What do you think of my new logo and site?! Thanks!!

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I’ve recently partnered with Dan Gray at seouleats.com so I will be posting there from now on. Thank you for reading and I hope you’ll follow my Seoul food adventures over there.

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Put your preconceived, Paris Baguette tainted impressions of Korean bakeries away. The owner (I’m pretty sure), a super friendly, smiling old man, greets you at the door, recommends bread, and cuts it all for you. There’s nothing here with sausage or cheese. It’s an classic bakery with classic ingredients and classic (very reasonable) prices. The friendly owner even let me behind the counter for a couple shots and threw in a couple extra raisin bread sticks for no reason. I was inclined to think this a benefit of being a blogger, but my girlfriend told me that the last time she was here they were sold out of most of their bread by about 3:00pm and the owner gave her some free bread just for the inconvenience. 10 star service. Also note that because of their popularity try to come in the morning.

This time we had the Cranberry Walnut bread for 3,000won, and one other, unfortunately I ate it before remembering the name. :/ Sorry. Here are the pictures. Enjoy!

737-2 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
South Korea
02-792-5561

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This place reminds me a lot of Rabbit, just on a smaller scale. The drinks are great, a little flashy actually, and reasonably priced. My standard Latte is only 4,000, cheap for a Korean cafe, with the option for a 1,500 priced Americano refill. Not bad, not bad at all.

Though my latte this time has a snazzy design, the latte from my last visit sported a spiral of chocolate with a coffee bean in the center. The girlfriend’s capuchino had a mountain of silky foam and a good amount of cinnamon. Having worked in cafes for 3 years I know my coffee drinks. Milk foam is the most important part of a good drink. It should be smooth and silky without any noticeable bubbles. Bubbles are the sign of either an inexperienced, ignorant, or more often and worst of all, a lazy barista. A good capuchino should be about 3/4 silky foam, 1/4 milk, and a latte backwards, 1/4 foam, 3/4 foam. The 1st Penguin hits the mark on the drinks. Well done.

One of the good things about walking around documenting a place with a big camera is that people tend to treat you nicer as they expect you’re not just taking pictures for a personal archive. Indeed they asked me if I was a blogger and gave me the above pictured rice treat for free. They did give it to the two other guests so maybe I’m looking too far into it. But I’m guessing it’s because I was blogging. Yesterday also I was photographing a bakery and got 2 extra raisin bread sticks. Chance? Perhaps!

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture but the last time I ate the BLT sandwich which included a sandwich and pickles for 5,500. Not a great sandwich, but for a place without a kitchen, and for the price, it’s not too bad. I imagine they don’t want people coming in just for their sandwiches anyway, but it’s good enough to hold you over if you don’t want to leave to get something to eat.

Finally, and most importantly for a study cafe, the environment is very conducive to studying. There are probably 200 electric outlets, 30 lamps, and dozens of pencils and pencil sharpeners. Also included – free water, good internet, two computers, books, book holders, blankets, good lighting, big tables, some couches, and even a freaking chalkboard. Yeah, these owners knew their target audience, the super nerds at Korea University, and nailed it.

더퍼스트펭귄 고대점
93-5 Anamdong 5(o)-ga, Seongbuk-gu, 성북구, Seoul
South Korea
02-929-1120
the1stpenguin.com

Open Hours:
M-F 8:00-11:00
Sat 10:00-11:00
Sun Closed

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You enter to a large open kitchen and are greeted by the smell of baking bread. Is there a better smell in the world? Then you walk past a small priced-by-weight salad bar. Seats are upstairs and you can order either downstairs or up.

Today we had a little salad, the Hot Bacon and Shrimp Panini, and the Apple Gorgonzola Pizza.

Salad 2,500/100g

Hot Bacon and Shrimp Panini 7,200

The Hot Bacon and Shrimp Panini I’d only give a 6/10. The vegetables had a nice color and flavor and the shrimp was well seasoned and cooked right with a soft layer of coating. My main gripe though is that it was too sweet. There was just an overwhelming amount of honey mustard sauce that robbed the flavor from the shrimp and vegetables. Also, for 7,200 I expected a bit more substance and was left hungry. Thus, we had to order the pizza.

