Wandering Around Anam Area

There are places in Seoul that you end up at that you have never been before. The thing is, though, nearly every place in Seoul pretty much looks the same. Except for several key places like, Samcheongdong and Insadong, otherwise you can pretty much expect the same old...same old.

However, if you look closely you will notice unique places to go to in these typical neighborhoods. My friend heard of this "dog cafe" and so wanted to take her two little ones to it. The area was near Anam station, which is nearby Korea University. When we arrived at Latte King, after riding the bus with 2 little doggies, we were hoping for a fun cafe where the dogs could meet other ones and romp around.

Yet, that wasn't the case. When we walked into Latte King we first ordered some drinks and a snack. Then as we went upstairs to sit, we noticed there were no other dogs. Not only this, but the cafe didn't even look pet friendly.

I have yet to go to a dog cafe, but I have been to a cat cafe. And from my impression these places have toys and water bowls out for the animals. This place just looked like a regular cafe that you could happen to bring your pets to.

To say the least, my friend and her furry companions were quite disappointed.

The place sort of made up in their strawberry juice and cream-cheese bagel.

On my way I noticed that a sign on the door does welcome pets...as well as aliens. So I felt right at home...haha

Our goal was to take a look around the Korea University so we headed in the direction of the campus. On the way we noticed a Dos Tacos and an Indian restaurant, Otsal right in the same building. I think if I lived in this neighborhood this place would see a lot of my business.

We never did get to see the campus because we got lost and stuck around the dorm area. At one point we tried finding a trail in this meek forest, but only to be yelled at by an Ahjumma. It was fun and hilarious too.

Seeing the dorms and students wandering out of them, reminded me of my college days. Yet I wondered how these guys got to classes as we couldn't figure out the path into the campus. Otherwise at one point we had a nice view of the area.

We headed back the way we came and stopped at the cafe, "I'm Bean" which wouldn't allow us to sit inside with her dogs. So I enjoyed my milk tea outside in a warm spot around the corner.

Then we decided to head to Otsal for some Indian grub. I'm glad to see Indian restaurants still thriving in Seoul and not some trend that washed away. Their menu had a good selection and some sets to choose from. We went for the lentil curry and tikka masala along with some herb and garlic naan.

If you are in the area I would highly recommend dining here, but I do wish the staff were more friendly. They kind of mixed up the order there at some point.

Anyways, maybe someday I'll find my way to the Korea University campus and meander around there. Till then...

What's For Dinner? Yellow Lentil Curry

Sometimes a good home cooked meal is what you need to wash away city life. I have been enjoying dal or lentil curry dishes at Indian restaurants and wondered if I could make the same thing at home. After finding a recipe online I figured why not give it a try.

The above ingredients are a mix of ones I have found in Korea and those I have brought with me from a recent trip back home (turmeric, curry powder and cumin). The lentils were purchased online from nicedeli.com.

The cilantro, or coriandar, however took quite a feat to find here. I thought my local Homeplus would have some, but no. Then I ventured to the fancy-pants Lotte department store grocery section, but no. Then while at COEX recently, I figured why not give the Hyundai department store a try. Thankfully they had a bushel full packed into a plastic box for just 2,100 Won.

List of ingredients needed:

• 250 g (1 cup) red or yellow lentils
• 1 tbsp olive oil for cooking
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 1x3 cm piece fresh ginger peeled & finely grated (for this I used packaged chopped up ginger...about a tiny teaspoon)
• 2 tsp ground corainder
• 1 cup coriander roughly chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 3 1/2 cups veggie stock (I didn't have this...so I used chicken stock instead..still looking for the veggie stock)
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• S & P to choice

How it was made:

1. I first chopped up all the veggies and got out the necessary spices and such.
2. The directions called for me to rinse the red lentils till the water ran clear, but I skipped this as I was hungry and lazy.
3. I sauteed the onions on med. heat with the garlic for about 7 minutes or till things turned clear and soft.
4. Afterwards, I added ginger, coriander (fine particles), cumin, turmeric & chili powder.
5. Stirred for a minute and then poured in the lentils and stock. Cover and bring to a simmer.
6. After simmering uncover and leave simmering for 20-25 minutes. Wait till the lentils are soft and thicken.
7. Season with the S & P, along with the remaining coriander and lemon juice.

The results were quite good with a nice zing of the lemon and a good feel in the spices. Although, I need to figure out the right setting to let it simmer longer as the lentils weren't soft all the way.

Overall, a good meal to throw into the usual mix of things and something I am happy I put together.

What side dishes would foreigner's prefer with their Indian food?

Last night JH and I went to Old Delhi, a restaurant here in Nowon at the end of Culture Street, which serves up very delicious Indian fare. Around the time we were nearly finished, and ordered more garlic naan, the restaurant owner came over to our table and asked the following question.

"What side dishes would foreigner's prefer with their Indian food?"

Of course, this was through JH's translation and the point of his question was that when foreigners visit his restaurant they usually do not eat the side dishes, and so he was wondering what other options he could serve. The current side dishes were kimchi, pickled radish and pickles. I enjoy the pickles but never touch the rest. 

After much thinking and talking it over with JH we came to some ideas that if he served cabbage and corn salad that would be good. Of course, it would be best if he came up with something that truly complemented the wonderful Indian food, but I figured the guy just wanted something simple and that foreigners would be compelled to eat. We then tried our best to describe a cabbage and corn salad and what dressing to use. I told him to avoid mayonnaise as a dressing, as this is very common and instead use an olive oil or balsamic type base.

He also seemed to inquire why not many foreigners frequent his restaurant, and my simple answer was they probably don't know where it is. He thanked us and let us finish our meal. 

The next thing I knew he came over to the table with a little dish and some small spoons. Apparently, he got the chef to make a dressing and wanted us to try it. The taste was pretty good and I could see it had mustard seeds, olive oil and some citrus juice in it. I said that it would likely work with shredded cabbage.  Then, through translation, I gave some ideas on how he could get foreigners to frequent his place by advertising at bars and hagwons. 

There was a great payoff to all this advice as we left with a take away package of our whole meal re-made for us. I also left him with some written down websites he should check out, such as Seoul Eats and Zen Kimchi. 

So folks, if you are in Nowon and make your way down Culture Street (to the end) and find yourself in Old Delhi having a cabbage-salad-sidedish, you might just have me to thank.

;)

Nowon Eats: Old Delhi

Last week, on a rainy evening, I embarked on having dinner together with coworkers in the hip part of Nowon. This is known as the "Culture Street" which is nearby the large Lotte Department store. The plan was to go to an Indian restaurant to celebrate some birthdays at work. But, I didn't know where this place was and so waited nearby the "clown statue" for the group.

We walked down the street and came to the Indian restaurant called, Old Delhi and went upstairs. The place was nicely decorated with a warm atmosphere to it. You could smell curry and other spices in the air, yep I knew we were at a Indian restaurant. Their menu was pretty extensive with many curries, rice dishes and soups on the menu. They also had a "fusion" menu with donkatsu and Japanese-version curry, but I think it would be silly to order from this part. Anyways, my friend and I decided to share a dal (lentil) and marsala curry with naan.

Both were very good and exceptionally yummy with the accompanying naan and complimentary spiced rice. I was very pleased to see the curry portions as most places sometimes just give you a small dish of it. The prices were also decent and they had a good selection of tandoori chicken. I hope to come back again and try something else off the menu.

On my way home I spotted a mural on a wall, which accompanies the atmosphere since this area of Nowon comes alive at night with people visiting the hofs and galbi places.