Songtan Eats

Blue Mountain

Located just a little ways down from the entrance to the Sinjang-dong Shopping Mall outside the Main Gate and on the left you can find Blue Mountain. At first glance they appear to be a pizza place, but once you go inside you can see that the majority of their menu is a cafe.

Price wise it’s about the same as other places on the strip. Drinks range from ₩3,000 – ₩5,000. The coffee is good, but nothing spectacular. They have some interesting teas though. Mainly I go here for the convenience. It’s a good place to meet up with people coming down from the base. They are also good with their English. I have yet to try their pizza and food items because I’m usually on my way to someplace else on the strip. Expect to pay ₩12,000 – ₩15,000 for a pizza. They offer 6 kinds: Gorgonzola Cheese, Margarita, Rucola, Pepperoni, Combo, & a Calzone.

Nolbo Galbi Restaurant

Located midway down the strip, just past Jungangsijang-ro on the right, you come across this Korean style BBQ place. It’s a little busier and more crowded that some of the other places I’ve been to on the strip but the food more than makes up for that. Korean cuisine is largely based upon rice, vegetables, and meats and are noted for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany the meal. We had a bowl of white rice each, some kimchi, I believe some Kaenip kimchi (which is a fresh salad looking kinchi instead of the traditional pickled cabbage), this bean sprout dish, some korean pancakes, panfried seasoned tofu, a cold rice noodle dish, and one other spicy dish. Most of them I didn’t much care for because I am pretty sensative
to spicy foods. I liked to put the bean sprouts, tofu, and rice noodles in the bulgogi wrap to add some different flavors. Each table is set up with a central grill and hood where your meat is cooked. They also brought lettuce leafs to wrap the food in to eat, a couple garlic cloves, and some red pepper paste. All in all it was very good. I had the mushroom bulgogi which was very good. I enjoyed all the extra veggies with the meal. We also had the BBQ chicken, which was a little spicy with chili paste in the BBQ marinade. Prices were on the higher end, but still in the usual range of dishes all along the strip. Expect to pay about ₩12,000+ per person

Izmir Japanese Fusion Restaurant

When leaving the main gate head to the left, then make the first right onto Sinjang 1-ro. Just down the way at the next intersection (Aragon Alley) you will find 2 good restaurants to eat at. The first on the right corner is the best sushi place I’ve tried yet. There isn’t a
wide variety of rolls, but the quality was good. I got the Special #1: a rainbow roll and a french kiss roll. There was also a second special that offered 2 different rolls: a Rock n Roll and 6 piece Nigiri. It saves you a couple dollars if you are planning to buy 2 rolls.  What I like about this place over others is that they gave you a bunch of sides in full Korean fashion. We got tempura shrimp Nigiri, a cabbage salad, pickled garlic and ginger, and miso soup. We weren’t expecting them and left the place fully stuffed. The rolls were wrapped better as well. Rolls are around ₩10,000 each.

Puffin

On the left hand corner is Puffins. They are an italian and seafood type restaurant. Two of my favorites combined in one place. I always end up getting the Pasta Del Mar, which is a rich tomato based sauce with clams, mussels, shrimp, and calamari.  They also bring out white bread rolls and a garlic, balsamic & olive oil dip. We tried the Bruchetta appetizer last time. It was good but would have been better if they diced and mixed the tomatoes, basil, balsamic and vinegar together. Made it a little harder to eat when it was whole and layered. My friends have ordered other dishes, they also looked good and was enjoyed by them. They also have some american fare and other foods on the menu like steak  or fish n’ chips. The portion sizes are large and very filling. Prices are on the higher side between ₩10,000 – ₩30,000 each. They have a decent variety of wines offered as well, however servings have been a little inconsistent. The first time we went it was fine, but this last time there was a very small amount in the glass for the same price. Someone else had wine at a different table and theirs was filled. At ₩6,000+ a glass you should get a full portion of wine. There are a few other complaints I have with them.  The seating is a bit cramped, especially if you are tall. Except for the bar tables are separated into small alcoves for privacy. Some tables have benches built in you can’t move and are just a little too far away from the table. And the service isn’t the best, you pretty much have to flag someone down if you need anything after you order.

For a map of the places mentioned in this blog please visit: My Places either up in the navigation, or clicking the link here.

15 Oct This entry was published on October 15, 2012 at 5:27 pm. It’s filed under Coffee, Food, Songtan, Travel and tagged food, review, Travel. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.