삼청각 (Sam-cheong-Gak): Where Dead Presidents Party

Yesterday I recieved a call from my aunt.
We will keep her anonymous, so let's call her Aunt O. It's not "O" becuase she's old either...
Anyway, after promising to catch up with her for the past 6 months, I finally decided to hike my lazy ass all the way up to 혜화 (hye-wha).

It's so freakn far.

I'm not a bad newphew really, I love the ' ole gal. But what really sold me on the proposition was that my uncle from the states would join us. In other words, my meal is getting paid for *cha ching*

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To the food!
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삼청각 is located in the 삼청동 (Samdchung-dong) area.
Go to 종각 (jong-gak) station line #1 and take a short cab ride.
삼청동 is a great place for food, seriously, a lot of different cuisine.
A great date course by the way ;)

History has it that this was THE place for politicians to get down. In fact, it's been a relatively short time since us commoners have been allowed inside. It's a beautiful place to visit during warm weather seasons. When you get inside you'll notice a warm and cozy enviornment a.k.a snooze fest. It's a quiet korean eatery that's dressed like a high class restaurant. Ideally I would take foreigners interested in korean cuisine or to impress a girl. She'll be happy to know that you'll be spending at least a benji for dinner.

Sooooo....what the food like?
You know what? It's pretty good! Course meals are a mix of korean and fusion dishes that range anywhere from $40 to $120 big ones. Per person mind you, so that would be $240 for a date. Yea...my thoughts exactly...

My favorite dish was scallops served cold with sesame seed sauce. On the left is the course I ordered. You might see some of your favorites such as bulgogi and octopus stir fry.

Overall, it was a great evening. The food came out hot and in a timely manner. The service was excellent. The location is superb. My only wish is that they could have made it more authentic. Traditionally Korean food is served on a big table with appetizers, entrees and deserts all ready to go. This is called 진수성찬 or "butt load of food on table". More than anything it's the array of various dishes in all their color and glory that is the true Korean dining experience. Cute waitresses dressed in hanbok would have also been awesome.