Visit Korea Special VIP Tour [Day 3-3]

Dakgalbi, this marinated chicken in gochujang is a signature dish originated from Chuncheon, capital of Gangwon Province.

 

Our bus arrived in front of Dakgalbi restaurant.

It's just 5 minutes bus ride from Gangchon station.

Yeotteo Sutbul Dakgalbi
(옛터 = name of the place 솣불 = charcoal 닭갈비 = chicken rib).

After railbiking and knowing that we're going to eat Chuncheon Dalkgalbi made me feeling hungrier than it should be. 

 

Photos of celebrities and signatures were hanging at 

the entrance and every corners of the restaurant.

 

Pots of charcoal and container of marinated chicken.


Besides Chuncheon dakgalbi, there are others dishes such as Chuncheon Makguksu. 

 

 Didn't expect to see grill and charcoal on the table because...

 I was expecting to see dakgalbi, tteok, cabbage, sweet potato and

onions inside giant pan (철판 닭갈비) like what I'd before in Chuncheon.

 

 

This table setting looked like when we ate Black pork BBQ (흑돼지 삼겹살) 

in Jeju because kimchi, macaroni salad, lettuce, chive, garlic, onion, 

and ssam sauce were occupied 80% of the table.
 

 200 gr Charcoal grilled dakgalbi (솣불 닭갈비) - ₩12,000/person.

It said that dakgalbi appeared after the late 1960s as an inexpensive anju (food that is eaten while drinking) in small taverns, on the outskirts of the city to replace the comparatively expensive gui dishes which are grilled over charcoal. It is also known as "commoners' galbi" or "university student's galbi" because this popular dish was more affordable and and served in big portion.

 

The original Grilled Chuncheon Dakgalbi (솣불 닭갈비).

Presently, most of the restaurants selling stir-fried dakgalbi because it took longer cooking time for grilling dakgalbi. 

Thanks to VIP Tour that we got the chance to taste this authentic Chuncheon Dakgalbi. Fell in love with this original grilled dakgalbi. But maybe because it's only dakgalbi without vegetables and other ingredients, the portion seemed a bit smaller for 5 person.

Kim eonni also ordered non-spicy dakgalbi marinated with 

fruit and soy sauce (궁증닭갈비) for Nat.

 

 

I bet nobody can resist this yummy dakgalbi... Aaahhh!!!

I love the tenderness and juiciness of every pieces of this grilled dalkgalbi. Btw, although it's called chicken rib, but it's actually boneless tenders. You can eat it on its own, with rice or ssam style by wrapping it in lettuce with others banchan.

Chuncheon Makguksu - ₩7,000.

Makguksu (춘천 막국수) is another specialties of Chuncheon. It's buckwheat noodles served in cold broth with seasoning on top.

The owner gave us 2 bottles of Pepsi and Cider (칠성) as service, but we returned them because we prefer our makgeolli more than carbonated drinks.

Remember to try either one of Chuncheon Dakgalbi when you're there. If you've tried both, which version you prefer most? Grilled or stir-fried dakgalbi?

Website: www.bestdakgalbi.com

Add: 337-2 Gangchon-ri, Namsan-myeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do

Phone:+82 33-261-8815

This trip is made possible by VisitKorea organised by Korea  Tourism Organization. 

   

September in Seongyojang [Day 5]

We arrived in Seongyojang just in time. The first photo taken there showed 5:52 pm, which taken about 10-15 minutes after we reached there, as Mr Nam asked to top up another 30,000 won for taxi fare on top of 20,000 won we agreed earlier. So, after spent few minutes talk, we just gave the amount rather than wasting time. We didn't want to trouble Travel Hotline 1330 for this small dispute.

SBS started to record our activities in Seongyojang from the above spot.

Video Shooting Part I :  

Arriving in Seongyojang and walking to our room. Passing through the above gate with small slope, then unpacking our luggage in the room.

Ok, let's rewind what happened 15-20 minutes earlier before filming started...



SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) van parked in front of Seongyojang.  

We quickly took out 3 luggage and all our belongings out from the taxi. The staff in-front of Ticket office recognised us, and asked one staff (Ahjumma) to bring us to our quarter. She didn't speak English, but I don't have problem with it because she talked slowly and using basic Korean words.

She showed us how to open the lock and wooden door, turn-on the light and air-con, she then brought us to toilet and shower room.

shower room and toilet are on the other building next to our room.

small TV set, fridge, air-con and 4 sets of traditional Korean pattern

mattresses, pillows and silky blankets are provided in the room.

Public bathroom looks old as they preserved the old wooden door outside,

but inside is clean and it's been renovated with modern facilities such as

water heater and shower head and frosted glass partitions

~*~*~*~

Suddenly a pretty lady walked towards me when I was about to go to washroom. She politely introduced herself and told me that they're from SBS. She told us that they wanted to film us entering Seongyojang. 

She said sorry that they didn't wait for our arrival so we'd to bring our luggage to the entrance and walking to our quarter again. I apologized to her, because it's actually our fault as we arrived a little bit late, and maybe they had waited us earlier. But I guessed she just didn't want us to feel bad. Such a nice young lady!

 

Please click this link for the news and video 

aired on SBS channel on 22 Sep 2013.

Then after recorded that segment, we rest awhile in our room and gathered again around 7 pm to have dinner together. While waiting for the food being prepared, we had some chit chatting outside...

