Magpie Brewery

I feel this post is long overdue because Magpie Brewery has kind of become "our bar" these days. We're there at least once a week, sometimes two or three times a week. It's not because it's super cozy (honestly, it's not), and it's not because it's convenient to work or home (we do have to pass about 1 trillion bars to get here). It's really just because the beer is just that good.

For those of you who have been in Korea a while, you know what beer is typically available around town. Cass, Hite, OB, Max. Those are the most famous Korean beers. And, quite frankly, they're terrible. Worse than any Budweiser or Coors Lite you can find at home. But, we drink them because... well, it's cheap and available. 

Fortunately (or unfortunately... however you prefer to look at it), we have now become absolutely spoiled. Magpie has given us a new appreciation for good beer (or at least reminded us of what we had forgotten) and now the thought of drinking anything else makes us a little sad inside. We decided to visit another new taphouse in Itaewon, conveniently named Reily's Taphouse, to sample some more 'good' beers. Sadly, though we still couldn't find one there quite as nice as Magpie's, and by the end of the night we had switched over to Magpie's Pale Ale despite the huge selection of beers from around the world to choose from.

While they only make two brews, a pale ale and a porter, it's enough. They make those two brews perfectly and I think sometimes it's better to have two perfect beers than six or seven beers that are just OK. Another great thing about the beer here is the price. It's not too cheap, it's not too expencive. Craftworks is around the corner and while, admittedly, their beer is quite nice, too, the price is just slightly higher than I want to pay on a regular basis. A pale ale for 5,000 won ($4.60 USD) and the porter for 6,000 ($5.50 USD) is just right, the same price you'd pay in the states for something similar, plus in Korea we don't have to tip.

The location is far from pretentious, it kind of has the feeling like you're drinking in someone's garage, which is I think half of the appeal. It's great in summer because they can just open up the glass doors and the alley way becomes part of the bar with folks spreading out in every direction. It's a little unfortunate in winter that the bar feels like half the size when they close up the windows to keep out the cold air. A better seating arrangement could improve the bar a little, but otherwise, they've got the perfect recipe for success.

The staff here are great. The owners, Eric and Tiffany are really knowledgeable about beer and home brewing and we always go to them with all our home brewing questions.  The rest of the staff on hand are always friendly and kind. Yet another reason to love this place.
You can see the bar and the staff featured in an Arirang production called "Semipermanent": http://vimeo.com/53194281

Location: South Korea, Seoul, Yongsan-gu, Itaewon-dong, 691. From Noksapyeong station, take exit 2 and walk straight to the underpass. Cross under the road to the other side and continue walking in the same direction, north towards Namsan. After about 200 meters you will see The Baker's Table on your right. Turn down that alley and Magpie will be on the first alley on the left. You can probably identify it by the large amount of people milling in the alleyway with glasses of beer, especially on a Friday or Saturday night.

Peggy Pie: Meat Pies and Pie Pies

 Grand Opening day at Peggy Pie, Jongno, Seoul

I wouldn't normally write a review for a chain restaurant, but Peggy Pie just opened up a new branch around the corner from my work place in Jongno and my co-workers and I were so impressed that I just had to write something.

For weeks my co-workers and I have been seeing signs for this Peggy Pie place and the photos and descriptions just looked lovely. Finally, it opened on Tuesday and every one of my co-workers went over there throughout the day to test it out.

Frankly, I'd never had a meat pie and I wasn't so interested in a meat pie, but one co-worker picked up about six different pies (of both meat and sweet varieties) and when I came into the office for the day I got to sample a little of everything. I instantly fell in love with something called a curry chicken pie and decided that that would be my dinner for that evening.

 Chicken Curry Pie, before being devoured

So, I headed over there around dinner time and found the place to be quite busy despite being the first day they had opened.  I ordered my curry chicken pie and found myself a chair.

Chicken Curry Pie, mid-devouring process

Unfortunately, while the pie was delicious, it was also too small. So, without wanting to seem odd for going in alone, ordering one thing and then getting up and ordering another thing (maybe I'm just paranoid), I ordered myself a corned beef sandwich to go. 

