AREX: Summer food

Do you know what are some of the best Korean food to try in Summer?

Samgyetang - Korean ginseng chicken soup, and Chueotang - mudfish soup, are two popular dishes in Korea during Summer as they help to rejuvenate your tired body from the heat. Let's check out the two dishes in this post.

#1 Korea Samgyetang

First, we will introduce Korea's first korean ginseng chicken soup restaurant called "Korea Samgyetang" that is located near Seoul City Hall Station. It was selected as one of the recommended restaurants in Seoul Michelin Guide from 2017 to 2019 and is also very popular among foreigners.

Due to its popularity, this restaurant can get very crowded in the Summer.

Overall, the restaurant is very spacious and neat. The restaurant has seats from 1st to 4th floor in the building.

You have to order one dish per person. The basic menu is samgyetang, and the type and price vary depending on the added ingredients. There offer various type of samgyetang, so you can try those that you've never eaten.

They serve side dishes like cabbage kimchi, radish kimchi and garlic.

In addition, ginseng wine is also served in a small cup, one per person, and the bitter smell of ginseng could help to stimulate your appetite.

The chicken blends well with various ingredients. Take a sip of the thick soup and it will restore your energy from the heat.

Put the meat on a plate, and you can enjoy small piece of meat, glutinous rice and soup together.

[Information about Korea Samgyetang]

Getting Here : At AREX Hongik University Station, transfer to Subway Line 2 ▶ Get off at City Hall Station, Exit 10, walk 5 mins
Address : 1 Seosomun-ro 11-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
Opening hours : 10:30 – 21:30 daily / Closed on Korean New Year, Thanksgiving day
Contact : +82-2-752-9376
Price : Samgyetang KRW 16,000, Abalone Samgyetang KRW 22,000, Sansam Samgyetang KRW 22,000

#2 Namwongol Chueotang

Chueotang, known as mudfish soup, is another popular Summer food in Korea. Namwongol Chueotang is located in a small alley near Gongdeok Station. Since it's located near many companies and in office area, this is a popular restaurant among the office workers.

Namwongol Chueotang, offering "a taste of hometown', serves their mudfish soup in the traditional way of Namwon city. Therefore, it looks and taste different from the normal thick, dark-colored mudfish soup that we commonly know.

There are quite many seats available inside the restaurant. On the wall, there are tips on how to enjoy eating chueotang, the benefits of chueotang and an introduction to menu and ingredients.

The menu is prepared in a simple way. There also serve low-salt white chueotang, chueotang with snails, chueotang hot pot and others. On the day we visited, we ordered Chueotang, the representative menu of this restaurant.

For side dishes, they serve cabbage kimchi, kkakdugi (radish kimchi), cold cucumber soup, and salted fish which is probably the salted pollack roe.

Although chueotang looks red in colour, in fact it is not spicy at all. The soup tastes much refreshing than the traditional chueotang.

Haven't tried Chueotang before? Why not visit Namwongol Chueotang next time?

[Information about Namwongol Chueotang]

1. Getting Here : AREX Gongdeok Station, Exit 4, walk 9 mins
2. Address : 13 Mapo-daero 8-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
3. Opening hours : Monday ~ Friday 11:00 – 21:00(Break time 15:00 – 17:00), Saturday 11:00 - 15:00 / Closed on Sundays and Public Holiday
4. Contact : +82-2-703-5357
5. Price : Chueotang from KRW 10,000 onwards

*Please wear a mask and practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wash hands frequently and practice cough etiquette. Stay safe!

Cold noodles like naengmyeon and buckwheat noodles are popular dishes in Summer. In this post, we will recommend 2 restaurants famous for buckwheat noodles, which also appeared on the TV programme named Wednesday Food Talk(수요미식회).

#1 Goseong Buckwheat Noodles (고성막국수)

The first place that we recommend is Goseong Makguksu, which is located near Banghwa Station. After it was appeared on the TV programme, this restaurant became so popular that it is hard to find any seats during mealtimes.

This restaurant is famous in the Banghwa-dong area as it also appeared in another TV programme before this. They serve three popular dishes, Dongchimi Makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles), Bibim Makguksu (spicy cold buckwheat noodles) and Pyeonyuk (boiled meat).

They use 100% pure buckwheat in making the noodles. The dough is kneaded when you order it, so when you order the noodles, it will take some time for your meal to be served.

The soup is served first before the noodles are served. It feels so refreshing by looking at the thin ice. When the noodles are served, you can pour the soup into the bowl of noodle.s

It looks so appetizing!
Cucumber, seaweed, eggs and sesame seeds are served together with the noodles.

