Saturday, February 22, 2014

The Sandwich in Gwanghwamun



February 19, 2014

For those who want to have fresh homemade sandwiches in a Gwanghwamun area in Seoul, 
The Sandwich(더 샌드위치 in Korean) may be your choice of restaurants or cafes. Right, you can have sandwiches at The Sandwich.

It is located a bit off from the central square in Gwanghwamun, but it's worth walking for freshly made sandwiches, burgers, pasta and soups. It has an open-kitchen, so you can watch people in the kitchen cook on the spot. It has around 7 tables, some of which have 4 seats.

You can choose sandwiches cold or hot. I ordered a lunch set of hot mushroom sandwich and coffee, which came at 11,000 won(approximately 10 US dollars). I had enough mushroom for the day! Lots of mushroom was stuffed between two pieces of bread with some constantly sticking out onto the plate.

A colleague of mine had a set of grilled vegetable sandwich and coffee, which also looked delicious.

@ The Sandwich, Seoul














How to get to The Sandwich

Address
#107B, 201 Dong, Pungrim Space Bon, 4, Sajik-ro 8-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea

Transportation
The nearest subway station is Gyeongbokgung on line #3. 
Use the exit #7 at the station.

Telephone
 (local) 02-720-9396
(abroad) 82-2-720-9396


Sunday, February 2, 2014

Seollal or Korean Lunar New Year’s Day


↑ Table for Charye or Jesa(memorial ceremony for ancestors)

January 31, 2014

We just celebrated the Korean Lunar New Year's Day, or Seollal in Korean. It fell on January 31 this year. It's one of the biggest traditional holidays in Korea. The Seollal holiday lasts 3 days: the day before Seollal, of Seollal, and after Seollal.



My whole family gathered into my parents' house in PyeongChang(평창 in Korean) to hold a memorial ceremony for our ancestors. The ritual held in the early morning of Seollal is called Charye or Jesa in Korean. It is all about respect, appreciation and care.



Binge eating alert! Seriously. 


We make lots of foods for the ritual and the whole holiday, ultimately spending most of the holiday eating those foods. The typical main dish on Seollal is Tteokguk, the soup made of sliced rice cakes. We also make a variety of traditional food including Jeon(pancake), Twigim(fried food), Japchae(starch noodles with meat and vegetables), Mandu(dumpling), Tteok(rice cake), vegetable Muchim(or salad), Hangwa(Korean confectionery) and many others. 

It is always delightful to cook(well, mostly my mom) and share these delicious dishes with my family and make wishes for each other. 

Wait, all the dishes already gone?


@ PyeongChang


Tteokguk(rice cake soup)

 Mandu(dumpling)


↑ Squid Twigim(fried squid)

↑ Meat Jeon(pancake) 

↑ Mushroom Jeon(pancake) 

 ↑ Pollack Jeon(pancake) 


 ↑ Sweet Potato Twigim(fried sweet potato) 


↑ Jeon and Twigim

↑ Jeon and Twigim

 ↑ Seasoned beef


Dubu(Tofu or soybean curd) 

 Tteok(rice cake) 


 Japchae(starch noodles with meat and various vegetables)

 ↑ Balloon Flower Muchim(salad)


  ↑ Spinach Muchim(salad)


   ↑ Buckwheat Jeon(pancake) with Kimchi


   Hangwa(Korean confectionery)


   ↑ Jakseol(green tea made of young buds) tea