 Corned Beef Sandwich: Diet Size

The sandwich was definitely a little Korean style, filled with lots of cabbage, but actually I have come to like cabbage as a sandwich filler, and I didn't mind it. This one was a little expensive for the size (4,900 won), but there are cheaper options... like a chicken curry sandwich.... mmm chicken curry... 

It's also really nice for me that their sandwiches come in two sizes: Regular and Diet. While I wouldn't say that I'm on a 'diet', it's nice to see a restaurant offering smaller sizes rather than bigger sizes... we need some more of that in my home country. 

We also all agreed that we really liked the decor inside. It's got a very hometown America kind of feel to it. And folks who don't speak Korean will he happy to see that their menu is completely in English. I do feel sorry for those folks who don't speak English, though.... 

They have meat pies... 

As with any good bakery, all the goods are displayed in the window so you can be tantalized and tempted to enter the store.

 And roll pies....

 And sweet pies galore!

Peggie pie is expanding and they now have locations all around town. This one is located in Jongno. From exit 15 of Jongno-3-ga station, walk straight to the 4 way intersection (at Burger King). Take a left and walk about 2 minutes and you can't miss the bright blue awning on your left.

Visit their website at: http://www.peggypie.co.kr/ (Korean only)

Seoul Lantern Festival 2012

 A very popular fruit lantern from Singapore

Back in 2009 I made a very cold visit to Seoul's first Lantern Festival along the Cheonggyechon. It was memorable partially because of the spectacular lanterns on display, but mostly because I remember being bundled in a hat, scarf, mittens, winter jacket and still feeling like parts of my body were going to become frostbitten.

This year, since my office is right around the corner in Jongno, I decided I had no excuse to miss this year's festival. Friday night after work the boyfriend and I took a little stroll down to check out this year's display.

Scenes from traditional Korean culture

The most notable difference between this year and 2009 was the amount of people. We actually had to form a line to get down to the Cheonggyechon and it was rather hard to stop and take photos because there were so many people. It could be the warmer weather, I was fine with just my fall jacket and a scarf, or it could just be that the event has grown that much in popularity since it's first year. Whatever the case we only walked one portion of the stream to escape from the hoards of people... but if you don't mind the crowds or if you've never seen a lantern festival before, it's certainly worth going.

 Girls playing on a traditional Korean see-saw, 놀 뛰기

This year's theme, or at least the theme for the portion of the stream that I was on was traditional Korean culture. Here you can see scenes from the past lit up along the stream in lantern form. 

Flying traditional Korea kites (연)

Another fun event at this year's lantern festival was writing a message on a lantern, lighting it and letting it float down the stream. It kind of felt like a scene out of a movie or something.

 Launching lanterns into the stream

 Of course, all those lanterns had to go somewhere...

 This year's lantern festival runs from 11/2-11/17 along Cheonggyechon stream for 1.5 km from Cheonggye Plaza (between City Hall Station and Gwanghwamun Station) and Seungyo Bridge. For more event information, visit: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1743656

A Movie Review of 광해 (Masquerade) and Updates on Subtitled Movie Screenings in Seoul

Korea's hit movie this fall is 광해 (Gwanghae), or in English, Masquerade. It's a movie based on Gwanghae, a king in the Joseon dynasty who was never given a proper king's name in history because the Confucian scholars of the time rejected his leadership, and eventually overthrew him in a coup. However, that's not the premise of the movie. The movie begins with Gwanghae suffering from the plots of government officials surrounding him. He finds himself a double (played by the same actor, Lee Byung-Hun, a name and face hallyu fans will certainly recognize), a court actor who turns out to be able to act quite kingly... at times. Of course, allowing a commoner to take the place of the king will lead to plenty of awkward mistakes and trouble making. All this is made worse when the actual king is drugged and the double needs to take Gwanghae's place for real. This is a great historical comedy/drama for anyone as it has elements anyone can enjoy from several great comedic moments, to intense drama, to somewhat of a love story. See below for the English trailer: 

 It's becoming much easier these days for English speakers to watch subtitled movie screenings. I recently stumbled across http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr, which has all sorts of Korean movie information, but most useful to me is their page which is updated weekly with subtitled Korean films in Seoul: http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/schedule/subtitSchedule.jsp. I will definitely be linking to this site on the sidebar of the blog for future reference!

