When my taxi driver dropped me off the night I arrived in Seoul, I knew I was at the right place because I saw Paris Baguette, an outlet of a local chain of bakeries. I knew even before my trip that this would be a convenient place to get a snack heading out from my guesthouse in the morning. Sure enough, this was my 1st stop when heading out in the morning on my 1st day in Seoul. For breakfast I had the not-so-Korean potato vegetable croquette and strawberry cream cheese tart.
I washed it down with a fruit smoothie. Possibly plum. Maybe strawberry. Probably plum.
For lunch at the café at Gyeongbokgung, I got an order of Bulgogi Japchae–stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables and marinated beef. It was a bit more traditional than breakfast was. (I honestly don’t really remember it though.)
I had dinner in Buam-dong. Before dinner I was incredibly frustrated because I had a really hard time finding the restaurant I’d been planning on. When I finally found it, it turned out to be a lovely place. I started off dinner with a yellow pancake. It wasn’t bad, but not the most exciting thing.
Naturally dinner came with kimchi. I’ve never been able to enjoy kimchi. It’s not the heat. I love spicy food. It must be the fermentation of the vegetables. I tried nibbling, but it just wasn’t going to happen.
The main dish was the specialty of the house–mandu (traditional Korean dumplings). I have to tell you, they were so bland. It was also the 3rd night in a row I had dumplings for dinner. I was probably dumpling’d out. But really, they couldn’t hold a candle to the dumplings I had in Taiwan.
So before dinner I was frustrated that I couldn’t find the restaurant. Then I was frustrated because I didn’t really enjoy dinner. (And clearly lunch hadn’t been particularly memorable.) Oh how I was missing Taiwanese cuisine! Well I knew where to go after dinner to get something flavorful. It was back to Paris Baguette, where I got another fruit smoothie. This time it was mango. No, Paris Baguette isn’t remotely close to traditional Korean cuisine. But it’s there for you!
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