One of my favourite Korean food has to be ramyeon. It’s like comfort food. I always crave for it even though I know I should cut down on my processed food. Haha. So when I was planning the food leg of my Korea trip (2017) with my crossfitters, I just had to slot in a ramyeon pit-stop. Keke.

And uh huh… No surprise that I got to know about 삼숙이라면 from episode 37 of Korean food show ‘Baek Jong Won’s Top 3 Chef King’. It’s also through the show that I understood why 삼숙이라면 was highly recommended; What set 삼숙이라면 apart from the other ramyeon restaurants was its broth, spring onion and cooking method.

Instead of the usual water, broth made with katsuobushi and dried shiitake was used for a smokey unique taste. And instead of chopping the spring onion, its shredded as long as noodles. After which, much care was put into the shredded spring onion where it’s washed and dried to prevent sticking (to one another) due to moisture.

As for cooking, the chef-owner would heat his special soya sauce in the nickel pot before bringing the seasoning, various ingredients, ramyeon and broth to a boil. Pulling the noodles up every now and then too as the exposure to air made the noodle chewier.

So it was with much anticipation that I arrived at 삼숙이라면 with my crossfitters. And from the menu (pages 1, 2), we ordered:-

1) 치즈라면, ₩5000 (above) – Ramyeon with cheese. When I was taking photograph of the restaurant’s interior, I took a glimpse of the kitchen and saw the chef using 2 types of cheese; Cheddar and mozzarella. It was a bit of the “oh” moment for me. And it’s also since then that I would use mozzarella whenever I made cheese ramyeon at home. Keke.

2) 해물짬뽕라면, ₩5000 (above) – Seafood ramyeon.

3) 라면 + 주먹밥 (Ramyeon + rice ball), ₩6000 comprised of:-

  

(A) 삼숙이라면 (above) – One could also order their set where it cost ₩500 cheaper to get the ramyeon and rice ball. And for the ramyeon flavour, we went with dumpling.

(B) 주먹밥 (above) – Rice ball. This cost ₩1500 if ordered as a-la carte.

Would I recommend 삼숙이라면? Certainly, unless one isn’t a fan of spring onion and bean sprout since the restaurant served a pile of those on the ramyeon. And if one has plans to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, one may consider putting 삼숙이라면 just before or after as it’s a 15 to 18 minutes walk from Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Of the (many) restaurants that I bookmarked for visiting in Seoul, one of them was 혼가츠; A restaurant specialising in pork cutlet (tonkatsu). And if one followed my Korea-feasting-trip-2017 entries, one would easily guessed I learned about the restaurant from Korean food show ‘Baek Jong Won’s Top 3 Chef King’. Episode 60 to be exact. Keke.

We reached the restaurant at 11.35am on a wet Sunday morning. I definitely recommended reaching early to beat the queue. And one should expect long queues just by the line of chairs prepared by the restaurant for waiting customers. And from the menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), we ordered:-

  

1) Side dishes & sauces, Complimentary (above) – The restaurant offered 3 sauces to go with the cutlet; Strawberry, banana and cutlet tonkatsu sauces. Fruit sauces made with real fruits pulp. And the fourth unlabeled bottle is just soya sauce. Haha.

  

2) Cheese pork cutlet, ‎₩9000 (above) – The very dish I came to 혼가츠 for. And we enjoyed it so much that we ordered more because we couldn’t get enough of it. Yes, one more plate for sharing. The cheese pork cutlet had a good ratio of pork and molten cheese, which was created by wrapping pounded (aged) pork and perilla leaf around thick mozzarella cheese stick. It’s also through the Korean food show ‘Baek Jong Won’s Top 3 Chef King’ that I learnt it’s a technique to slice through without the cheese overflowing/sliding off for the dish’s remarkable presentation. A must try.

3) Fresh sirloin pork cutlet, ₩7000 (above)

4) Cold buckwheat noodles in soup, ‎₩6000 (above)

I definitely recommend 혼가츠 for their cheese pork cutlet. With the restaurant conveniently located in Hongdae, one could easily hop over for a meal in the midst of shopping. And honestly, when I am next back in Korea, I can’t wait to re-visit the restaurant for their signature dish.