Yangsuri in Fall

I am convinced that one of the most beautiful places in Korea is Yangsuri, a little town just an hour east of Seoul. It is called Yangsuri because it's where the North Han River and South Han River come together (yang= twin, su= water, ri= town). While quite popular with Koreans, Yangsuri isn't on the radar for most forigners yet. Yangsuri is great in spring, summer and fall with lots of things to see and do from hiking to visiting the Semiwon (lotus garden), to walking around the Dumulmori (두물머리) and Mullekil (물래길) (green path on the map above). I must consider myself lucky because I spend most Sundays here visiting my boyfriend's grandmother's house. This past weekend, we took a walk around the whole town and even discovered some places that we never knew existed!

It's fairly easy to find your way around the Mullekil because markers like these mark the path. We skipped the Semiwon since it's way too late to see lotuses and walked towards the Dumulmori first.

View of the Semiwon from across the water

They are working on constructing some more walking paths here, they say they are set to be complete by the end of October. I was there the last weekend in October and they still weren't ready yet, but then again, things go quickly in Korea. I wonder if its done now?

It's the perfect time of year to see the maple leaves in their brilliant reds and ginko leaves in their golden yellows.

Dumulmori

It's only a short 10-15 minute walk from the start of the path to Dumulmori. It's a rather romantic spot day or night. It's easy to see lots of couples and parents with children roaming about here. 

We took a back way out of the Dumulmori path and discovered some perfect fall scenes. I kind of felt like I was walking through a postcard.

We wondered around for a while and picked up the mullekil again around the other side of the town and continued our journey. We saw lots of farms around here. Since this area is the source of the drinking water in Seoul, they have very strict water quality standards here. All farms here are organic by law since pesticides are not allowed here. In fact, they don't even allow fishing here to keep the water quality as high as possible.

We ended our journey in our favorite place to walk, a small part of the mullekil right next to Yangsu Station (probably the best place to start your walk if you're arriving by subway). The ground was comepletely covered in yellow ginko leaves, showing signs that winter is on it's way.

Be sure to get out soon to see the last of the foliage in Korea before it's too late! Winter is just around the corner!

Directions: To get to Yangsuri, take the Jungang subway line to Yangsu station. It is approximately 1 hour from Wangsimni Station in downtown Seoul. It's a great day trip, or you can spend the night in one of the many small hotels around town. Start the Mullekil just across the street from the station.

Potala: Tibetan Food in Seoul

Located in a rather unexpected location along the Cheonggyecheon after being forced to relocate from Myeongdong last year, Potala is the only Tibetan owned restaurant in Seoul. As you walk in, you’ll first notice the lovely atmosphere. Colorful decorations cover everything, but never feel overdone. If you like any of the decorations, they even have a store where they have items for sale at reasonable prices.  

If the menu has any problems, it would be that there are too many choices. Knowing this ahead of time, I gathered twelve friends to join me so we could get a full sampling of the menu. The menu at Potala is great for sharing, and it was fun with such a big group, we just continued to order one dish after another to sample as much as we could. Tibetan food is not known for it’s richness, like food from some of it’s neighbors like Nepal, India, and China. However, folks who enjoy trying new cuisines will be intrigued by some of the dishes. We made sure to try typical Tibetan fare such as butter tea, tsampa, momos, bread and some of the noodle dishes, first and foremost.

 Vegetable Momos

We first ordered the momos, a Tibetan dumpling. These were a big hit with everyone, but then again, it's hard to go wrong with a dumpling. I've tried various forms of dumplings in many countries, but I don't think I've ever had a bad one. There's something about stuff wrapped in dough and cooked that just always works, no matter the ingredients.

