Pyeongtaek's Pizzas Supreme

Pizza Mall's "Chicago Deep Dish" pizza. 

Korean pizza (피자) is a great experiment in glocalization. Where else in the world can you find sweet potato mousse stuffed crusts, obligatory sprinkles of canned corn on every variety of pizza including cheese, plus pizzas topped with hearty potato wedges? Love or hate it, the Korean twist on pizza is insanely popular in the country. However, quality varies widely. If you're looking for a decent slice of pizza in Pyeongtaek, here are three places to get pizzas that are at least a crust above the others. 

Pizza Mall - New Core's Pizza Mall is the oddball in Pyeongtaek. And by oddball I mean they are the one that experiments the most with the American way of doing things. They were one of the few places I've seen in the whole country to offer an 18 inch pizza. The crust was soft and chewy. The toppings were fresh, large, numerous, and normal by American standards. What's more, the pizza was only 11,900 won, which is insanely cheap for a pizza that large. Sadly, they don't sell that size of pizza in Pyeongtaek anymore. However, they are the only place around that sells a Chicago style deep dish. It's one of those super cheesy-saucy pies that can turn into a big mess if you're not careful. And while it doesn't beat anything in Chicago, it beats a lot of Pizza Mall's competition. Their normal pizzas are good too, but I go there exclusively for the deep dish. 

Pizza Alvolo's "Super Deluxe Combination Pizza."

To get to Pizza Mall, take the 15, 1-1, 2-2 or any bus that says "뉴고아" (New Core) on the bottom left of the bus windshield. New Core's stop is in front of a Samsung store and across from a Paris Baguette. Walk all the way down the alley across from Samsung. New Core will be on your right. Pizza Mall is in the food court.

Pizza Alvolo - Pizza Alvolo (피자알볼로) has surprisingly good pizza for a native Korean chain. You can find outlandishly Korean pizzas at Pizza Alvolo, the kind of bizarre, expensive topping monsters that are not out of place at Korean Pizza Hut or Dominos. But Alvolo's pizzas are actually really good. Their pizzas have lots of stretchy cheese, a crispy-chewie crust that isn't tough or tasteless, and a sauce that isn't sweet. Plus, they serve an excellent garlic sauce on the side to dip your crust in. The listed prices are the same as most Korean chains, but cheaper than the mega chains mentioned earlier. Plus, when the NetBot and I order they always knock a couple thousand won off the top. It's a relative newcomer to Pyeongtaek, but with good prices and great pizza, Pizza Alvolo quickly became our favorite place to get pizza in the city. 

In other cities Pizza Alvolo has a dining room. Pyeongtaek's Pizza Alvolo, however, only offers delivery and take-out. You can find their menu here, and order at this number: 031-655-8495. The NetBot, Eat Korea's robot taste tester, recommends the "Hot and Spicy Chicken Pizza." If you can't speak Korean, you can take the bus and wait in their lobby. From the New Core bus stop in front of Paris Baguette, take the 3-5, 7-1, or 7-2 bus and get off at the stop after Deokdung Elementary School. You will pass the school on your right.  Walk down the street after you get off the bus.  You'll end up at a large intersection with a Paris Baguette. Pizza Alvolo is in that intersection on your right beside the big seafood restaurant with the fish tanks in front. 

If you are coming from Pyeongtaek Station, take the same busses to Myeongbeop Temple (명법사). Hit the stop button after you pass the grassy park on your right and can see woods on both sides of the street. When you get off the bus, walk down the street to the intersection with Paris Baguette. Pizza Alvolo will be near the opposite corner.

Costco's 18 inch "Combo Pizza."
(Decent photo pending)

Costco - The first two restaurants on this list make great Korean Pizza. However, if you want a genuine taste of home you need to go to Costco. The closest one is not in Pyeongtaek. But, located in Cheonan, it is close enough to sneak onto this list. 

Korean Costco is so American friends of mine say it even smells like America. The pizza in their food court is no exception. Costco's pizza is 18 inches of cheesy, American glory. There is enough sauce so you don't notice the lack of it, but not so much you think, "man this is really saucy." The doughy but firm crust is familiarly American in its elasticity, something Korean style crusts lack. And anyone who grew up in the USA will recognize the uniquely American flavors of Costco's pepperoni, sausage bits, peppers, onions, and olives on their Combo Pizza. Their pizza can even be bought by the slice. 

