possibility screaming in a frequency too low to hear as they are dunked into hot soup, was interesting to witness. Seafood in Malaysia does not come to you alive but dead... seafood in Jeju spend their dying moments with you.
#2 2 servings of Black Pork, 2 servings of Bibimbap, 1 serving of Sanggyetang
Location: A restaurant in the tourist area surrounded by museums and tons of international food outlets and cafes.
Price: 67,000 won (if not mistaken)
Taste and experience: Ordering was quite a challenge because apparently, you can't have separate orders. So, we actually took a while trying to explain what we wanted in Mandarin. Taste wise, it was definitely better than the Seafood Forest. I had the sanggyetang and it reminded me of watered down porridge. Black pork was good too, but I'm honestly not a fan of bibimbap.
#3 McDonalds
Location: They exist, you just have to look for them.
Price: Roughly 5,000 won for a set, depending on the set.
Taste and experience: The first time I had the quarter pounder, so it tasted normal. The second time I had the double bulgogi burger... which was weird in my opinion. It tasted like black pork with so much sauce in a bun. My brother was fine with it though... so it was just me.
#4 Best Meal Ever!
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| Picture from Callistonian.net |
Price: 36,000 won.
Taste and experience: Great! The beef, chicken and pork were served on hot plates with rice. Let me repeat that... with rice! It was different from the other meals we had and I think the restaurant adapted to fit the taste buds of tourists. Maybe I was hungry, but it was a satisfying meal that didn't cost as much as the rest.
#5 Grilled Pork and Beef ribs
Location: A red-walled, tiny restaurant, along the uphill walk to Hill House Hotel. When we were heading to our hotel upon our arrival in Seoul, I noticed the restaurant being packed during lunchtime. So, we gave it a go on our last night.
Price: 50,000 won for 4.
Taste and experience: The grilled pork ribs were really tender and tasty. It reminded me of satay, actually. The beef ribs on the other hand, were rather chewy. It was a good meal though, because the side dishes were very different and much better than the ones we had before. They also kept topping them up. The lady that served us asked if we wanted rice with our food and served us each a bowl of soup, which gave me a feeling that the restaurant is chinese owned.
*On a side note, none of us enjoyed Kimchi.
That's all for memorable meals. Clearly we ate more than that, but those aren't worth mentioning. My next post will be about the street food, so stay tuned!
Check out my other posts on South Korea:
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