 Butter tea and Tsampa

Before the feast I did a little research as to what is typical Tibetan food and found butter tea, specifically yak butter tea and tsampa to be on the top of the list for standard Tibetan fare. I still have not figured out how you make a tea from butter, but it tastes rather how you might imagine butter tea to taste like; not particularly great. But, I had to try it, if for no other reason than to check it off my bucket list. Tsampa, which often accompanies butter tea in Tibet is barley flour which they may add ingredients, like butter tea, to create small cakes like the ones you see above. The taste is, again, not great, but you can imagine it to be a hardy snack after a day of herding sheep on the Tibetan plateau.

Sha Bhakle

The fried bread Sha Bhakle was a huge hit for us. This was a flaky dough filled with meat and veggies. The menu explains that Sha means meat and Bhakle is a form of bread in Tibet. However, upon searching for this dish on the web it doesn't seem to exist on any English language sites. If anyone can find some more info about this for me, post it in the comments. We all really loved this stuff. 

 Thuk Fry

The Thuk Fry was an interesting dish. Noodles fried to crispiness and covered with vegetables and pork. This wasn't really anyone's favorite dish, however, probably because of the strange consistency of the noodles. 

 

Gya Thuk

  

Gya Thuk, and another called KhanChung Khukpa (no photo) were tasty noodle soup options. Again, not spicy, which is a bit of a shock for my system, living in Korea, but nice, hardy soups with lots of veggies and noodles. 

 Tsam Thuk

One friend made an interesting choice of the Tsam Thuk, basically a Tsampa (barley) soup. Basically a barley porrage, no one was clamoring to eat it. The friend who ordered it said "it would probably taste really good after hiking a day in the Himalayas". I thought it might make a nice breakfast, but it seemed an odd choice for dinner at a restaurant.

Chang, Tibetan Rice Beer

One of the biggest hits of the evening was the Chang, or "Tibetan Rice Beer". Actually, it tasted quite like makkoli (Korean rice wine) to us, just a little more expencive. Apparently, they make it right in their kitchen, though, so definitely a worthwhile choice for your evening spirits. And it's served in cool wooden bowls.

While the Tibetan menu is quite large, there are also a number of Indian and Nepalese options as well. We tried a few things off that half of the menu as well: 

 Aloo Gobi

For those who are less adventurous, Aloo Gobi, an Indian curry with potatos and cauliflower is a safe option. 

 

Sekuwa

Another big hit for the evening was the Nepalese Sekuwa. We got the lamb and it was perfectly seasoned and was accompanied by a creamy sauce. 

 Thali Set

The thali set was a nice option and big enough to share with a few people, too. This has various Indian curries and some curried veggies.

 Fried Rice

Last, but not least was the fried rice. Simple but nice with meat and vegetables. A safe bet for the less daring.

Overall, Potala is a really nice restaurant. It's got a nice interior, and the prices are reasonable, most dishes are between 7-12,000 won. If you expect Tibetan food to taste like Indian food, or Chinese food, you'll be sorely disappointed, but if you go in with an open mind to the less spicy food of Tibet, than you should go home happy. Definitely go with friends, because the menu at Potala is best for sharing.

Click here for an article about the owner's fight to keep his Myeongdong location last year: Tibetan activist in Seoul fights eviction order

티베트 포탈라 레스토랑

서울시 종로구 

관철동  35-2 

수표교빌딩 지하1층

Potala Restaurant

 GwanCheol-Dong 35-2

SuPyoKyo Building B1

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Phone: 02-318-0094

http://www.potala.co.kr/ (Korean only)


View Potala Restaurant in a larger map

More Photos from North Korea

Yes, yes, I apologize to all of you who don't care about North Korea, I'm always astounded by photos coming out of there, although lately there doesn't seem to be any shortage of photos of the true hermit kingdom, especially from Pyongyang which is starting to look more and more like a modern city from the photos coming out these days. These latest photos come from an anonymous blog starring a little girl who looks to be about 2 years old named Nina. Check out the blog here: http://ninalookingatthings.wordpress.com/ if you like the photos here.