On the other hand, the spicy buckwheat noodles are sprinkled with cucumbers, eggs, seaweed and sesame seeds, as well as red pepper sauce. You can also enjoy it with broth. There are vinegar and mustard sauce on every table, so you can add it in your noodles if you want to.

It comes with a few side dishes - crunchy and cold Yeolmu kimchi, white kimchi and pollack sashimi. All the side dishes are delicious, especially the pollack sashimi. It is so delicious and is good to eat it with the buckwheat noodles.

Dongchimi Makguksu, the popular menu in Goseong Makguksu, has a refreshing and clean flavour. The combination of crispy radish and savory buckwheat noodles is good. Also, the noodles is thin and chewy like the cold noodles.

The spicy buckwheat noodles are not as spicy as you think. This is recommended for people who likes slightly salty sauce.

Please take note that Goseong Makguksu has break time from 3:30pm to 4:30pm on weekdays and from 3:40pm to 4:20pm on Saturdays and holidays.

[Information about Goseong Makguksu]

1. Getting here : At AREX Gimpo Airport Station, transfer to Subway Line 5 ▶ Get off at Banghwa Station, Exit 1, walk 7 mins

2. Address: 6-7 Banghwa-daero 49-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul

3. Opening hours: Mon - Sat 11:30 - 20:00(Breaktime15:30~16:30) / Closed on Sundays

4. Contact number: +82-2-2665-1205

5. Price: Dongchimi makguksu KRW 8,000, Bibim makguksu KRW 9,000, Pyeonuk (small) KRW 24,000

#2 Musam Myeonok (무삼면옥)

The next restaurant that we want to recommend is Musam Myeonok, which is located about 5 mins walk from Gongdeok Station. This is also another popular place for buckwheat noodles so it is crowded during lunch time.

Please take note that their break time is from 2:30pm to 5:30pm on weekdays.

At the entrance, you can see a large buckwheat milling machine. Every morning, they prepare the buckwheat noodles for the day by themselves.

At Musam Myeonok, you have to order the noodles directly from the machine. After that, you can take a seat and noodles will be served. Their signature menu is the cold buckwheat noodles. They serve various buckwheath noodles such as cold buckwheat noodles, soy sauce bibimmyeon and hot pepper paste bibimmyeon. The must have food here is the soy sauce bibim buckwheat noodles.

The noodles used in this restaurant is made of 100% buckwheat rice, purchased directly from Bongpyeong Agriculture, that is without any additives. They grind it every morning to make the dough for noodles.

Buckwheat tea (myeonsu) is also available at the entrance, so please feel free to take it by yourself.

We ordered two of the most popular menu - soy sauce bibim buckwheat noodles and cold buckwheat noodles. Some side dishes and refreshing herbal broth comes together with the noodles. The broth is not salty, so you can just drink it like water.

They serve 2 side dishes - pickled cucumber and pickled radish, which go well with the noodles.

The most basic cold buckwheat noodles are garnished with meat, pears and mushrooms.

The clear broth made of Korean beef attracted our attention. Try the broth first, and you keep on wanting to eat more.

The smell and taste of savory buckwheat is strong, so you can enjoy an authentic buckwheat noodles. Their buckwheat has fragrant scent and unique savory taste.

Soy sauce bibim buckwheat noodle is a combination not found at other places and it is a popular menu in this restaurant.

The soy sauce bibim buckwheat noodle has a great combination of fish soy sauce and savory perilla oil. Black fungus (wood ear mushrooms) makes the noodles taste better.

The fish soy sauce made in Musam Myeonok is the fish soy sauce that was eaten by the king in the past. Therefore, it is not salty but light and has a clean taste. Most importantly, the noodles that are made of 100% buckwheat has a chewy texture that can be enjoy by many people.

[Information about Musam Myeonok]

1. Getting here : Get off at AREX Gongdeok Station, Exit 4, walk 5 mins
2. Address: 50 Mapo-daero 12-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
3. Opening hours: Weekdays 11:30 - 20:30(break time 14:30~17:30), Sat & holiday 11:30 - 14:00 / Closed on Sundays
4. Price: 100% buckwheat cold noodles (soup/bibim) KRW 11,000, mandu (dumplings) KRW 5,000, Boiled pork (150g) KRW 10,000

*Please wear a mask and practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wash hands frequently and practice cough etiquette. Stay safe!

상단카테고리

[Best Food in Summer] Korea Samgyetang and Namwongol Chueotang