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Dongmun Market On Jeju Island-Abalone Butter Rice With Spicy Pork
After a nice appetizer of lobster and grilled pork rolls, I made my way over to a stall I had mentally circled as a “must try”. This stall specialized in abalone butter rice with spicy pork which was prominently displayed in the front of the cart. It had my mouth watering as I walked by it and I couldn’t wait to give it a try.
By the time I made my way over to the stall there was a long line waiting for me. It was clearly one of the more popular stalls in the market place. Always a good indicator for tasty food!
While waiting in line, watching the cooks prep and work their craft was pretty mesmerizing to me. It’s certainly enjoyable to see the food cooked right in front of you. When there’s a limited menu, the cooks really know how to create everything on it perfectly. It certainly helped to pass the time while waiting in line!
When it was my time to order the choice was obvious: I had to go with the abalone butter rice with spicy pork.
It comes nicely packed in the container. The proportions are perfect.
I didn’t really taste any hint of abalone in the rice. But it was very buttery and seasoned with nori on the top. Simple and delicious.
A chili based sauce coated the pork bits which were cooked to perfection. Tender and juicy with melt in your mouth bits of fat thrown in for good measure. The sauce coats the meat well and is quite tasty. A little sweet, a little spicy, it has a nice kick to it but isn’t overly spicy.
There’s also some crunchy green veggies (similar to a green onion but crunchy) in the dish as well. Getting a spoonful of the pork, cruncy green veggie, and abalone butter rice, provided a mouthful of delicious flavors and textures with the veggies providing a nice crunch. While the dish didn’t appear particularly large, it actually contained a substantial amount of well-packed food.
The abalone rice and pork offers a unique and enjoyable combination of flavors, that I’d defintely recommend!
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Garlic Lobster and BBQ Pork Wrap at Dongmun Market on Jeju Island
Dongmun Market
Dongmun Market is an expansive and vibrant marketplace filled with an abundance of souvenir boutiques and culinary kiosks scattered throughout. Without a doubt it’s definitely a major attraction for tourists in Jeju City. I always have an entertaining time wandering through these lively markets. Exploring the different kiosks and sampling as much food as possible is always a lot of fun while traveling.
One of the entrances to Dongmun Market After about 45 minutes, I made my way to the area where all the food vendors were located. I did a lap of the area, making a mental note of the places I wanted to sample. Having a food plan is ALWAYS important to maximize stomach space, lol. A good rule of thumb to live by is the longer the line the better the food. Is it accurate? Who knows! But it makes deciding on what to get slightly easier for an indecisive foodie.
Garlic Lobster and BBQ Pork Wrap Stall
The first stall I stopped at was basically the first place you see as you enter the food court area. It’s impossible to overlook. Music is blaring, strobe lights flashing, and the chefs put on quite the show with their grilling prowess. Large plums of fire shoot up from the grills as they barbeque items like pork and lobster, among other items. It certainly provides entertainment while waiting in line for your food.
Google Translate failed me here, so the name of the stall remains a mystery. Lobster was clearly the dish they were pushing here though. I opted for the half garlic-infused lobster along with the pork wrap. This combination seemed to be a crowd favorite and certainly looked appetizing.
The lobster did seem like it had been prepared a bit in advance and wasn’t fresh off the grill. But nonetheless the lobster was brimming with sweetness. A generous amount of roasted garlic was ladled over the top which complemented the lobster’s natural sweetness . The lobster seemed like it had been sitting for a while and wasn’t right off the grill and was pretty small, but it was still a tasty dish with all the garlic sauce mixing well with the sweetness of the lobster meat. Although it was on the smaller side, the dish was certainly satisfying. I can only imagine what it tastes like right off the grill!
The pork wrap consisted of bbq pork wrapped around cabbage, rice and nori. A thick,sweet and slightly spicy sauce, was superbly drizzled on top. It’s a thicker sauce and really coats and sticks to the rolls very well. The pork had a delightful crispiness to it, coupled with a fantastic barbecue char and flavor. The cabbage provided a nice crunch with every bite. The sauce paired well with this dish and added to the flavor without overwhelming it. The smoky barbecue flavor of the pork still shines through all the other elements of the roll, which says a lot of about the pork. All in all, this was a very solid barbecue pork roll!
