Seoul, South Korea - April 2024

The first leg of our trip started in Seoul. A city we have been before, so we felt 3 days was enough for this trip.

Seoul didn’t disappoint. Feeling safe in a city is a great feeling when travelling. When you are in public, people leave their items, phones, or really whatever to save a table when dining. No one will steal or take even a phone. We went to buy food at the train station and you just leave your luggage outside the store as you run in.

Coming to a city that is so populated and vibrant is such a great feeling. We walked around the Hyundai department store, which is stunning by the way, and it was busy and bustling. The food floor rivalled Japanese food floors. Lot’s of staff, great looking food, and just the busy feel that makes a city feel so alive. Compare that to walking through our sad single department store Hudson Bay and I wish we could support the classic department store model in North America.

The metro system in Seoul is massive. It is crazy to look at the map and see that we only stayed in one small area of the city and the distance the subway and train system goes in the 9 million+ city. Some of our train trips would be 28 minutes long and we barely left the area. The city by Metro isn’t the easiest to navigate, finding which direction you need to go isn’t a simple process when entering a station. They tend to list the next station vs giving the final station in the signage. This means it’s hard to figure out which platform you need to go to. I also found, and maybe it is just our area because we only had access to one train, to go to other parts of city it meant you had to back track a bit.

Google and Apple Maps don’t work here. Well, Google tries to work but it is horrendous. Numerous times we would put in a destination and Google would give us walking, subway, maybe at bit more subway, and more walking, when it was simply a 10 minute walk. Our friends told us that it is because Korea requires any services to have servers in the country. So Apple and Google are limited in their mapping and tracking. Apple Tags don’t work here either, neither does Find My.

Food

Kani Lab

We went for dinner with some friend Rebecca and JC that live here in Seoul. It was a multi sensory adventure, and the food was quite good too.

This meal deserves its own page…

Nudake

This is the social media famous croissant cafe. Although the atmosphere is fun, it feels run down and the croissants aren’t the best ones we had this trip. There seems to be always a line but you sign up on your phone when you get there and we were in after about 10 minutes. I don’t think this place is worth the hype. It’s more of an instagram type place. Also, that drink I had was pretty much straight chocolate, not the kind of energy boost I was looking for.

RAINREPORT

This is another place that came up on my socials and it didn’t disappoint. Now these were some great croissants and I finally got to try a bow tie croissant, this one was filled with cream and it was delicious. The space is relaxing all in black with weather themed wall accoutrement. There is a cushion area where you can relax and watch the trickle of rain on the bamboo. I was hoping for more of an aggressive rain shower, there was just a drizzle, but after a long day, removing my shoes, sitting back and sipping my sweet drink and eating my croissant bow was more than welcome.

Myongdong Kyoja

Wow wow wow. This was another find on TikTok and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. This was our first meal in Korea and it could not have gone better. This Michelin recognized cheap eat location is fast and efficient. They only have 3 items on the menu, 4 if it is after April 14th and the summer season.

The Kalguksu was a warm soup with thick udon style noodles. They were slippery and delicious. The dumpling was also fantastic.

The Bimbimguksu was the cold noodles that had a little bit of spice but not too much. It was delicious and flavourful.

Now the Mandi dumplings. Amazing. Delicious and full of flavour. You got a lot per order and let’s talk about pricing…. All this food was affordable. About $11 to $13 per dish and we ordered one of each, so 3 dishes.

The restaurant is extremely efficient. They send you to a numbered table and a lady comes over and takes your order. You pay first. Once paid, she puts your order in. I kid you not, 3 minutes later, a robot was driving over with our food. She unloaded the dishes onto our table and we were on our way. Cutlery and chopsticks were in drawers in our table and she had already brought our side of kimchi.

This food was awesome and so was the experience. We were there at 10:45 and it opens at 10:30 so we didn’t have to wait. I think line ups are normal but move quite quick.

BHC Fried Chicken

This restaurant has many locations and we needed dinner, and I read a review that this place was consistently good. It was awesome.

I had set my sites on Fried Chicken and it was too late for my original choice, but I think we ended up getting better chicken, for a much cheaper price.

We ordered a half and half set which was about $22. Thankfully we both didn’t order! The portion was huge, tasty, fresh, and the sweet sour was the perfect amount of heat and flavour.

They provide you a plastic glove, but only one, so I got really good about eating with one hand.

Lotteria and McDonald’s

Twice we needed a quick meal to keep us moving through the day. A trip to McDonald’s is always required when travelling, but I would prefer to hit Lotteria if the choice is there.

Lotteria

Damn this was good.

McDonald’s

Activities

Seoul Sky

We visited Seoul Sky in tallest building in South Korea. It is really a stunning building that as animated in their welcome movie, does now make me think of a paint brush. The observation deck is multi level with some outdoor terraces, a cafe and a glass floor.

At one point a little girl ran out onto the glass floor with no fear and her parents were too scared to go get her. It was entertaining to watch.

Andaz Gangnam

Accommodation

We enjoyed the location, it was a few minute walk away from food and shopping but even more conveniently, it was on top of a metro station.

The room was someone a strange shape for a rectangular building, but nicely appointed. Modern and clean. The bathroom had a Japanese style toilet which is always a welcome luxury. The staff was nice, our mini bar was always refilled. Snacks and non alcoholic drinks are always complimentary at the Andaz.