Korea wedding trip day 2: Sung Si-kyung's favorite

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After a late night of working from our hotel room, I woke up to find the city wet from light rain. The first order of business was to recover my lost wallet, so we rode the same Airport Limousine back to Incheon, somehow letting the driver know that instead of getting off at either Terminal 1 or 2, we wanted to follow him all the way to the depot.

Neither Foursheets nor I got enough sleep, so coffee was more essential this morning than usual. Unfortunately this "cold brew" I picked up from the convenience store last night didn't cut it. It was pretty tasteless... just a little better than the water that is used to rinse a cup with some leftover coffee...

After being pointed in the right direction, we arrived at the office and mentioned Jay Essu's name to reference my case. Yes, they did find my wallet, and I took out my ID card from the wallet to show that I was, indeed, its rightful owner. The staff suggested that we ride the free shuttle bus that runs between airport terminals as the best way to leave the depot. We then managed to ride the same bus route back to the city to our hotel.

When I asked Foursheets what she wanted to eat during this trip, the first thing she mentioned was naengmyeon (냉면). Since the two of us have been religiously following the exploits of Sung Si-kyung (成始璄) and Matsushige Yutaka (松重豊) on Netflix's K-foodie meets J-foodie, we used the show as inspiration and I chose to take her to Sung Si-kyung's favorite place for cold noodles.

Pildong Myeonok (필동면옥) isn't too far from our hotel, and while I was worried about long lines at this popular noodle place, thankfully we didn't have to wait at all. Ordering was easy as they don't have a big menu, and they have a menu for foreigners so we didn't even have to use translation software.

We were immediately given some banchan (반찬), and we honestly thought they were very well-made. We were, of course, offered refills when we were almost finished with something. The white kimchi (백김치) was pretty tasty.

Just like they serve up sobayu (蕎麦湯) at soba restaurants in Japan, the myeonsoo (면수) - water leftover from cooking the noodles - is also served on the side. But here it comes at the beginning of the meal rather than at the end.

Sliced boiled pork (제육) - this was... just OK. The texture was firmer than I had expected, because the pork had been pressed to squeeze oil the fat. The flavors were also pretty bland...

...so that the dipping sauce became necessary. This was very, very good and totally made the dish. In fact, I wouldn't touch the pork without the sauce.

Traditional Pyeongyang style dumpling (만두) - these were the biggest mandu (만두) I had ever seen. I guess I've just been having too many delicate versions at fancy restaurants, so it came as a shock to see these Pyeongyang style monsters.

The flavors here were pretty bland as they were very underseasoned... with minced pork, bean sprouts, what looked like spring onions... Texture-wise the filling was definitely fairly rough and not refined. But then again, this is more traditional so I guess that's how it was done historically in Pyeongyang. A dip in white vinegar was needed to make this more interesting and palatable.

Mul naengmyeon (물냉면) - the main event. The broth made with both beef and pork, as well as dongchimi (동치미), was very clear. Served with a thin slice of boiled beef and a slice of boiled pork, as well as half a boiled egg. What I didn't expect, though, was that sprinkle of gochugaru (고춧가루) on top.

The noodles here have a paler color compared to many others, and are very, very long and thin. I didn't see any scissors being offered to cut the noodles. The texture was nice with some bite, but not a chore to chew on.

The flavors of the broth were very, very subtle. We knew, before coming here, that the flavors would be considered "bland" or "one-dimensional" but many. But that was exactly the kind of flavor profile Foursheets wanted. It wasn't tasteless, of course. When we first drank the broth before breaking up the pile of noodles, we could taste a low amount of salt, and the flavors from the meat were tempered by dongchimi juice. This was delicate but not flat. Drinking the broth was very, very refreshing on a warm day. Later on we added a little more gochugaru - which doesn't add the heat but gives a pickup of flavors that tickles one's tastebuds. I have no idea whether this is the best naengmyeon in town, but Foursheets was VERY, VERY happy - which was exactly the result I was looking for.

This was a great introduction to Pyeongyang-style naengmyeon for us. We'll be checking out another place later on this trip for comparison.

Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골한옥마을) is a tourist attraction a stone's throw away from the restaurant, at the foot of Namsan (南山). Once past the garden inside the main entrace, there is a collection of 5 hanok (한옥) which have been reconstructed here, showing different types of traditional houses.

Our first stop was Yun Family's House, a replica of the original which was deemed too fragile to move.

The Min Family's House featured a kitchen and a courtyard with a collection of onggi (옹기).

As we were heading away from the village, we happened to pass Korea House (한국의집). I had wanted to dine here on this trip to get a taste of the menu curated by Chef Cho Hee-sook (趙希淑), but unfortunately the facilities are currently undergoing renovations. We made do with a visit to the gift shop. Oh well.

Time to head back to our hotel and get changed for dinner across the river.