Undeniably, roaming around these areas is always a treat. Energy abounds, with skilled chefs showing off their culinary skills. The variety of distinct smells from the many different stalls always gets me excited to eat! One stall down, many more to come!
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SPICY PORK DUMPLINGS at Shinsegae Department Store Food Court in Busan
The Shinsegae Department store in Busan is a massive shopping center. I hungrily stumbled upon one of the food courts while cruising through the center near it’s closing time. It’s a shame that I found it when the department store was near closing.
The food court is HUGE. By the time I found it though most of the stalls were closed or cleaning up and closing for the night so it was slim pickings.
Fortunately, I was able to find a stall that had some dumplings. I purchased a few pork dumplings and some spicy pork dumplings.
The pork dumplings weren’t too bad but the meat filling to dough ratio was kind of lacking. It didn’t seem like there was enough filling in these. It didnt help that it was closing time and the dumplings had probably been sitting there for a decent amount of time so the fresheness factor wasn’t there either.
The filling itself had decent flavor but it was tinged with some sweetness. Not entirely sure where that was deriving from but I wasn’t a big fan of that kick. Overall the pork dumplings were decent but didn’t really stand out in any way.
The spicy pork dumpling was the same but was wrapped in a different dumpling wrapper. The spice was a pleasant surprise and had some kimchi in it which added a satisfying crunch to each bite.
Outside of that, the flavor was largely the same as the regular pork dumpling with that same small hint of sweetness. I enjoyed the spicy dumpling more than the regular one due to the spice and the crunch the kimchi added. It had a much better ratio of dumpling to filling as well.
I’d love to go back to the food court on the next visit to Busan just because there are so many options and it would be interesting to see the place bustling with hungry shopppers.
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KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN @ Gorilla Brewing Co in Busan, South Korea
I wanted to check out some local brewed beers in Busan and found Gorilla Brewing which sounded like it had a great of variety of beers on tap, which it did. I sampled a couple of the IPA’s, which were great and also put me in the mood for some fried chicken. Fortunately, fried chicken was on the menu with a couple of seasoning choices.
Gorilla Brewing Co Menu I went with the original since I just wanted plain fried chicken without any kind of sauce.
I have to say the orginal was the perfect choice. It was fried to perfection. Not oily at all. Every bite brought a very satisfying crunch. Lightly salted but very tasty. The meat was unbelievably moist.
I’m so used to fried chicken that is dripping oil and parts of the chicken being overly tough. That definitely wasn’t the case here. Probably the most moist fried chicken I’ve ever had. Served with a dipping sauce that is slightly sweet but not overly so, with a good spicy kick to it. It complemented the chicken well. The portions were amazing as well. This was a lot of chicken to work through.
If visiting Busan and craving some local brewed beers and tasty fried chicken, Gorilla Brewing is certainly worthy of a stop!
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SPICY Braised Mackeral stew in Busan, South Korea!
While walking around the Haeundae area in Busan, I stumbled upon an alley that was filled with various seafood restaurants. Taking a look at the menus, something that caught my eye was a spicy looking braised mackeral stew.
I hadn’t had it before but it looked delicious so I decided to give it a try!
One of the many tiny seafood restaurants in the area 
Braised mackeral stew! The dish comes out in a large bowl which is placed on the burner on the table and kept boiling hot. You then ladle yourself hearty servings of the delicious bubbly stew. The main dish is accompanied by a number of side dishes as well which is par for the course with any Korean meal. It’s a ton of food. There’s a good number of large, meaty chunks of mackeral in the stew.
The sauce is flavorful with a blend of different spices and is slightly spicy with a touch of sweetness, which I loved. The mackeral is tender, flaky, and really soaks up the flavor of the sauce.
Each bite is packed with flavor. The veggies in the stew also really soak up the sauce and add another texture to the dish as well.
Scooping some of the sauce along with a chunk of the mackeral and some veggies over rice was absolutely delicious and quite a comforting, filling meal.
Korean braised mackeral stew is definitely a dish that’s packed with flavor and is worth giving a try if traveling through South Korea!