If you don't have a car or a friend with a car, Cheonan Costco is really hard to get to. For those who like to make a day-long adventure out of riding public transportation, you have two options. Option 1: take the subway to Cheonan Station (천안역). Take exit 1, cross the street in front of the station and turn right. Keep walking up the street until you find the bus stop. It isn't a far walk, maybe a couple minutes. From there most busses will take you to your next destination: Cheonan Bus Terminal (종합터마널) (aka: Shinsegae Department Store). There is a big bus stop in front of the terminal. Take city bus 25 for 28 stops. Costco will be on your right. It's big and hard to miss. Option 2: take the subway to Cheonan-Asan Station. Take Exit 1, and from the large bus stop in front of the station get on city bus 19 for 18 stops. Costco will be on your right a little up the street. 

If you do not enjoy long adventures on public transportation, do not go to Cheonan Costco. But if you really want to go, go to Seodaejeon Costco. A 4,800won train ticket will get you to Seodaejeon Station (서대전역) in about an hour. Costco is right next to the station on the left as you exit. It's so close you can see Costco's parking garage when you get off the train.

There are so many pizza restaurants in Pyeongtaek (and nearish by). If you have a favorite place to order pizza in Pyeongtaek, please let us know where by mentioning it in the comments.

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The House of Mountain Vegetables

Koreans have a passionate love of the mountains. It is really hard to ignore. Just get on any public transportation and you're bound to see aged, backpack bearing Koreans armed with hiking poles and regaled head to toe in colorful synthetic blends. The call of the mountains goes well beyond open spaces and fresh air, though. Korea's mountains are closely associated with fresh, natural, and even curative veggies. It is this reputation for fresh, healthy vegetables that Sanchaewon (산채원), a "mountain-veggie" restaurant, takes full advantage of.

The interior is very clean and strangely airy and bright for being indoors. It is almost as if the restaurant was perched on a mountainside instead of its real location on an ugly, developing street near Lotte Mart. The sliding doors use a homemade pulley and weight system that uses gravity to close them. The heavy, ceramic bowls are crafted to appear to have been hewn out of stone. Herbal, solomon's seal tea (dung'gul'le cha 둥굴레차) is poured out of thin, aluminum pots like those found at old and traditional restaurants. A lot of effort went into making the restaurant look and feel like a fresh, wholesome, mountain abode, and their food certainly enforces the effect.

Their mostly vegetarian menu centers around three rustic foods: mountain veggies (산채), deo'deok (더덕), and hwangtae (황태).

The mountain veggies at Sanchaewon include a forest glade full of fresh and prepared veggies: bracken ferns (gosari 고사리), shitaki mushrooms (pyogobeoseot 표고버섯), radish tops (si'laegi 시래기), soybean sprouts (kongnamul 콩나물), spinach (sigeumchi 시금치), lettuce (sang'chu 생추), kimchi radish (mu saengchae'namul 무생채나물), and pimpinella (cham'namul 참나물). Normally these are banchan (반찬), side dishes. But in Sanchaewon's "sanchae jeongshik" (산채정식), it is the main course. Add a hot stone bowl of rice (dolsot bap 돌솥밥), and these veggies become a palette for designing your own bibimbap. Sanchae jeongshik can only be ordered for at least two people. And at 11,000 won per person, it is a lot more expensive than the alternative — ordering a bowl of bibimbap. Yet, whether you order their vegetable platter or a 7,000 won bowl of bibimbap, you can depend on the food being fresh and handmade. I've been eating there since they opened a few years ago, and their bibimbap has always been the best in Pyeongtaek. 

Deo'deok is the root of a plant that few in the West, except perhaps avid gardeners, herbalists and botanists would recognize. Have you heard of Codonopsis lanceolata, also known as bonnet bellflower? It sounds poisonous, but this plant is supposedly healthy for you, promoting immune and mental health. 

"It's like real nature," my friend Jerry Park said about grilled deo'deok in general. "You can smell the freshness of the forest."

Hwangtae is walleye pollack that is hung on wooden frames and left to the mercy of the winter elements. In time, the extreme weather naturally freeze-dries the fish. It looks similar to how some Native American tribes traditionally preserved their fish. 

