sk eats... 충무

충무김밥

Chungmu Gimbap

Chungmu, across the street from Judy's school, is one of the first restaurants we ate at in Ulsan. It was delicious, cheap and they had an English menu, so it was an instant favorite at the beginning. For the first few months it was a weekly (at least) stop. Since then, our frequency has gone up and down with it as we've branched out our Korean dining, but it was always there to rely on.

Looking into the kitchen

The Korean Menu

If there is a pen on the table or you have one on you, you just mark your order, if not, you call a waitress over and she'll do it for you.

짬뽕라면 - Jampon Ramyun

Ramen noodles with seafood and vegetables in a spicy broth.
One of Judy's favorites!

The Side Dishes
From top left: kimchi, cucumber kimchi, radish, fish cakes, fried tube ham.
The cucumber kimchi and the fish cakes are the best.

*blogspot is being a bigger biatch than normal and keeps rotating the next two photos, sorry.

비빔만두 - Bibim Mandu

Fried dumplings with vegetables and chili sauce.
Before the salad is mixed.

After the salad is mixed (as the picture was being taken, the fan blew our check up onto it, and before another picture could be taken, the waitress was filling the table with other dishes).

김치찌개 - Kimchi Jjigae

A favorite of both of ours. It is a spicy stew made of kimchi with pork (sometimes tuna) and tofu. A standard Korean dish eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Almost everyone knows how to make it, and probably 80% of restaurants sell it. If we're ever unsure of what to order or of what we want, the kimchi jjigae rarely lets us down.

충무김밥 - Chungmu Gimbab

Andrew had seen people eating this and always wanted to try it, but never knew it's name. Sometimes he would just order randomly from the gimbap menu in hopes of getting it. This particular visit, the guessing paid off, and he finally got it. He wasn't really interested in the rice part of it, but the radish kimchi and the fishcake salad are what intrigued him. As it turns out, none of it was very good. You'd think the dish sharing the name of the restaurant would be a winner, but sadly it wasn't. :(

A close up

When you order anything that's not a soup, you get this bowl/cup of awesome, peppery broth. It is so simple and delicious.

김밥 - Gimbap

Various ingredients wrapped in rice and seaweed. Like a Korean version of a sushi roll, only nothing raw inside.

On the left: 소고기김밥 - Sogogi Gimbap

Ground beef, carrot, egg, radish, Spam, cucumber and a sesame leaf. *Normally this is a pretty good one, because the beef is cooked in sesame oil and garlic, but here the beef was really strange. It was really dry and tasted like Jerky Chew (if anyone remembers that popular snack of the 90's)!

On the right: 참치김밥 - Chamchi Gimbap

This is the most magical gimbap in all the land. It has the same ingredients as the beef, but instead of beef it's tuna with a healthy dose of mayo. It is the never-let-you-down gimbap, no matter where you get it.

Perfection!

오뎅탕 - Odang Tong

Assorted fishcakes in a salty broth with onions, peppers and garlic. It can sometimes put you into odang overload, but it never disappoints on the flavor. This one, like the kimchi jjigae and the tuna gimbap, is pretty much delicious anywhere you order it.

Fishcake goodness!

Tokyo, Japan! - One Last Sushi Run

We had a flight out of Tokyo in the afternoon, so we had a little time in the morning to have one last adventure. We looked in the Lonely Planet and discussed it with Brian and Aya to see if there was anything that we had to do. We couldn't come up with any must-sees, so we thought about what we wanted to eat. Of course, tuna was at the top of the list. So, back to the fish market for another sushi breakfast!

We didn't know, but the market is closed on Sundays.




The entire area was dead









Looking for an open restaurant




Giraffe vs Tuna





Breakfast!!!

Eel



The Sampler From Heaven



Tuna & Chive Roll



Strange omelet stand




It was really strange.
Sweet and eggy at the same time.
Not very good.

On our way back to the subway, we started talking about things we'd regret about our visit to Tokyo. All we came up with was not eating more tuna, so we decided to stop in at another sushi restaurant to have a few more pieces.

The poster on the men's room door



It looks like a gross, white turd coming out of that guy's butt

Judy's (from the left): Eel, Fatty Tuna, Tuna & Avocado
Andrew's: Fatty Tuna, Tuna & Prosciutto, Seared Horse

The sushi's viewpoint

On the way to the airport, our subway car had an add for our next trip, the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai!

