Tomorrow night, I’m going to eat dog.
That is, if I take up a local friend-of-a-friend’s invitation to visit what he assures is Seoul’s “best restaurant for dog.” I debate my RSVP while navigating the hip enclave of Garosu-gil, Seoul’s SoHo equivalent, sipping a $6 Dutch cold-press coffee. Older Koreans believe that dog can cure illness and enhance sexual virility, while the younger ones wouldn’t mind seeing it disappear altogether. Me? I’m both intrigued and horrified. WWBD — what would Bourdain do? — I ask myself.
“OK,” I text him, “let’s go for it.”
Please, don’t hate me. Seoul may be a beautiful juxtaposition of urban cityscape and mountain greenery, but at first glance, the Korean capital feels like a homogenous, uniform mass. Most blocks seem like barely modified remixes of the one before, heavily populated with overpriced coffee shops — from Starbucks behemoths to indie cafes. No wonder I’ve grown famished for truly local, off-the-Google-map gems.
Canine cuisine aside, Garosu-gil does make for an interesting afternoon, with its boutiques stocking high-end fashionista goods and oodles of dining spots. Try a Japanese-style soft-serve ice cream with a waxy chunk of oozing, fresh honeycomb at Softree (551-3 Sinsa-dong) and doses of Italian and Korean fare, like gochu jeon (batter-fried, meat-stuffed green peppers), while spotting K-pop stars at Cola Mercato (667-20 Sinsa-dong).
Jongno District is way less pretentious and blends the contemporary with the traditional. The winding, sloping streets of Bukchon Village are lined with tile-roofed traditional Korean homes (a k a hanoks), modern art galleries and one-of-a-kind shops. Red-shirt-wearing “information” teams provide free maps and help.
Pick up cool, locally created design-centric souvenirs and gifts at Room to Roam (35-231 Samcheong-Dong) and investigate several buildings’ worth of international, edgy artwork at Kukje Gallery (54 Samcheong-ro). Take in regal style and history at Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul’s Forbidden City — much inside its walls has been rebuilt since the Japanese demolished the contents during the early 1900s. Later, stroll a stretch of the 3.6-mile-long, beautifully landscaped Cheonggyecheon Stream, essentially a sunken version of the High Line park.
Traditional Korean spas (a k a jjimjilbang) are a good way to spend winter’s chilly days. Many are open 24 hours and are cheap — between $5 and $13 for a full day. They include gender-segregated hot baths and wet saunas, co-ed (and insanely hot) dry saunas, massage and body scrub services and resting rooms.
The Disneyland of jjimjilbang, Dragon Hill Spa, is Seoul’s biggest and best known, while the student-heavy Hongdae district’s lower-key Hongdae Happy Day Spa (371-10 Gyusyudang Wedding Hall B1, Seogyo-dong) is also tourist-friendly, with a ginseng-infused hot tub. Afterwards, sip cocktails from IV-style plastic pouches at Vinyl (411-1 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu) and shop “upcycled,” eco-minded design goods like backpacks and shoes fabricated from cork at Little Farmers (Wausan-gil, Hyongdae).
The stunningly designed Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art (60-16 Itaewon-ro 55-gil, Yongsan-gu) is a must-see for its collection of traditional and modern work. Opened this November, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (30 Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu) is packed with innovative Korean artists.
For culinary arts, O’ngo Food Communications offers old and new Korean cuisine. I tried the evening “Taste Tour” — a sort of foodie greatest hits including Korean BBQ, toppoki (chewy rice cakes in spicy red sauce), bindaetteok (pancakes made from mung bean) and frosty dessert patbingsu.
O’ngo’s Daniel Gray, a Delaware-raised Korean-American who runs the website Seoul Eats, joined me for dinner at Congdu (116-1 Deoksu Palace-gil). Here, quintessential Korean ingredients, techniques and flavors are elevated by superb, intense, almost theatrically presented neo-Korean dishes. Nouveau best describes Jungsik (649-7 Sinsa-dong) and East Village (626-70 Sinsa-dong), both specializing in technique-driven fusion takes on traditional Korean fare.
There were certainly elements of theater and tradition to my climactic dinner at the aforementioned dog restaurant, Four Seasons (1068-20 Daelim-2-dong), located down a narrow street in Seoul’s pulsing Chinatown district, Yeongdeungpo. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, shoes off, a stove at the low-rise table’s center, I observed a crowd of 40-year-old-and-up Korean diners and a single child (whose father argued loudly on his phone throughout).
I sampled three dog entrees: sliced meat steamed over leeks and chives; a saucy stir-fry with veggies; and a boiling, orange-toned soup. Cruelty issues aside, the meat (which looked like fatty brisket) was fibrous and gamey in flavor, akin to turkey or goat. The soup was the only dish I remotely enjoyed, due to the savory herbs and spices . . . but, despite claims it speeds up cold and flu recovery, I’ll stick to a chicken matzoh ball version!
Where to stay
The comfy Grand Hyatt (from $250) features floor-to-ceiling views of Mount Namsan and the city. The Westin Chosun (from $205) is adjacent to a subway (MRT) stop, shopping mall and tons of restaurants, while W Seoul Walkerhill (from $235), albeit far from the city center, boasts hip retro-futuristic design, a clubby vibe, a fabulous spa and sweeping Han River views. Want to party all night? IP Boutique Hotel (from $120) is smack dab in bar/club/expat-heavy Itaewon.
