My Last Meal of 2009

I left my apartment at 9:30 AM on December 30, earlier than I normally would have for a 1PM international flight, but a man of "faith" once again fucked up my plans by trying to blow up a plane the week before. Twenty hours later I was checking into my hotel in Seoul, on New Year's Eve. My flight was over 13 hours long and the bus ride from the airport over an hour. I needed some comfort food. Korean comfort food.

As I was checking in, I asked the woman at the desk, "Do you know of any good place nearby for for pa jun or mandoo?" Pa jun are Korean pancakes, often stuffed with seafood, which I absolutely love. Mandoo are dumplings.

"I don't know about pa jun," she said, "but there's a famous mandoo place right on the other side of this building."

It's called Myung-In Mandoo, and is in the same complex as the Ibis Hotel in the Myeong-Dong district of Seoul. Since 1976, the sign said. Luckily they had a photo menu with English translations. Actually, for many Korean dishes I'm fine with just Romanization, having eaten so much Korean food in New York.

I ordered fried mandoo, but I figured dumplings alone do not a meal make, so I also ordered oh jing uh dup bap (sauteed squid with spicy sauce and rice).

Both dishes were quite good, and in my quasi-zombie state I was glad to find a decent place right downstairs from my hotel room. Total cost, 8,000 Won ($7).