Seoul far, Seoul good!

Yeah I know, that title is a corny header I snitched from one of the local tv shows... well I wanted to share some food pics that i've taken in Seoul... as you know, Korea meals always are accompanied by loads of side dishes, so be forewarned - there are quite a lot of pics! I used to think that I like traditonal Korean cuisine... but how wrong was I!! Most of the Korean food that we taste locally are actually modified versions and no where close to the real real thing... I'm glad and relieved to say that I like the fusiony stuff we have!!

Following pics are taken at this traditional Korean restaurant near my hotel, with the household name of DaeJangGam.. yes, that's the famous tv serial that is screening every week night - Da Chang Jin... Unfortunately, the food does not sit in as well as the tv show does... nevertheless, have a peek...

See that little bowl of orangey substance? That is Korean porridge... I must be blunt here, it tastes real gross!! Not much taste, but it has the consistency of a weak glue... yuckety yucks!

First to come is a series of cold salads, local style... this is slightly sourish vinagrette, not too bad... just that i felt like a rabbit eating grass and leaves!

This one has a strong wine dressing, can really taste the liquor in it... not really to my liking.. at least the lettuce is fresh so i picked all those with minimal touches of dressing on it...

This is a form of cabbage kimchi, those little white specks are chilli seeds, and there are loads of it... didnt take much of this cos these seeds arent digestable..

This is a simple dish of pork with egg coating.. a thin slice of pork is coated with a layer of egg and lightly panfried... supposed to dip in some sauces and eat with veg.. was ok only, found the porky taste too strong and puts me off...

This is the first dish which i quite like... very fresh whole steamed fish covered in a layer of the traditional red pepper sauce.. it looks a lot more spicy than it really is... enjoyed the tender white fish a lot...

This is what i had originally set out to eat, but am pretty disappointed by it.. it's the famous Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup - minus the soup! I was stunned by the lack of soup in this dish here! But the waitress kept assuring me it's right, it is the SamGeTang... sigh... back to the taste test, this has a very light taste, bordering on bland.. can barely taste the ginseng and herbs... besides the usual glutinous rice, the chicken is stuffed with other types of grains like barley, green beans etc... not what i was expecting for sure...

Below this is another kimchi-like dish...

This is supposed to be bulgogi, or grilled beef... but what happened to the grilling? Nonetheless, this is pretty tasty with loads of seasoning, and some fresh button mushrooms too..

Now this is not good.. it's fresh squid and veg in red pepper sauce... the squid is incredibly rubbery... gave this up after a couple of bites

Waitress came by with a whole tray of assorted kimchi, at least 15 types on tiny dishes, typically korean... we rejected all cos we were pretty full by then, plus we arent the greatest fans of kimchi...

Well this is dessert.. not much though the orange wedge is really sweet and juicy... the little wrapped parcel is similar to one of our chinese traditional sweets - hollow malt sugar covered with puffed rice...