The Food Situation

There are a lot of alleys in Seoul with shops and markets. This one leads to one of the hostels I stayed at.

When I first got here a lot of places were closed due to it being a holiday. A few places were still open, but the majority of the city was shut down. It was kinda cool to explore a mostly empty city and get used to the subways before they started getting packed.

The food here is very similar to Korean food in Seattle. The kimchee is the same, and Korean barbecue is pretty common. Most of the food is incredibly cheap. You can get a huge gimbap (which is a lot like a sushi roll) for around $2-$3 USD. American food is considered a delicacy here, so things like fried chicken and hamburgers can cost up to $20 USD. The chicken is pretty good, but the hamburgers are a pretty solid meh. It's a little funny to watch Koreans eat them with knives and forks.

And of course, the ice cream is about the same although the toppings can sometimes be interesting. Some shops will put honey comb into the ice cream.

Street vendors make little waffle-like treats filled with a brown sugar paste.

This is shaved ice with a bunch of mango on top. There is also a version with milk that I haven't tried yet, but Andrew says its really good.