Alley & Alley in the Alley

Korea is the king of fusion food. Well, there are some wacky combinations originating from Korea and Koreans are not afraid to try new ideas and push the limits of the menus. Kimchi tacos, kimchi chocolate, ramyeon burgers are just some of the inventions that involve Korean food mixed with something more foreign.

 

One such food that gained some traction a few years back was the combination of eating ddeokbokki with pizza. Luckily they are still eaten separately, and I have yet to see ddeokbokki ON an actual pizza.

골목에 골목 (Alley in the Alley) takes the concept a small step further. They do not only serve this combination on their menu, they have also developed the specific dishes a bit further. Most popular on the menu are the cream ddeokbokki and 인절미 pizza. The latter is a sweet injeolmi brown rice cake powder sprinkled on a thin bread crust with condensed milk, sugar and some kind of stringy cheese.

The ddeokbokki comes with a few fried mandus swimming in the creamy sauce, pieces of rice cake, something that looks like “spaghetti seasoning” (chili, parsley etc.) and your regular onions etc. Not only those it have regular ramyeon, it also contains a little bit of what looks like regular pasta.

The creamy ddeokbokki goes well with the crunchy pizza, baked in a stone oven right in front of your eyes. I have to admit I was skeptical towards rice cake pizza, but it works out really well! Luckily there was no tomato sauce on the pizza, since the pizza is more of a sweet pizza type rather than savory.

The set goes for about 8,000W per person and includes one choice of ddeokbokki, one choice of pizza, one jumokbap (“fist rice”, a ball of rice you get to mix yourself with other ingredients) and homemade gelato ice-cream! We tried both the yoghurt ice-cream and green tea ice-cream, and they are both legit. Before eating I was thinking “What stops restaurants from lying and saying it’s made in the restaurant when it just might have been store-bought?” But taking a bite, I realized how uncalled for my question had been.

골목에 골목

Tel: (02)468-9166

Address: 서울시 광진구 화양동 11-39 2층. Right in the middle of the Konkuk restaurant area, in an alley on the 2^nd floor.

Open days: Every day of the year except 1 day off on Seollal and Chuseok respectively.

Color Your Life

Color Your Life is an exhibition that runs for a total of six months at Daelim Museum just next to Gyeongbokkung. The exhibition shows how designers use different different materials to bring out the colors of their arts and designs. Almost every design is accompanied with a Pantone Color Matching System value that instantly makes you aware that you will see every possible color at the exhibition. The designers are mainly from Western countries with Spain, Sweden and Denmark strongly represented.

The exhibition sprawls over four floors in Daelim Museum with a museum shop on the first floor, photo and textile design on the second, furniture and pottery on the third and more interior design on the fourth. Most of the names are new to me except Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto on the top floor. Particularly interesting to see is the work process of how designers try combinations on different materials with each other to create new color sensations. Glass, fabric, leather, metal and wood, all with their own unique characteristics, combine to create a dazzling array of colors.

Although you might covet some of the exhibits in the museum (the mosaic-like clay urns by Hilda Hellström), my best recommendation from the museum shop is the eco shopping bag that comes in two different variants. Oh and by the way, the Hilda Hellström urns I just mentioned might look like they are made from clay (they certainly fooled me!) but the material used is actually cast-based. The eye sure plays tricks with your mind at Color Your Life!

Info

Opening hours: Tues to Sun 10AM – 6PM

Thurs and Sat 10AM – 8PM

Closed on Mondays, Lunar New Year’s Day and Chuseok

Entrance fee: Adult 5,000W / Youth 3,000W / Child 2,000W

Final admission 30 minutes before closing (personally I think you need one hour for the exhibition!)

Daelim Museum

21, Jahamun-ro 4-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
T. 02-720-0667

Oh, make sure to download their app when you have wifi at home before going to the museum, since the audio guide is provided via their app.

연길냉면 YeonByeon Naengmyeon - Authentic Chinese in the heart of Seoul

Don’t let the name fool you. Sure they have delicious naengmyeon (cold soup), but this restaurant actually has it all! When it comes to Chinese food, you can be sure they have it on the menu.