Tokyo, Japan! - Togoshi Ginza

On our last full day in Tokyo, we met up with Brian and Aya again to continue the eating and drinking tour of the city they were leading us on. We went out near their apartment this time, so it was a little outside of the 'downtown' areas we had previously stuck to. It was definitely an area we would have never seen without them, which was awesome. We met at the Togoshi-Ginza station to stroll around a traditional walking street lined with restaurants and shops.

Outside of the station

Waiting in the doorway of an izakaya

Every couple of minutes when a train would come, the crossing gates would lower and both sides would fill with people.

The tracks

OK,this is the last of the pictures of the station and the train crossing, Brian and Aya have arrived!

So, so hot outside!

Japanese Mickey-D's

Outdoor A/C! Apparently, this is a test that the Japanese government is conducting to try and solve the heat problem during the summer months. The idea is that they can cool off busy shopping and business streets with strategically placed misters. An awesome idea! And the misters worked quite well too. It was significantly cooler and more comfortable within their range. We stood there in awe far longer than we should have.

Street Meat

The small area with the misters aside, it was still unbearably hot out, so we ducked into an izakaya for a cold beverage and a little shade and A/C. All the tables in the place were made from stacked sake crates.

Ice cold Asahi

A pint pouring machine! After the guy loaded the glasses, he'd turn it on and it would tilt them to start pouring and slowly level them as the glass filled. An incredible invention. The Japanese really have thought of EVERYTHING!

Question: Which person did not know this picture
was being taken? (Hint: It's not Brian or Judy...)

An okonomiyaki flavored taiyaki.

Okonomiyaki - A traditional, savory pancake with variations of meats, seafoods, and vegetables.

Taiyaki - fish shaped breads of varying sizes and flavors. Usually sweet with a custard-like filling or a red bean filling.

A spicy curry taiyaki

Enough mayonnaise to choke a horse

Ahhh! Japanese Cats!

The entryway to Brian and Aya's building

There was a summer festival going on in their hood (or maybe the neighboring hood) so we went to check it out.

The party consisted of a lady drummer on the top of this structure and two tiers of kimono-clad dancers circling around her. It was pretty cool. There were lots of cute, old people from the audience dancing in the big circle.

Adorable

Festival style okonomiyaki

Simplest carnival game ever. You pay money to pull a string that may, or may not have a price tied to the other end.

----------

Brian had walked by this place many times and always been curious of it. From what he had seen in passing, it was just a tiny little bar run by an old Japanese man who Brian said resembled a pirate. When we went in, we immediately discovered that it was so much more.

Sitting at the bar

Coolest old man (ninja) ever

From what we understand, Aya just said that we wanted some food, and the dishes began coming. We weren't given any choices, and he asked us no questions. Everyone in the bar ate the same things as we did, so we figure that the menu consists of whatever he has behind the bar.

Fish flavored pipe tobacco

This smelled like a brandy flavored pipe tobacco, but had the taste of dried fish. It was different. Strange at first, but then grew on you.

When we ordered shochu, it took forever because he pulled out a giant ice block and chipped away cubes for our drinks. This must have been the way he's been doing it for years and years and years.

Completely enamored by the old man

Shochu on the (handmade) rocks

Kampai!

Some sort of fish

Eggplant

Skewered debeaked octopus mouth

An unknown vegetable

His business card!

The place was awesome. It can only be described as a small, Japanese Cheers. We were the only ones in the place that had not been going there weekly for years. And we even found out that this was the third location of his bar, which hadn't deterred any of the customers, many of whom became regulars when he was in their neighborhood, but now have to cross town to come one or two times a week.

After, we went in search of a place that served okonomiyaki. We had had the fish shaped one, but still wanted to try a real one. We went to one place they knew of, but arrived about 20 minutes before they closed, so we couldn't get it there. We walked around that area a little more, but everything seemed to be closed or closing as well. Finally, after getting on the subway for a few stops, we found somewhere open. They didn't have okonomiyaki, but they did have a build-your-own-curry that you cooked at the table. We didn't find what we were looking for, but no one was disappointed.

We decided on chicken, green peppers and cabbage with the spicy curry. It was a delicious way to end the evening.

Bibs!