YoSukGoong restaurant

Hello everyone!

So I'm finally back to blogging about our trip in Korea and Taiwan.  This one is the one that was promised in this post like.. almost 2 weeks ago...  haha

but while we were in Gyeong Ju, we visited this restaurant called YoSukGoong, and it was so amazing that I thought it deserved a post of its own.  Tell me if you agree afterwards  ;)

The restaurant was a palace belonging to a princess YoSuk during the Silla era that has been transformed into a restaurant by the Choi family (an uber rich family, apparently).  We decided to go there because we saw it on TV (yes, we are one of those peeps who watch food network, even in foreign countries  =p) and it seems that everyone else was also in agreement about how good the food is there! I mean, look at all of these plaques proclaiming its deliciousness!  They use family recipes, and I believe it's the 13th generation daughter-in-law who is running the restaurant.

Once you walk through the traditional doorway,

you're greeted with this view!

isn't it so beautiful?!

We walked through this little doorway, and was lead to our own little room by our waitress to have our meal! 

It felt like we were coming to have a meal at someone's house (a few thousand years ago, of course) because every room is furnished like it would have been back then.

Anyway, after marveling at our surroundings for a bit, we finally noticed our meal table, which already had so many dishes on it!  We made a reservation, so that's why everything was prepared for us already. If you are planning on visiting, I would highly recommend making a reservation before you go.

Couldn't have asked for better company to enjoy this amazing experience with!

Soon after we sat down and took these photos, the food started coming out, and let me tell you, it did not stop coming out until we were all stuffed!

These were all traditional Korean dishes (of the wealthy) so there were some dishes my cousins and I tried for the first time!  We had to look up what they were on the brochure  haha  

so here we go, the never ending stream of amazing dishes!  definitely no complaints here  =D

some dumplings and Galbi (beef ribs)

jellyfish!  so interesting!

Mushroom soup

not sure what these were, but they were so good!

PaJun, Korean Seafood Pancake:::a fancier version of ours haha

some more amazing pork and beef dishes~

Spicy deliciousness that was this octopus dish

sweet and sour pork-esq dish

mmm avalone

we had a good laugh over this crab salad 

Korean Miso soup!

and this fish that was prepared so amazingly!  each piece of meat was already taken off from the bone, and then reassembled to look like the fish again, so it was so easy to eat!

and the aftermath...  haha

oh, and did we mention our view from our dining table?   not bad, eh?  haha

At this point, I saw our waitress come in with another plate of stuff on it, and I remember saying in dismay, "There's more...?!"   Thankfully, it was just some dessert of tea and watermelon.  Thank goodness because our stomachs were about to burst...

After we had more than our fill, we took a stroll around the restaurant/palace to enjoy the beautiful grounds, but more importantly, to walk off some of the exorbitant amount of food we had just consumed  haha

What I loved the most about eating here was that it was not only about the delicious food, but also about the experience of eating traditional Korean food, in a traditional way, in a traditional place.  It's a great place to bring not only guests from foreign countries, but also for Korean people to visit because let's be honest, no one has that much time to make all those Korean dishes regularly at home, right?  =)

If you're visiting Gyeong Ju, I would highly recommend visiting YoSukGoon for a meal and a stroll!

Thank you for stopping by!

--Janny

GyeongJu Visit

Hello everyone!

GyeongJu is only about an hour drive from Busan, and since GyeongJu was the capitol of Silla (one of Korea's ancient kingdoms) for almost 1000 years, it's full of historical things to see and do. If you are interested in Korean history (and some awesome food--a post about that is coming soon!!) it's well worth a day trip! 

We left after breakfast, and got there with enough time to visit the GyeongJu National Museum before lunch!  The grounds and the buildings of the museum are beautiful!

I've been to the museum multiple times while growing up in Korea, but this trip I learned so many new things because a guide came over and gave us a very comprehensive private tour of the museum, all in English!!  

There was English translation of everything written, but having someone there to guide you through and telling you so many interesting things not written down on the information cards made everything so much more fun!  If you can, I suggest going to the museum during the weekdays so that you can take advantage of the possible private tour  ;)

After the tour, we went back outside, took some photos with the 'Emile' bell with a rather gruesome legend/story...

and mosied on along over to have some lunch, traditional style!  It was such an amazing experience that it deserved a post of its own, so that will be coming next!

Our next stop was the Anapji Pond!  It was kind of a summer palace/a playground(?)/park for the royalty, and it's amazing to think that they were able to make such a huge man-made pond and a park two thousand years ago with the limited tools that they had!  The whole park is so beautiful, and it's the perfect place to walk off your lunch!

Another day spent with my favorites!  ;)

We also did some more intensive(?) workouts as well  =p

Our next stop was the Cheonmachong Tomb.

In Silla, the tombs of the kings/queens were made into these giant hills, kind of like pyramids, but with the rock covered by dirt and grass.  There were so many different ones of all shapes and sizes, and they are now all a part of this park we visited.

Isn't it interesting how two different cultures (ancient Egypt and Silla) had similar ideas regarding what would be considered to be a sign of power and wealth in terms of tomb building?

The star of the show was the Cheonmachong Tomb, which got its name from the picture of a flying horse found inside when they first opened up the tomb.  The tomb has been designed since then so that you can walk inside of the tomb and see what the site looked like as they were first digging up the tomb, and includes a display of the different artifacts found inside.  You can't take pictures inside, so you'll just have to go visit and see the artifacts in person!  =)

It was a very pleasant walk around the park, and I think it's definitely worth a visit while you are in GyeongJu!

For us, it was a perfect place to catch up with my cousins, chat, reminisce about our time together as children, and enjoy each other's company while walking through so many relics of the past.

Oh, and of course, we got into some frolicking along the way,, naturally  ;)

I hope you have a wonderful beginning of the week, and thanks for reading!!

--Janny