She said full set meal will be served, and was surprised when I said 한정식 좋아해요 (I like Hanjeongsik meal), as she didn't expect that I know how to speak Korean language. We chatted a bit here and there... about Korean food and cooking, Running Man,  Korean dramas, KTO, places we visited and will visit for the next few days, transportations to go around,...

While chatting, we just realized that Assistant Manager of Public Relations Department from KTO, Mr Lee J.H also came together with 3 crews from SBS.

They're wondering how did I find this Hanok house, as it was their first time in Seongyojang too.

I found it from this interesting posting from KTO's website 

"Korea's Most Unique accommodation"

I don't know why... I just can't stop my love for Korean traditional cultures. It keeps growing deep deep down in my heart. I love to visit places with lots of historical sites like Gyeongju, love to see Hanok houses and pretty hanboks. Therefore, I love to watch Korean historical drama where I can see those historical sites or hanok folk villages, hanbok costumes with the histories behind them.

My kids were so excited when I told them it's actually nobleman's house during Joseon Dynasty with the maximum 99 rooms/kan. Law prohibited civilians from building houses with more than 100 rooms. (Kan: traditional measurement that corresponds to the space between two columns). Then, we decided to book this hanok room.

But, based from our experience from last year trip, most of the accommodations like hanok, pension house, minbak, and van camping rental can only be booked through their own websites. It's a bit hassle, as they only accepted cash transfer or local credit card for the payment to secure the booking. Therefore, I'd to bother my Korean friend to settle the payment for me first.

I emailed to BnBHero (No1. House & Experience sharing network' in Korea) to check whether they provide service to book accommodation in Seongyojang. I was expecting a "NO" answer, but to my surprised, they replied they'll find a way to assist the booking, although it's not their regular service.

Really thanks to BnBHero for extra mile service and Seongyojang that allowed us to make the payment on the day we check-in. Everything was so smooth, therefore our family can have such an unforgettable moment to experience what it’s like to spend a night in the traditional Korean way.

 ~*~*~*~

Video Shooting Part II :  

Enjoying Hearty Hanjeongsik dinner

Sumptuous & Savory Hanjeongsik meal @Seongyojang's dining room

(please click the link for dining reservation)

Woohoo!!! lots of banchan that I never seen and ate before...

 Full Course meals with main dish, hotpot, side dishes, desserts and sweet sikhye drink ^^

We lost counts of how many dishes being served, as they kept coming new dishes and replacing the empty plates. We're being pampered like royalties with such good food. We tried to finish them, as we didn't want to waste food and considering the amount of work and care to prepare the dishes.

You may think that Japchae  (sweet potato noodles) as a simple food, but the preparation for cooking it's not easy, and it's no joke when you have to cook everything separately. It's not like dump everything and cook them together like what I normally do to cook Dong Fen (冬粉).

Just hope that they didn't think that we didn't have enough food, because we normally didn't leave a single grain on the plate if possible. But, we didn't manage to clean every single plate, as we'd stored up to maximum capacity of our tummies.

We reserved dinner when we booked the room. But, when we paid for the room, they told us to pay when we dine there. But, after dinner when we wanted to pay, they said no need as it's a treat for us. Really thankful to SBS, Seongyojang and KTO for this healthy hanjeongsik meal.

After having our meal, and we learnt how to make Songpyeon (송편), Korean traditional rice cake which contains stuffing such as sesame seeds, black beans, walnut, as it's near Chuseok holiday. Yes, Songpyeon's usually eaten during Korean Autumn Festival.

We had so much fun learning to make this half-moon-shaped songpyeon,

but our songpyeon ended up with unique shapes of cubes, cat and house.

While making the Songpyeon, they interviewed me on our view about Songyojang, as they knew that we dropped by here yesterday. I fell in love at the first sight as it's even more beautiful than what I expected... It's absolutely amazing for this 300 years-old building to maintain it's beautiful architecture and scenic landscape. I really love peaceful and serene places that surrounded by nature that offer relaxation and fresh air to breath. Kids were happily run and play around.

Ok, that's all for the recording...

 ~*~*~*~

We'd to go back to our room as it's raining after our dinner, else we could walk around Seongyojang's garden and find a nice spot  for stars gazing.

Prince Chai Hao Zhi needed to wear his "crown" to the toilet

as it was raining outside ^^



Well, that's just one of the inconveniences that we had in Seongyojang, because the toilet is not inside the room and it's raining. Other than that, everything is fine. We're asked whether it's troublesome to take off our shoes each time we entering the rooms. We didn't find it's inconvenience, because it's just like we need to take off our shoes when entering our house.

 

Though the room looks quite small with the door partition in between, can considered it as 2 connected rooms. You can put 2 mattresses on each room, but we put 3 mattresses on one side of the room and four of us squeezed together. Hahaha... we like it this way!

Peaceful night for a while in this hanok room, but soon after that I heard random snoring sound from my hubby and kids. And I turned those snoring sound to MLTR-Sleeping Child inside my head!
   "I'm gonna cover my sleeping child...
    Keep you away from the world so wild"

Good night and sweet dreams~^^

Wanna experience Hanjeongsik but not traveling to Gangneung? No worry~!

Check out these two options of Hanjeongsik availablein Seoul,

and you can conveniently reserve your meal here.

Related Posts:

~ [Gangneung] 300 years old Seongyojang Hanok House.

~ Traditional Cultural Experience at Seongyojang.

~ [Gangneung] Ojukheon House and Museum

~ [Chuam] - Chotdaebawi Rock   

~ Majestic Mureung Valley