A Food Tour with Delectable Travels

For my last night in Seoul, I was able to enjoy a delicious food tour with Delectable Travels – immersive tours and programs led by Daniel Gray, a Korean-American who decided to return to Korea back in 2005 to discover his roots. He started a popular food blog which led him to appear on many food shows such as Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, The Kimchi Chronicles with Marja Vongericten and Actress Heather Graham, and Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain. I had to get in touch with him!

It was my last night in Seoul and I was looking forward a night full of yummy food and drinks. Along with a couple fellow foodies from California, we met up near Hapjeong Station Monday night. Our first stop was a traditional Korean barbecue restaurant.

With glasses of soju and beer instantly poured, we enjoyed a nice conversation over some delicious beef and marinated pork sizzling on charcoal grill.

It was a cool and rainy night, but with all the good eats on my mind, it didn’t phase me.

For our next stop, we headed to a small restaurant full of locals to enjoy Korean traditional savory pancakes and rice beer.

Various pancakes, meats, and vegetables were lightly battered and pan-fried. They were light and crispy and not greasy at all.

Items included tofu, cheese, peppers, spam, liver, and zucchini. The pancakes, known as pajun (pajeon), included vegetable and kimchi. It was accompanied with a spicy soy dipping sauce with chunks of onions.

The savory items went along perfectly with makgeolli, an unfiltered liquor made with rice or wheat mixed with nuruk, a Korean fermentation starter. It has a milky, off-white color. It’s slightly sweet and not too strong.

Afterwards, we headed to the public market to browse various food items and enjoy a couple treats.

There was a vendor selling super fresh homemade tofu. It was seriously amazing!

We had a yummy sweet pancake for dessert. Served warm, the cinnamon and brown sugar filling was soft and gooey.

We also enjoyed a Korean-style rice doughnut.

Whoa! Are those fried whole chickens? Yep.

Our final stop was a restaurant serving up one of the most popular Korean dishes called Dak Galbi. I actually saw these restaurants everywhere. The combination of spicy stir-fried chicken and vegetables with melted cheese seems to be a big hit with the locals.

Did I mention that Koreans can drink? We had to continue the night with more soju and beer! Daniel even taught us a few popular drinking games. There are a lot of them and everybody plays them while enjoying their meals out with friends or coworkers.

After a couple drinking games, a large hot pan of spicy chicken, cabbage, and cheese was placed in the center of the table. It looked so good! We waited a few extra minutes for the cheese to thoroughly melt.

Grab a piece of chicken and dip it in the cheese. The combination may seem weird, but there’s a reason this dish is so popular – it’s delicious! The cheese helps cut down the spiciness as well. It was very tasty and the cold beer was perfect to wash it down.

All the food was great and we were getting full, but we couldn’t help but notice the table next to us having fried rice made with the leftover goodness in the pan. Daniel asked if we would like to try it. Sure! The waitress came over with rice and seaweed and placed it in the middle of the pan.

It was all mixed up and spread evenly over the pan. We waited a few minutes for the rice to get nice and crisp on the bottom. It was excellent.

This was such a great night with super delicious food. Daniel was such a great host and taught us a lot about the dishes and food scene of Korea. If you’re in Seoul, be sure to book a food tour with Delectable Travels!

Check out my Snapchat Story below!

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