Korea Michelin tour day 6: GohGan

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During the nascent stages of planning for our Korean trip, when we had roughly settled on the dates, I saw a post come across my Instagram feed.  Gaggan Anand was announcing the next GohGan collaboration between himself and Fukuyama Goh (福山剛) of La Maison de la Nature Goh in Fukuoka (福岡市), and it would be around the tail end of our trip.  So I shamelessly raised my hand and asked Gaggan for 4 seats for tonight.  Thankfully I had asked early enough and they could accommodate us...

I had seen pictures and videos come across on Instagram showing the chefs shopping at the seafood market on Monday morning.  They looked like they were ordering up a storm, with all kinds of sea creatures not normally part of my diet.  It was looking very, very tantalizing...

While we were at Baekyangsa Temple (白羊寺) on Sunday, we got confirmation that Jeong Kwan (正寬) sunim would be coming to dinner tonight and join the second seating.  Originally our little group was meant to be at the earlier seating, which would mean that we wouldn't get to see Jeong Kwan sunim again - but thanks to some last-minute shuffling the organizers were able to fit us in for the last seating.

I caught up with Gaggan when I arrived, and he was definitely more than a little frazzled.  After all, this was the last of the four seatings.  But it was more than the stress of running a pop-up.  Apparently they didn't get most of the ingredients they had ordered two days ago.  Whether it was a language issue - or something more sinister - we do not know.  But the chefs had to scramble for substitute ingredients, and Gaggan was very pissed off.

We took our assigned seats, and OF COURSE there would be an emoji menu!  And apparently, there is a specific soundtrack, too... to go along with specific dishes.

The chefs - along with the organizer Jang Eunsil - delivered their opening remarks.  Gaggan asked us not to judge (harshly) the dishes presented tonight, which is understandable because of the pop-up nature as well as the disastrous lack of ingredients.  We kept our minds open for the rest of the evening.  At least I did...

Korea Michelin tour day 6: itches that need scratching

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When I last passed through Seoul back in 2008 on my way to Central Asia, I was only able to visit one of the two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the city. Jongmyo Shrine (宗廟) is closed on Tuesdays and I had only one day in town on that trip.  So I was determined to check that off my list this time around.

When we arrived at the front entrance, I was surprised to find the ticketing counters closed - just as they were 9 years ago.  Fortunately it turned out to be a free-entry day for the public, so I was able to accomplish my mission.

For a royal shrine in the middle of the city, the grounds are actually fairly large.  The buildings are also surprisingly plain-looking, devoid of the bright colors one often sees.  Hey, even Baekyangsa Temple (白羊寺) we went to a few days ago were more ornate...

Korea Michelin tour day 5: death by Hanwoooooo

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My first taste of Hanwoo beef came a little more than a decade ago, during the years when I used to fly to Seoul to visit clients.  My sales colleague used to take me to a restaurant in Apgujeong-dong called MANA - which has since closed.  I was amazed at the quality of the barbecued beef we were having, and my eyes were popping out at the bill we got at the end of the evening.  That was when I first heard about Korean restaurants having their own cattle farm, where they slaughter cattle and serve the meat on the same day - without the meat ever having been frozen or chilled.

One of the things we wanted to check off on this trip was a good meal with plenty of Hanwoo.  We knew that after a day of eating vegetarian meals at Baekyangsa, Ro Ro would be needing some, you know, ro ro (肉肉).  Hello Kitty would most certainly be in Ro Ro's camp in terms of wanting beef, and as for the rest of us... what better opportunity to see what Hanwoo beef can taste like, and how well it stacks up against Japanese wagyu (和牛)?

Once again, our friend Mikacina came up with the perfect suggestion.  Born and Bred is a butchery shop inside the Majang Meat Market (마장 축산물시장).  It's a butcher shop by day - where one can purchase different cuts of Hanwoo beef - and 3 nights a week it turns into a speakeasy serving beef omakase (お任せ).  Booking needs to be done for the entire 7-seat counter, and with thanks to Mikacina's connections, owner Jung Sang-won agreed to let us come in on a Tuesday night.  And since Sang was a little shy about his English abilities - which inevitably improved over the course of the evening with more alcohol - he roped in his buddy Steven to help translate for us.

DaRC and I got dropped off by our taxi driver at the crowded end of Majang Meat Market, and as we were running late, we kinda half-ran through the place on our way to dinner.  The smell of meat - especially beef - was incredible.  I think my stomach started getting ready for dinner even before I sat down...

The rest of the gang had already arrived by the time we ran up the stairs, and started talking to Sang and Steven.  Since we didn't have time to buy ourselves a bottle or two, Sang very kindly agreed to let us raid his cellar.  DaRC went to take a look before respectfully leaving the decision up to the boss.

2013 Bruno Rocca Barbaresco Rabaja - pretty sweet nose.  Smoother on the palate than expected.

Before we started, Sang told us that each of us would be served 5-600g of beef.  Somehow I think we had quite a bit more than that...

I noticed that each of us had a plate of salad in front of us.  Sang promised that these were the only veggies he would be serving us tonight - and the rest of dinner would be nothing but meat.

Korea Michelin tour day 5: Korean village dining

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Scanning through the list of restaurants which received Michelin stars in the 2017 Red Guide for Seoul, one of the places I had put on my hit list for this trip was 24Seasons (이십사절기).  The place looked like they served Korean food with a contemporary presentation, which would be right up my alley.

But Mikacina told me that Chef Tony Yoo, who was responsible for creating the cuisine that got the restaurant its star, had already left.  He had taken over an old restaurant in a traditional Korean hanok (한옥) in Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) north of Insa-dong (인사동) formerly known as Doore (두레), and renamed it Dooreyoo (두레유).  If I wanted to get a taste of his food, this was where I'd have to go.

We arrived to find ourselves seated inside a historic hanok, with wooden beams and columns all around us.  We had a big group of 8, so they put us in the back of the restaurant, right in front of the air conditioning unit.  Thankfully they agreed to turn it off.

A choice of set menus was offered and, in fact, the restaurant was chasing us to choose our menu yesterday, even before we arrived at the restaurant.  Given that the restaurant's website is only available in Korean - which we can't read - I wanted to know how we're supposed to make our choice without trying to copy/paste into Google Translate...

And just like Jungsik yesterday, the restaurant insisted that the entire group take the same menu.  This was annoying, but we have begun to see this as the Korean way.  Once again the ladies had to step up and take the longest menu with the rest of us.

Korea Michelin tour day 4: a mingling of cuisines

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After a good introduction to contemporary Korean cuisine at lunch today, we move on to another restaurant in the same vein in Gangnam.  Chef owner Mingoo Kang's proposition at Mingles is to present a mingling of traditional Korean cuisine with European and other Asian cuisines and modern techniques.  I had very, very briefly met Chef Mingoo last year at the party for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in Bangkok, but of course he would not have remembered me.

We were running late tonight because of traffic, and the ones coming from across the river were very late, so we were very apologetic to the staff... and of course apologized to Chef Mingoo when he came out to greet us after our party was finally assembled.  Meanwhile DaRC and I browsed through the wine list looking for a reasonably priced bottle of bong water.

Chef Mingoo had heard about our weekend excursion to Baekyangsa, and mentioned that for almost a year and a half, he made weekend trips almost weekly to spend time with Jeong Kwan sunim.  Now that is some serious dedication!  I guess that is sure to have an impact on the cuisine here...

There's only one seasonal menu here, which saves us from the frustrations we encountered at lunch today.

The sommelier poured us some complimentary Champagne...

William de Montez Brut - dominated by pinot meunier, with makes it more complex and gives it more body.