Apple Gorgonzola Pizza 7,900

The Apple Gorgonzola Pizza pretty much tasted exactly how it looks. Looks amazing right? Yeah, it was. I was a bit skeptical of combining cheese and apple, but the combo worked pretty well. The baking sucked a lot of the sweetness from the apple and overall it tasted very clean, with the gorgonzola cheese left to be the star. Well done. It was served with apple sauce, which the girlfriend loved, but like I said… I’m not a big fan of mixing salt and sweet.

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Anyhow, I moved in and started classes and so was super busy getting everything arranged organized. But finally I’ve rearranged the furniture, bought all the supplies, and feel like I’ve settled in and can finally get back to work on this blog. I hope the wait has been worth it because I have about 15 restaurants to post. Wow… 15 restaurants at about 2-3hrs each is quite a bit of work. So please don’t expect them all at once, but I’ll try to get them all out within the next month or so.

Also, thanks much to my girlfriend who is integral to this blog. Actually, she’s a large part of the reason I write this site. Before we go out to eat she always researches the Korean blogs and finds what’s good in the area. It would be incredibly hard to find good food without her. In the same way I hope this blog helps you as well.

Cheers!

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Well fear not, fellow drinkers. There is a solution and it is called Woodstock. It’s a small dive in Gangnam, near exit 10 (used to be 6). Woodstock is the closest to an American dive bar that I’ve come across in Korea. The bar is usually packed with Americans. Typical. There are a few perks about Woodstock that keep me coming back every week. The first is the music selection. For those of you who like music ranging from Bob Dylan to the Knife, Metallica to Bat4Lashes, Patti Smith to Depeche Mode, you’ve come to the right place. They have two walls filled to the tippity top with old LPs and CDs. They have blank music request cards at the bar that you can take to your table and bring back. If they have your song, they will play it for you. Loudly.

The other perk has already been mentioned. No need for food here. It’s like you’re back in America. You can order a beer and be done with it. People come alone and sit at the bar. The bartenders are friendly and will chat with you. There is also a dartboard for all you dart fiends. They have a full bar and beer on tap: Cass or Hoegaarden. Can’t forget that you’re in Korea, right? But they do carry bottled IPAs and Pale Ales. Yum.

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First of all the interior is sexy and feels very new and modern – it fits the price point. Also the Itaewon and Insadong locations opened less than a year ago, which hasn’t been enough time for dust and spider webs to accumulate. The tables are a nice polished brass, with polished brass ventilators hanging from the ceiling. And the Itaewon location may has a ridiculously enormous door. The only things out of place are the cheap looking plastic chairs. At least they’re black and keep a low profile.

Premium Korean Beef Sirloin 한우특등심 35,500 /160g
Though not the cheapest food, it’s definitely one of the purest protein flavors I’ve found in Korea. This sirloin is served unmarinated and flavored by the eater with a dab of rock salt. It’s unfortunate that Korean meat is so much more expensive than American meat. You would think shipping halfway around the world would up the price, but I suppose Korean producers don’t torture the animals and environment like American producers.

All my life I’ve been unable to understand why older Koreans prefer unmarinated beef when I preferred the marinated. However, yesterday perhaps I fully completed my transformation into a real half Korean when I realized what Koreans love about their unmarinated beef. The clean, unadulturated flavor offers an unparalleled analysis. I suppose it was bound to happen. Long ago I moved from enjoying heavily creamed sushi rolls to plain sushi/sashimi, and I cut out sugar from my coffee a long time ago. I guess my palette is maturing, or changing at least. Or maybe my mind is just manipulated to prefer more expensive products. As a student I’m still a cheap ass though, so please don’t expect bougie restaurant reviews only.

Note: If you’re trying to impress a Korean, you definitely have to go for Korean meat – Hanu (한우). There seems to be a general agreement that Korean meat is superior. I, actually, can’t tell the difference.