YeonGil (or Yanji) is a Chinese area close to the North Korean border. Many Chinese-Koreans reside there and the food is a marvelous middle thing between Chinese food as we know it and standard Korean food. The naengmyeon is different both from their North and South Korean versions.

You know you are in for a delight as soon as the side dishes in the form of peanuts and “Chinese kimchi” (if I am allowed to see the world through Korean eyes for a second) is put on the table. The table is of course one of those rotating Chinese ones that make it so much easier to reach any plate that you want without sticking your arm in someone’s face when reaching for the deep-fried sweet and sour pork or just the napkins.

We settled to split four big dishes and not eat any rice or noodles on the side individually as you so often do in Korean Chinese restaurants here in Seoul. The first dish that arrived was fried eggplant with green bell peppers (fried as in wok or pan-fried, not deep-fried). The dish itself was amazing, but something was missing… Ah! Suddenly a translucent green thing took its place next to the eggplant dish. Two huge bottles of Tsingtao was exactly what was needed!

We also opted for the sweet and sour deep-fried pork. The batter itself is not made from flour but from rice cake powder. This gives it a crispy exterior on the outside, but almost a gelatinous consistency on the inside next to the pork. Pieces of pineapple give the dish its sweetness, and vinegar brings the sourness and acidity.

Next was a dish that’s not even on the menu, namely a shrimp dish on a bed of thin vermicelli noodles with a garlic sauce. I have a hard time eating steamed or fried garlic, so I devoured the other dishes instead.

Lastly, the Yeongil-style water dumplings which are very similar to Korean mandus with a softer shell and more filling were delicious.

Yeongil Naengmyeon is located just next to the Chinese street by Konkuk University station exit 6. It might be a bit tricky to find, but your efforts will be worth it! Prices are also cheap for being made-to-order authentic Chinese food!

The stuff of dreams – DreamWorks exhibition

When I was new in Korea, I did a semi-home-stay experience where me and a Spanish friend stayed one night at a Korean friend’s family home. The warmhearted matriarch of the home greeted us with open arms and offered us dinner. If you looked away from your plate for even a second, it would be filled up with seconds, no matter how full your stomach was.

I remember this kind-heartedness fondly, but my strongest memory from that night is something totally different. The mother left for a trip that evening, so the rest of us decided to pull an all-nighter. We had fun until the morning, when some bright mind decided it was a wise move to go watch Kung Fu Panda 2 in the morning cinema. Said and done, with 0 hours of sleep, we headed for the movies.

I can honestly say I remember almost zilch from that movie. I was slipping in and out of sleep. The pandas were taking over my dreams and I had no idea what was dream and what was “reality” (read “movie”). As a person who has never smoked or taking any heavy substances, I think that was the closest I’ve been to a mind trip.

So the name “DreamWorks” surely fits the company. The exhibition in question travels the world and is currently open in Seoul Museum of Art, just by City Hall station. With the under title “Journey from sketch to screen”, the exhibition consists of concept figures of the characters, sketches, story lines, movie clips of how the character animations and motion capture was done and finally some insights into how the soundtracks were made.

It is divided into four subsections called “World”, “Story”, “Character” and “Drawing room”. Most are self-explanatory, except the latter where visitors can create their own pictures and videos via computer screens.

Even though I have not yet seen the movie, my favorite part was the 180 degree cinema screen where we get to see in video format how How To Train Your Dragon went from paper sketch to intricately generated computer environments. The virtual ride on the dragon’s back is almost more beautiful than real life.

Info:

Name:
DreamWorks Animation – The exhibition / 드림웍스 애니메이션 특별전

Exhibition period:
2016.04.30 – 2016.08.15 at Seoul Museum of Art - 서울시립미술관

Open hours:

Tues – Fri: 10AM to 8PM

Sat, Sun and holidays: 10AM to 7PM

Every first and third Tuesday of the month: 10AM to 10PM

Mondays: Closed

Entrance fees:

Adult: 13,000W

Youth: 10,000W

Child: 8,000W