Eating out in Seoul

In Seoul there are a lot of places to go and enjoy cheap/affordable food, especially around cau.  Below are a few pictures from tonight (09172016) when a Korean friend and I went to get dinner at a restaurant called "Dos Tacos" after a tutoring session.  It was a Mexican restaurant located across the street from the front gate and was identical to Mexican food I used to eat back in the states.  The meals came out to 6,000 won a person (tacos and grapefruit juice).  They don't serve horchata though but I didn't expect them to.  

above is a corona poster I sat next to at Dos Tacos.

On the wall behind the waiter is a sombrero from Mexico.

Behind me is the bar area where you can eat if there are no seats available.  Also where people who come alone to eat are sat.  The windows here give a perfect view of the front gate of Chung Ang University across the street.

Dos Tacos neon logo hanging on the wall next to the sombrero.

The sign right above the food window.  This is where food is served.  When the food is served, the cook puts it on the ledge and blows a whistle or rings a bell for the waiter.

Two ground beef tacos.  I like mine plain.  My friend had never had a taco before so decided to try one with everything in it (lettuce, tomato, beef, cheese,sour cream, and i believe green pepper).

My friend at lotte world waiting for lunch to come.  At Lotte World food is a little more expensive but not by much.  A cheap meal around Seoul can go for around 5,000 won. At Lotte World our meals were 7,000 won and 9,500 won.  The most expensive place there charged 15,500 a person and it was a buffet style restaurant.  

During Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) my friends and I went to the main Palace in Korea and had Japanese food after.  I had spicy udon that was served with green chili pepper seeds and green pepper paste.  Very unexpected, very very spicy but it was great.  This meal was probably my most expensive in my 3 weeks here at 9,500 won.  

One day my friend and I decided to get Lotteria (similar to the Korean version of Sonic) and this is regular sized meal.  The fries have significantly less salt and you can actually taste the potato.  Honestly, it did surprise me the first time I had it.  I paid 4,900 won for this.  

Korean hotpot in Yongsan,  This served four people but there were only three of us eating that day.  It was spicy pork and so good.  it was 11,000 and split between three people it came out to a little more than 3,000 won a person.  

Above is a Korean hot soup (I forgot the name of it) but it was very good.  I believe I paid 6,000 won for this meal.  

On my first night in Seoul, for dinner my friend took me to Hongdae for all you can eat bbq pork (and to help me acclimate faster to avoid waking up with jet lag the next morning).  We had 4 plates of pork belly and a bottle of pepsi.  Pepsi here tastes better imo and the entire thing was 10,000 for two people.  

At Lotte World again.  After a long wait (almost half hour of waiting) we all finally got our food.  Quesadillas for me and one of my friends and for my other friend, she had sausage and Omuraisu (a Japanese omelette stuffed with rice).  That drink is called blue lemonade.  It is supposed to be blueberry flavored.  In Korea lemonade comes in various flavors such as green grape, blueberry, strawberry, peach, grapefruit, citron and more. Lotte World's take on the quesadilla though is that it is 1 part cheese and three parts a varietyof peppers.  The taste was...interesting but also only 7,000 won. 

Another shot from the restaurant in Yongsan where we had the spicy pork hotpot.  My Korean friend was properly cutting apart, mixing and serving us all.  The foods pictured are common side dishes in Korea.  Small foods such as pickled raddish, anchovies, kimchi, and more.  

A lot of foods in Korea are very cheap and easy to find.  A lot of places are alsoopen 24/7.  Most American foods are also open during holidays while everything else is closed.  So far in Korea I have had Taco Bell and Mcdonald's but i have seen many KFCs and Burger Kings as well.  I also saw one Krispy Kreme.  One thing that surprised me was that at Taco Bell the food was cheaper and tasted way better than it does in America.  the taste is more fresh and has more flavor.  There is less salt in everything here and the portions at Taco Bell were the same for the most part.