Finally - a VERY authentic dinner!

So I ended up asking the front desk if they could recommend an authentic Korean Restaurant - and they recommended Gogung, a tiny restaurant in the basement of a market in Insadong. It was truly a wonderful experience!! It was authentic right down to having to take your shoes off when you enter the restaurant, to sitting on pillows on the floor. It was beautiful inside. They seated us at a table by a window that contained a small garden with glowing lanterns. It was traditional Korean style, many many small dishes! Our waitress did not speak english but asked if we wanted forks... three? Once we realized what she was asking, we said '5'. It is custom to take one's shoes off when entering most homes, schools, temples and restaurants (maybe more places too). That is often why people wear some sort of socks. At least that is what I have been told. And, you do not see a lot of people not wearing socks. I even saw one girl wear anklet socks over nylons!

We ordered Bulgogi - a sweet beef which they cooked in front of us. Prior to serving beef, they brought out seaweed salad = which Matthew LOVED. He pretty much ate the whole amount, pouring the remants of the dish into his bowl and scraping the sides with his fork, and then asking for "More!" This was pretty amazing as there was some sort of red chili pepper flakes on it and was a little spicy! (Matthew mentioned just this morning that his banana was "too (s)picy!") They also brought out fish, 3 different kinds of soups, 2 kinds of tofu (which I did not tell Todd until after we got back to the hotel), dried seaweed - which Jacob and Lucy loved - they called them 'chips'. And some sort of dried, what I am hoping were, tiny shrimp. The kids pretty much took a bite of everything - unless I could clearly see it was too spicy. They ate a lot of the tofu, and a lot of the bulgogi. Really throughout the entire time we were there, our waitress kept bringing more and more little dishes out! At the conclusion of the meal, she brought out little puffy cookies and plum tea. The cookie was yummy and the tea was sweet and cold - Jacob likened it to grape juice.

And what could top a wonderful traditional dinner as we just had??? Shopping!!! The shopping in Insadong is WONDERFUL!!! Many traditional items (Insadong is considered one of the more traditional areas of Seoul), many on my shopping list that I was able to check off! You do need to be careful as many shops sell the same/similar items, but the cost could vary quite a bit!

It was a wonderful day - something for everyone - but mostly a day filled with memories that will last a lifetime (as will hopefully the cute vase Todd bought me for Mother's Day!)