Right outside the main strip was a park with gazebos built in traditional Korean style. In the park there was also a stone monument inside glass (to preserve it) that was part of an original palace, dating back to the 15th century.
We walked around and sampled a bunch of street food, all of which were delicious. Spicy chicken and vegetables on a stick, rice cakes filled with bulgogi and sweet potato, as well as other things that I cannot explain because I do not know what they were. They looked and smelled good, so I ate them.
The last picture is one of those that can't really be described because again, I have no idea what it consists of. It was some sort of seafood and cabbage mix, I believe, on the inside, coated in a crepe-like batter with something similar to a plum sauce on top. A ball of goodness....that's all you need to know. What really took the cake though, was the honey candy--referred to as Dragon Beard candy--that Insadong is actually known for. It is honey stretched so thin that there are supposedly 16,000 or so strands within a piece. The strands were so thin the candy was hair-like (you can hear the men making the candy say so even). Inside are seven different types of nuts, consolidated into a nugget by the honey. The construction of the treat is quite a process and there are several workers basically putting on a show at the counter for the tourists. It was totally entertaining:
It was really cold on Saturday so our tourist adventure did not last long before we went into a tea house to warm up. A cup of tea is not cheap at these places: around 7,000 won/cup. The warm room combined with the warm delicious Jujube tea that I ordered was well worth the cost in my mind. It was much thicker than regular tea, Jujube chunks and flakes were floating in it. It tasted a bit like sweet potatoes and spice. The decor of the place was pretty interesting:
Lots of new food=weekend success.
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