Shinsegae (Gangnam) – Seoul

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Brick Pop

A trip to Seoul isn’t complete without checking out the famous Gangnam district. The Gangnam district is known to be one of the wealthiest districts in South Korea with high living standards. We took a taxi there and immediately found the area to have many high rises and business looking buildings. We decided to get dropped off at Shinsegae Department store. A trip to Shinsegae means going to the basement level to the food department! We came across Brick Pop, which features bright and vibrant popsicles using real fruit.

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K got this one which had a slice of peach and some passionfruit flavour. Very refreshing and I love the concept of how they place an actual piece of fruit inside! They come to around 3,900 won, or around CAD$4.

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I found these pastry looking items in a different stall and was curious to try them out. They remind me of the Japanese pastries.

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The outer shell is slightly crispy and the inside is filled with red bean paste. Not too sweet, and the dough itself is a little crumbly. Average, and nothing too special.

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Last but not least, we found these croquettes at Menagerie. They have different fillings, but we chose the Meat Croquette. The outside is deep fried and quite oily, but extremely crispy. To my surprise, the meat reminded me of the meat fillings inside Chinese buns! Not exactly what I had expected, but it was surprisingly really good.

Overall, you should definitely check out the food level at a Shinsegae in Seoul. You don’t neccessarily have to go to the one in Gangnam, since they are pretty much the same. Gangnam’s underground shopping was pretty good though. If you’re looking for cheap clothes, I would suggest checking it out. Other than that, we didn’t really know where else to go in Gangnam. We were told by a local friend that it’s much easier to get around by car in the Gangnam area and that there are plenty of cute cafes in the area.

Address: 176, Sinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul

Mubanna Chondak (무봤나 촌닭): Korean Fried Chicken – Busan

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After lunch in Myeong-dong, we headed to Seoul Station, where we would take the KTX train to Busan. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and is the fifth largest seaport in the world! It’s famous for the beaches and seafood! If you want to travel to Busan from Seoul, you can get the KR Pass as a foreigner. You can get unlimited travel from 1 to 10 days, depending on the pass you buy. It’s a much cheaper deal. For us, we purchased the 3 day unlimited pass, and used it for a round trip. You also get a discount if you’re younger than 25 or are traveling with more than 2 people. Purchase it online before you go, and you can select any time after your reservation date. It took around 2 hours to arrive, but since we left Seoul late, we arrived early evening. We stayed in the Haeundae area, which is famous for the beach. We walked around the area and found a bunch of bars. We ended up looking for fried chicken, since we always see it in Korean dramas. The restaurant was called Mubanna Chondak and is a chain restaurant in Busan.

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Kimchi and Tofu

It was really difficult to communicate in Busan, since they seemed to know less English. The server was still very friendly and tried his best to recommend us food. After ordering, he brought us complimentary appetizers. There was a size of kimchi, which I found spicier than usual. There was also tofu with sesame seeds on it. The tofu really has no flavour, but K loved it.

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Spicy Octopus

Next, we tried the Spicy Octopus. It came on a grill on top of a hot pot stove. There were around 10 tiny octopi! After one bite, we all realized how spicy it was! Super spicy! Not to the point where I couldn’t feel my taste buds anymore, but one where I wanted to keep drinking water. The octopus was so tender though! The sauce was also really delicious. A definite recommend!

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Boneless Chicken in Chili Pepper Paste Sauce

The server recommended us to get the Boneless Chicken in Chili Pepper Paste Sauce. He said it’s one of the more popular dishes. Again, it’s in a chili pepper paste sauce, so very spicy. Definitely not as spicy as the octopus though. It’s a mix of chicken that isn’t fried or battered, and is mixed with rice cake, corn, peas and comes with a side of noodles. You’re supposed to mix the noodles with the chicken, which I found quite interesting. We loved the rice cake mixed in and wish there was more. Sadly, we were looking for fried chicken, so we were a bit disappointed that we didn’t have the real fried chicken we always see. He also ended up putting down 2 orders of this, as he couldn’t understand what we wanted. Oh well. Tons of leftover though!

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The chicken also comes with a cabbage salad that is topped with ketchup and mayo. This was definitely needed as our food was quite spicy!

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Steamed Egg

Lastly, we also got a Steamed Egg, which is filled with green onions. Not bad, and was something to help calm our palettes down.

Overall, the food was actually pretty good here! It’s quite casual and almost seems like a fast food restaurant. I believe you can also choose the spice level for the food. We had asked for mild, but it’s still pretty spicy… I guess Koreans can really take their spice!