Every time I have visited Sanchaewon I have been craving bibimbap, so I haven't tried their deo'deok or hwangtae. I have tried them at other restaurants, though, and in my experience they are more suited to broader palates. Deo'deok has a strong rooty flavor reminiscent of something a groundhog in a field of wildflowers might enjoy. And hwangtae, though not especially fishy, can be chewy in a way Westerners don't normally associate with fish. I like them, but then again, I like almost everything. 

Sides: (clockwise) jeon (전), jeotgal (젓갈), 
mul kimchi (물김치), eolgali kimchi (얼갈이김치),  
doenjang guk (된장국) , 
ganjang chojeol'im  (간장초절임)

Whether you order vegetables, weird roots or preserved fish, as at most Korean restaurants, you can expect to find a broad range of homemade side dishes. The sides dishes at Sanchaewon change a little from time to time. For example, back in December my bibimbap included white kimchi (baek kimchi 백김치) and seasoned, boiled daikon radish (Jolim'mu 조림무). However, when I visited last week the side dishes had changed. Instead of boiled radish and white kimchi, my meal had spicy pickled radish (간장초절임) and water kimchi (물감치). While the sides can change, you can always expect an unusually vegetal bowl of doenjang guk (된장국) and some kind of kimchi.   

Sanchaewon is open 10am to 10pm. They are pretty easy to find. Take the 50 or 20 bus from Pyeongtaek Station to the City Hall stop (shi'cheong 시청) in front of Lotte Mart. When you get off at the stop, backtrack to the intersection and turn left toward Lotte Mart. Walk past the store and keep on going straight until you see a CU mini-mart on your right. Go down the street beside CU. Sanchaewon will be on your right, across from the dirt lot behind the mart.  

(Some reporting by Park Junsik)

2015.3.2 | 지도 크게 보기 ©  NAVER Corp.

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Shabu-Shabu Meets Summer Rolls

Shabu-Shabu is originally from Osaka. He isn't very traditional, but like his nation, he is neat and tidy and creative. More than that, though, he is very health conscious. Because of his health concerns he eats lots of fresh veggies and boils his meat instead of roasting since it's better for his heart.

Gỏi Cuốn is from Vietnam. Her English name is Summer Rolls. Despite the weight disparaging nickname, she is extremely lean. She has a fresh and upbeat personality, and, like Shabu Shabu, she takes care of her health eating veggies, seafood, and bits of meat wrapped in rice paper. 

Somewhere the two met in Korea, and with so much in common, an instant love story was born. You can experience it for yourself at Ssamchon Shabu Shabu (쌈촌샤브샤브) in Pyeongtaek. 

Shabu-shabu is extremely popular in Korea, and Pyeongtaek is no exception. There are at least nine shabu-shabu restaurants in the city. And Ssamchon Shabu Shabu is unarguably one of the top three. Since it opened a couple years ago, it has been a popular lunch or dinner location not just for Koreans but for City Hall area expats. It has a perfect rating on Naver. And it is safe to say that, over the last two years, the NetBot and I have eaten there more than at any other restaurant in Pyeongtaek. If you include times with our friends, we must have eaten there at very least 36 times. 

The draw of the place is simply great shabu-shabu mixed with summer rolls and the fun of making your own food. 

As at any shabu-shabu restaurant, a great big pot of spicy or plain broth is set to boil, and a platter of fresh veggies and shaved beef is laid out along with a sauce dish. Ssamchon, though, upps the ante by providing a broad array of fresh veggies, lots of quality beef, three unique dipping sauces and rice paper with which to craft your own summer rolls. And that is just the base meal. Variants include samgyeop-sal, grilled duck, or fresh seafood. The table gets really crowded with dishes, but it's completely worth it especially when the basic layout is only 10,000 won for lunch and 3,000 more for dinner. 

After you run out of meat, you can pour a bowl of rice noodles in the broth for the second course of the meal. And when you run out of noodles your waiter will use the remaining broth to make a pot of savory, Korean rice porridge called juk (죽). Second and third courses are not unusual at shabu-shabu restaurants. However, the taste at Ssamchon is just so far above the other places. And where else can you make rice noodle and porridge summer rolls?

