대장금 Dae Jang Geum - Feast like in the good ol’ days

South Korea has a very rich history which is painstakingly apparent in the many historic dramas that are produced as if on a factory conveyor belt. Another place where this is apparent are restaurants that claim to serve food of the royals courts from days passed. In no other country have I heard the phrases ”This is how the old kings used to eat”, ”These are the same kind of utensils that they used to eat with hundreds of years ago” etc. Koreans are undeniable proud of the country’s history.

 

These kind of restaurants tend to be up-class ones where every dish is meticulously prepared and presented to perfection. Dae Jang Geum is no exception. The dishes all come in fairly small portions, but there are a multitude of dishes so in the end you’ll be content and happy after the whole sitting. The staff is also happy to refill your side-dishes in case you gulp the whole plate down.

 

Of course, a thing or two has changed during the last centuries in the culinary world. The first entree was a salad with citron dressing, something I find hard to believe was served in the ancient days (although I am happy to be proven wrong!) The glass noodles and jelly-like noodle dishes are much more traditionally Korean. The latter was actually my favorite dish and I believe it to be acorn jelly formed into noodle-like shapes. Nonetheless delicious!

 

The most intricate plate of the whole meal is the fermented fish that the staff cut open and split into bite-size pieces. The chewy fish is supposed to be dipped in green tea that has been poured over some rice. The tea prevents the fish smell and taste from being too overwhelming. At the same time, a few patties of beef were served. These are called ddeokgalbi and are made of short ribs. The sweet flavor is a good complement to the very salty fermented fish.

 

The meal is rounded off not with a heavy, dairy-based desert, but with a simple cup of black raspberry juice. A cup so good that it needed refilling.

 

Dae Jang Geum is a great place, especially for tourists that want some traditional Korean food without going to the extremes in flavors and spiciness which often happens if you grab Korean food out on the street, what with the cocoons, spicy rice cake chilies etc.

 

Info

Address: 서울 송파구 신천동 29 롯데월드 캐주얼동 5층 – Lotte World Mall 5th floor, 29, Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, Korea

Telephone: (02) 3213-4534

Website: http://daejanggeumkorea.com/ (Korean/English/Chinese)

Ganga - Indian restaurants in Lotte World Shopping Mall, Jamsil

Ganga is an Indian restaurant with a few locations scattered across Seoul, mostly focused south-east of the Han river. The restaurant was rated in 2010 by Zagat – a US-based restaurant guide.

  

Upon entering the restaurant, you soon notice it sports the kitsch Indian interior with wooden elephants and sculptures of various goddesses. Not only do the waiters and waitresses greet you with a positive demeanor, even the Indian-looking chefs say hi from within the kitchen. The kitchen is fully visible from inside the restaurant, a testament to the cleanliness and confidence that Ganga beams of.

  

The menu consists of every single item you can possibly imagine from the Indian cuisine, and I am sure the menu itself was longer than 10 pages. However, the staff is more than happy to help and explain what the dishes consist of, how spicy they are and what most people like to order.

 

Our choice fell on an array of lassis that would make any fruit salad jealous. Together with the lassis we feasted on some scrumptious potato samosas that were fried to perfection. Crispy on the outside and hearty on the inside, served with a lean mint sauce.

 

Soon the main dishes took over the spotlight. We opted for chicken tikka, chicken butter curry, lamb tikka, lamb curry, garlic naan and plain naan. The chicken tikka was your standard run-of-the-mill dish, which in this case means it was finger-licking delicious! It was served with pickles and pickled onion rings. The lamb tikka is actually a totally different dish with succulent lamb meat, peppers and onion all in a thick, cumin-tasting sauce.

  

The chicken butter curry works wonders together with the naan bread. The chicken has just the right texture and the sauce the right thickness. Our favorite dish in the end was the lamb curry with that stringy lamb phenomenon that you can only get from lamb meat in stews.

 

One thing I liked about the naan bread was that it wasn’t dripping with butter like naan in other restaurants usually do. You could actually touch it with your fingers without needing a roll of tissue to clean your fingers after every touch.

  

The Lotte World Mall is a new department store in Jamsil just by the new Lotte Tower. Every time I see the tower I am still in awe, and at after a meal at Ganga I recommend you to step outside and stand just a few meters from the tower. Don’t hold me responsible if you get neck injuries from looking up! Worth mentioning is also that Ganga is on the 6^th floor, overlooking parts of Jamsil with an incredibly beautiful view. If the window screens are partly down to keep the sunshine out, just ask the staff and they’ll be happy to wind them up to show you the view.

  

Info

Address: 송파구 올림픽로 300 (월드타워점), Jam sil 6 dong, Seoul, Seoul, 138-240, South Korea

Tel: +82 2-3213-4635

Business hours: Mon-Sun 10-midnight