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Jagalchi Fish Market – Busan, South Korea
The largest fish market in South Korea, Jalgachi Market is a massive, bustling market place with stalls galore, restuarants, and an insane amount and variety of seafood.
There are two large buildings housing aisle after aisle of tanks / bins of various live seafood. You can buy any of the live seafood from one of these seafood stalls and then go upstairs to a correlating restuarant (each stall has a restuarant upstairs) and they will prepare the seafood for you. There’s so many different types of live fish, sea crustaceans, squid, crabs, octopus, it’s really mind boggling.
The entire surrounding area is very similar to what is housed within these buildings with shop after shop having an abundance of live seafood that can be purchased and then prepared / eaten all at the same spot.
Jagalchi area 
Shop in the Jagalchi area 
Shop in the Jagalchi area 
Shop in the Jagalchi area After walking through one of the buildings and being amazed by the sheer volume of stalls and endless aisles of aquatic tanks and bins filled with quite the assortment of aquatic wildlife, I decided that I had zero idea of what most of these creatures were, let alone how they would be prepared and what it would taste like, I wandered upstairs to where the restuarants were located to make things less complicated on myself.
I was quickly flagged down by one of the first restaurant patrons that noticed me who asked what I was looking for. They had a large fish tank with a few species of fish in it and the patron went over what kind of fish they were and how much they cost. They were fairly good sized fish. I really had no idea what they were or what they would taste like but chose one of them and got half of it sashimi style and the other half grilled.
This came with the usual side dishes that accompany pretty much all South Korean meals, kimchi, radish, etc. It also came with a few massive shrimps that were incredibly sweet.
The fish I ended up getting didn’t turn out well sashimi style. Very rubbery and chewy it wasn’t very enjoyable. I’m used to sashimi that melts in your mouth and this was certainly not that type.
The grilled fish on the other hand was very good. Freshly grilled and salted the fish was moist and had great char taste. All in all it was a ton of food that definitely left me quite full.
Walking around Jalgachi market and seeing all the different types of seafood in the market, then being able to eat such fresh fish was certainly a memorable experience. If ever visiting Busan it’s certainly a place to check out since it’s such a busy area with a lot going on!
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Soybean Sprout Soup (Kongnamulguk) – Gyeongju, South Korea
After a long day of walking around Gyeongju taking in the sights, I was definitely tired and in need of some comfort food. It was later in the afternoon in between lunch and dinner so a lot of restaurants were not open.
Fortunately, I was able to come across this small restaurant called Market Soup (not sure if that’s translated correctly).
Definitely a small place off the main road, down a random alley, which had a handful of tables. The menu was short and sweet with just a few items. I always believe places with a small menu will have delicious food because they can specialize in just a few recipes and perfect them.
I ordered the bean sprout soup with beef and was quite content with the choice.
Bean sprout soup is a very common, beloved soup in South Korea, and is also known as a hangover cure. I hadn’t tried it yet so I was eager to give it a try.
This was a good sized bowl and it came out piping hot. The broth was outstanding. Savory with mild spice to it with sesame seed. The bean sprouts were nice and crunchy and the meat was extremely tender.
Taking some of the cubed radish kimchi and putting it in the soup added even more crunch and an extra layer of flavor to the soup base.
Served with a side of rice, this was definitely a comforting meal that really hit the spot after a long day of exploring!
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Jungang Night Market, Gyeongju, South Korea
I stopped by this small food market and grabbed a quick bite at a couple of the stalls. This was just opening up so not all the stalls were up and running and there were minimal people there, which was nice!
The first stall I had was BBQ pork. Right off the grill, the pork pieces had that lovely char taste and the sauce was slighlty sweet with mild spice. The pieces were juicy and tender and very tasty. Servied on a bed of shredded cabbage, this was a delicious snack.
The second stall I had served gimbap. It’s hard to walk by a good looking gimbap so I had to give this one a try!
This particular gimbap had some lettuce and grilled pork with some chili sauce in the middle with some ground sesame sprinkled over the top.
Pretty simple ingredients within this gimbap but it was well made and solid tasting!
There were a few other stalls that were open but a lot were still setting up or not fully open yet so I didn’t get the full experience of this night market but was happy with the two stalls I stopped by!
