Must Visit Restaurants near Home

Restaurants near 42SHARE

FOOD!!! okay now you are in your accommodation and want to go out to eat but what? mostly when there are so many options and various restaurants catering similar menus. Following we will provide a list of the best restaurants around 42SHARE halls and around Seoul if you are feeling adventurous!!

Gosami

The Gosami restaurant is famous for their grilled fish such as grilled Godeungoe (Mackerel) and Samchi (Spanish Mackerel). You can also enjoy the fish with Kimchijjigae (Kimchi Stew) and or doenjangjjigae (soy bean).

There are other options in the menu as wel, such as bulgogi and spicy stir fry squid!!

For more information click HERE

Seo Seo Galbi / 서서갈비

No seat KBBQ??? yep that's right!! at this restaurant you will be able to enjoy delicious meat standing up, I know it sounds a bit strange or just different but is one of those experiences you won't want to miss out!!

Seo Seo Galbi has been around for over 50 years and they only serve domestic marinated beef in soy sauce in Korean "Hanwoo Sogalbi". The meat is so delicious that people line up to eat there and you can't make any reservations so it's first come first serve basis. Make sure to head on over quickly since they tend to sell out!! even on weekdays!!

For more information click Here


42SHARE

At 42SHARE there are rooms that have their own kitchen and others that don't but we provide a common kitchenette for residents to use and cook with their friends!! As you can see in our pictures from Yonsei Hall, there is enough space to cook and sit down to eat!! also if the weather allows it you can go outside and enjoy the rooftop overlooking around the buildings!!

You can also invite your friends and have a potluck!! We sometimes host similar events in order to bring everyone together and getting to know each other!!


Bangkok Express

Want some Thai food? Bangkok Express is known to be one of the best Thai food restaurants in Seoul!! They used to be in a smaller location but their popularity forced them to move into a bigger space. Their popular dishes are the soft shelled curry crab served in a yellow curry sauce with rice and the Pad Thai.

Their location is pretty close to our Yonsei Hall!! For more information click Here!!

Sag

Want a quick snack? If you want to try various kinds of fried foods you should visit Sag!! Sag is a tteokbokki place where you can eat sundae, fried banana, dumplings, veggies and chicken as well!!

Their tteokbokki is one of kind because of the well balance of spiciness and savor taste!! It's popular among Ewha students to distress from their daily life and enjoy the delicious food!! Also be aware that during peak hours you might have to wait since the restaurant is quite small and there will be a waiting line, but that proofs how good the place is!!!

Also the place is not well known, therefore a lack of other blogs talking about it, but here is the Address: 12 Ewhayeodae 3-gil, Daehyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul

Dessert

If you still have room for dessert, go ahead and get some Bingsu!!! (of course if it's in season) There are many cafes that serve this delicious Korean desert, however some locations have different style and tastes for Bingsu. There are three unique Bingsu locations in Sinchon to pick from, click HERE for more information!!

We hope the information was helpful and you get to visit one of these locations!! Remember to read our other blogs about living in Seoul!!

Study Korean, Practice Korean

Language Buddies!!

Hi, I am an intern here at 42SHARE and have studied for a year in a Korean University as an exchange student. The purpose of the program was to learn Korean and immerse myself more into the culture. Therefore I understand how hard it can be to actually practice your Korean as well as intimidating to use it with strangers!! During my stay, I went to a few language circle events where you can meet people who want to help YOU and learn from foreigners living in Seoul!!

Following I will provide a list of places that you should totally go at least once during your time in Seoul!! As well as tips on how to best maintain your learned Korean and your level of Korean does not matter when attending these just try them out :)

Before that, let's learn about an online service which is commonly used by the upcoming organizations we are going to talk about. If you are not familiar with "Meetup" it's a service used to organize online groups to host in-person events for people with similar interests, which in this case Korean language!!

GSM Terrace Language Exchange Cafe and Pub:

Hongdae and Gangnam

This organization is one of the most popular ones and are pretty organized on how to best accommodate those who are wanting to learn and practice a new language. Their focus is really to connect people, besides of having events for language exchange they also host international parties where they're usually over the weekend and meant for fun!!

An awesome part of this organization is that you can also practice other languages such as Japanese, Chinese and Spanish!!

OK, OK, what's the price? well it's pretty cheap and they even have memberships for a cheaper price if you plan to go continuously!! Also each entry includes two drinks from their menu which includes, coffee, tea, juice, craft beer, cocktails and more!