Even Eat Korea's robot taste tester, The NetBot, adores the place. Programed by a small robotics company in California, her designers were very dedicated to healthful living through smart diet choices. Naturally this mentality was deeply encoded in her operating system. Plus, while she was not programmed to cook, the process at Ssamchon is very easy. So easy even a NetBot can do it. 

Ssamchon Shabu Shabu has locations in Pyeongtaek and Anjung-eup. However, like so many restaurants we have reviewed lately, the one we visited is really close to Pyeongtaek Lotte Mart. To get there from Pyeongtaek Station, take the 50 or 20 bus to the Pyeongtaek City Hall (평택시청) stop. It's in front of Lotte Mart. Walk towards Lotte Mart. Go past the side entrance with the giant pomegranate statue and keep walking straight. Turn left at the first intersection. Ahead of you there should be a park on your left and a foot bridge stretching over the road. Opposite the park next to the footbridge is TeaOreum, a cafe with great bubble tea and a host of traditional and unique Korean herbal teas. Ssamchon Shabu Shabu is on the second floor of the same building.

2015.1.30 | 지도 크게 보기 ©  NAVER Corp.

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Big Kamjatang!

Kamjatang (감자탕), which means potato stew, really has little to do with potatoes. It is a delectably rich and spicy Korean stew made from the meaty back bones of that magnificent beast that gifted us with bacon, or at least that is what kamjatang should be.

All too often kamjatang is conspicuously lacking in the meaty part and compensated with extra veggies (not potatoes) and glass noodles. This is the kamjatang that I knew for most of my four plus years in Korea, but then something happened that changed my view of kamjatang forever.

Several months ago my academy received a substitute teacher by the name of Philip. One day during a break between classes he told me the story of a hungry night in Pyeongtaek when he flagged down a taxi and asked to be taken to a kamjatang restaurant. A Korean-American, kamjatang was his favorite meal and he was craving it. The taxi's destination ended up serving some of the best kamjatang he had ever tried. I was sold. Six months followed before I got around to finding the place myself, and what a place it is!

"Nogeol Daekamjatang" (노걸대감자탕), with six syllables, is a mouthful of a name. And that's okay, because they like things large at Nogeol Daekamjatang. "Large" is even part of their name. Dae (대) means big. And true to their name, the amount of meat in their kamjatang is really large. In four years I've eaten a lot of kamjatang at restaurants all the way from from Busan to Seoul, and I have never seen hunks of meat as enormous as the ones attached to the bones of this soup. And it isn't sub-quality meat either. It is tender, rich, fall-off-the-bone meat. It is definitely fatty, but it is fatty in a good way like a pot roast. And all that fat melts throughout the stew making everything it embraces incomparably delicious.

Unlike other kamjatangs the veggie content is low and there aren't many noodles either, but the stew doesn't need these things. This isn't meant to be a casual vegetarian's guilty pleasure. This stew is made for bold, unabashed carnivores, people who do not shy away from the prospect of rending sinew, fat, and vein from bone with their bare hands and then being satisfied with that being their only meal for the day. And the kamjatang at Nogeol Daekamjatang, true to their long name, will keep you satisfied for the length of the day. I ordered the small communal pot (뼈감자탕 전골 小), which serves three people, with my girlfriend late Sunday morning. I didn't feel the urge for a meal until after midnight.

Like most kamjatang restaurants, Nogeol Daegamjatang is open 24 hours. They are located at 963-8 Hapjeong-dong, Pyeongtaek, half way between AK Plaza and Pyeongtaek High School on the road leading up to Sosabol Stadium. Coming from AK Plaza you will find it on your left across an intersection from a Ssangyong Motors service shop. 

Prices range from ₩7,000 for individual bowls to ₩36,000 for a huge communal pot. The owner doesn't speak much English besides "hello" and "thank you" and the menu is entirely in Korean, so it may be difficult for some foreigners to order. If you just ask for kamjatang the owner will ask if you want a communal pot or individual bowls. A communal pot is called "jeongol" (전골). An individual ceramic bowl is called "ttuekbaegi" (뚝배기). If you order a pot then you have to determine if you want a big (大 - dae), medium (中 - joong), small (小 - so), or two people (2인 - du-in) sized pot.

Nogol Daegamjatang in Hapjeong-dong, Pyeongtaek

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