American Marinated Boneless Short-Ribs 양념 갈비 꽃살 25,500 /200g
Though I preferred the considerably more expensive unmarinated Korean Sirloin above, that’s not to say these Short-Ribs weren’t delicious. They were. The marinade was perfect, and they basically melted in your mouth. Absolutely no complaints. My apologies for the burt meat photo below. I got carried away… eating (and being on a date with my lovely girlfriend).

Chilean Pork Jowl 천겹(칠레산) 11,000 /200g
The Pork Jowl is a great option as well. It doesn’t have the gourmet melt-in-your-mouth quality of the sirloin but it has plenty of flavor and a unique chewy texture. Actually this is my mother’s favorite ‘budget’ meat and she eats a ton of it when she visits. It also is unflavored and salted by the eater at the table. Definitely a great choice.

Doenjang Jjigae 된장찌개

Because 300-400g of meat won’t fill the average eater, it’s customary to finish with some carbs. Doenjang Jjigae and nengmyung are my favorites. Today we swung for the Jjigae (soup). It’s a very flavor rich soup, with Doenjang beans, onions, zucchini, green onions, mushrooms, and tofu.

Side Dishes

3 Locations

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The Food
After staring at the well endowed menu for a good 10 minutes (not for size mind you, but for quality of menu items), we eventually chose the Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Nachos to accompany our standard beer. Their only Korean beer on tap was OB, IMO a definite step down from my favorite Cass. The food was standard pub grub. Good, but not incredible. The chicken was tender on the inside, crispy on the out. The fries – fresh with the similar tender/crispy ratio to the chicken. The nachos were also very good with a large load of fresh pico de gallo, minced jalapeños, shredded cheese, and parmesan cheese. Standard salsa and sour cream were served on the side, which is my preferred setup as it doesn’t turn the nachos to mush.

Finally some quality nachos to help abate the trauma from my birthday last month. At Lemon Terrace in Gangnam we were served nachos with cheese and chocolate and were denied a request to replace it because it had “popular demand”. My ass. Did I complain about that before? Well it deserves at lease two public shamings.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich w/ Fries 10,500

Nachos 12,500

It isn’t hard to imagine Sam Ryan’s packed full on a Friday/Saturday night. It’s got all the right ingredients to host drunk itaewonites out on the night: decently priced drinks, friendly staff, 3 authentic dart boards, plenty of floor space, sports playing on a half dozen big screen tvs, and unique to this establishment… a drinking game wheel.

Drinking Game Wheel
The wheel is a great idea and loads of entertainment. The drunk group that was there that day spun it a good dozen times and myself and Mike each took our turns. For every purchased drink you can take a spin, though I doubt they enforce that rule. The goal isn’t necessarily to give away drinks, but rather to promote a good time and keep the lubricant flowing. Mike won the “Buy a drink and chug it and get a free beer.” When we requested to not follow through the girl pointed out the sign below which reads “Play at Your Own Risk – If you spin and refuse to honor the result, we must charge you 5,000 won!!”. This sucks for me as there’s a section that says “SEXY dance for a drink”. Try as I would, my bumbles would probably get me charged more than 5,000.

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Entrances are either on the right up the hill, or through the building.

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Coffee Smith offers a large beautiful interior with one gigantic wall completely removed which gives it a great open/freeing atmosphere. As there must be room for at least 100+ people in there, there’s always a lively buzz. Plenty of stylish couches and clean bathrooms with large mirrors show the manager got it right with the details. There’s a large smoking area in the back, and smoking is also permitted in the large front patio. The front patio area is walled of with glass on especially hot or cold days, but open up on summer nights and throughout spring and fall. On one hot summer weekend I saw the patio wall open with two large misting fans blowing over the patio.

While I’ve only ordered my standard hot Americano and so can’t comment on anything else, that Americano was quality. Having worked in 4 cafes for over 3 years my tongue can recognize some good espresso, and Coffee Smith doesn’t disappoint. Drink prices are only slightly above the thievery prices from all major Korean cafes and so nothing to really complain about.

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