Korean BBQ + Drinking Culture

If I were to name one aspect of Korean culture that surprised me the most, it would be how many rounds of food and drinks that can be squeezed into one night. Given that a majority of the population in Korea was relatively thin, I was amazed by how much food they can actually consume. We started off the night with Korean BBQ, at a restaurant called GuiGa BBQ. Of course, dinner didn't end with just meat, we hit up a spicy rice cake joint and chatted over a hefty pitcher of beer, and then finally crashed at a karaoke spot. Of course, round 3 of dinner can't be forgotten because though drinking culture is huge in Korea, drinking responsibly is important. Thus, we were required to order food with the alcohol.

Yongsan Park + Bubble Tea + Linus BBQ

After walking around Itaewon for a while, we started getting hungry again and decided to stop by one of the restaurants that the owner of Gusto's Tacos recommended since we were in the area. Upon arriving, the wait time was already roughly 30 minutes to an hour. We left our name on the list and decided to circle around some more. Unfortunately, they didn't have a "text us when the table is ready" option.

On our way back to check on our wait time, I stopped by a bubble tea cafe called Bubbly Tea. The interior was cute, perfect for studying. I ordered the Matcha Bubble Tea.

Finally, we were seated at Linus BBQ. We chose the Beef Brisket and Pulled Pork set. Both were absolutely heavenly. One thing I missed the most about food in America are the bold flavors that tend to be on the saltier side. This restaurant definitely didn't disappoint! The shoe string fries were crisp and reminded me of my favorite Cajun fries from Popeyes (this franchise is available in Korea too, although I'm not sure how it compares to the U.S.). The radish slaw was more catered to a Korean palate, much lighter than your usual American cabbage slaw. The meat was perfectly tender and well seasoned. It was really filling for just 2 of us. We did end up leaving behind a lot of the fries, but I would highly recommend this restaurant for anyone craving a good Southern BBQ joint!