⬕ Drop-in: ₩12,000

⬕ Drop-in Prepay:₩9,000

⸋ Online

Memberships:

⬕8 Entries: ₩60,000

⸋ 25% Discount

⸋ Both locations

⸋ Korean lesson

⬕12 Entries: ₩80,000

⸋ 33% Discount

⸋ Both locations

⸋ Korean lesson

⬕20 Entries: ₩100,000

⸋ 66% Discount

⸋ Both locations

⸋ Korean lesson

As mentioned, they also offer other languages and have an approximate number of how many people go each day of the week, and here it is:

⬕Monday ⬕Thursday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm ⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm

⸋ People: 30 to 50 ⸋ People: 50 to 90

⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Japanese ⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Spanish

⬕Tuesday ⬕Saturday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm ⸋ Time: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ People: 30 to 50 ⸋ People: 70 to 100

⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese ⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese

⬕Wednesday ⬕Sunday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm ⸋ Time: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ People: 30 to 50 ⸋ People: 30 to 60

⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese ⸋ Languages: Korean, English and Chinese

Also, the Korean lesson is only for one hour, after that it's the exchange part of the event according to the third language of the day, for example on Thursday Spanish. Now for those interested on the International Pub Parties here are the days and times they are hosted:

⬕Friday ⬕Saturday Night ⬕Sunday

⸋ Time: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Time: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Time: 7 pm to 11 pm

⸋ People: 70 to 110 ⸋ People: 70 to 110 ⸋ People: 30 to 60

⸋ Just mingling ⸋ Just mingling ⸋ Wine and Cheese

Check out their website for more information!!

Their Meetup page!!

Language Exchange Cafe

This organization is quite big as well since they have more locations compared to the one above. However the difference is that the events hosted by this group are more for meeting people from various nationalities and exchange language but they do not regulate on how the meetings would go, is more of a mingling party with a friendly atmosphere!!

 

For the meetings they book whole cafes or pubs so only the ones who are participating are there and feel free to move around and enjoy their time. Another thing is that you do not have to sign up or come at the assigned time and/or stay for the whole time!!

The common languages to exchange are Korean, English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and more!! All languages are welcome as well!!  

⬕Monday ⬕Friday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am

⸋ FREE entrance ⸋ Free entrance

⸋ Come anytime ⸋ Come anytime

⬕Tuesday ⬕ Saturday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Hongdae: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ FREE entrance ⸋ Gangnam: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ Come anytime ⸋ FREE entrance, in Gangnam only for Foreigners

⬕Wednesday ⬕Sunday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am ⸋ Hongdae: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ Gangnam: 7 pm to 10 pm ⸋ Gangnam: 3 pm to 6 pm

⸋ FREE entrance, in Gangnam only for Foreigners ⸋ FREE entrance, in Gangnam only for Foreigners

⸋ Hyehwa: 7 pm to 10 pm (₩5,000)

⬕Thursday

⸋ Hongdae: 7 pm to 12 am

⸋ FREE entrance

⸋ Come anytime

Check out their Facebook pages of each location for more information:

Meetup Hongdae Gangnam Hyehwa

Outside of Seoul

If you are learning Korean or want to practice it with locals but are not in Seoul, don't worry there are events like these as well in other big cities!! Such as Busan or Daegu!! 

There is a website you should look into and will have more information about time, price and exact locations for these other cities!! The name of the website is Friends in Korea which is the #1 for Koreans and Expats in Korea!! 

Most likely than not they will run their events as Langauge Exchange Cafe group we learned about above, since they are linked and use Meetup a lot as well. 

Just for an example, let's see how's Busan's language exchange events: 

⬕International Parties

⸋ Twice a Month

⸋ Gwangalli and Haeunde

⸋ Entrance fee: ₩5,000

⸋ Time: 7:30 pm to 11:00 pm

⸋ Come anytime!!

Online

If you feel you may not have enough time to go to one of the events in either organizations, check out this blog post about top 5 Korean language Exchange sites to practice your Korean!! Some of them would be as having a pen pal and others sort of like a Facebook community.

Apps

Some good language exchange apps that are great and I even use them myself are HelloTalk and HiNative!!

These apps are great when doing your homework and you find yourself stuck in a question!!

HelloTalk

Was created to learn a language by chatting with native speakers around the world. In the app you can use voice recordings, voice calls, video calls, upload pictures and even doodles!! Another thing that I noticed about this one is that most people kind of use it as Instagram, where they would upload pictures about their day, such as food, animals and/or views (nature) with a caption and asking to be corrected. I love seeing those kind of posts because allows me to see the person's style of taking pictures and how they live in their country.

Download for: iOS

Download for: Android

HiNative

Is a global Q&A community for language learners and people that are curious about the world!! This app I personally find it a lot more helpful when doing your homework because you can ask a question and get a response pretty quick!! Also if you are want to learn about the culture but not sure what questions to ask, this app has templates for you to use and pose to the community, pretty helpful!!

Download for: iOS

Download for: Android

Of course there are the ups and downs for using apps like these but try them out to see if they workout for you!!

We hope the information we provided are of great help and that you get to improve your Korean a lot more!! Please drink responsibly and have fun!! Remember to check out our other blog posts about living in Seoul