Finally, any visit to Hoegi, and particularly one in winter, should culminate with a trip to Pajeon Alley (파전골목), back near the station. Just before Hoegi-ro’s intersection with Imun-ro (이문로) is Hoegi-ro-28-gil (회기로28길), to your left. The alley runs past eleven pajeon restaurants before turning into a low tunnel running under the train tracks. I had to duck as I walked, but I watched two moped deliverymen who knew their height exactly zip through, their helmets not more than an inch or two from the ceiling.
A friend and I picked one of the restaurants more or less at random, trying out 이모네 왕 파전, which is open 24 hours. The place was already busy at 5:00 on a Saturday evening, slightly raucous and full of students from the nearby universities. We were ushered into its warren-like interior, one of the ajummas literally pushing me in my back (in a not unfriendly way) to guide me to where she wanted us to sit. The floor was hot from the ondol, and I stripped down to just my t-shirt, which felt wonderful after coming in from the cold. The walls of the restaurant were covered in a plain cream wallpaper that had been turned into a public sketch pad. Graffiti and doodles – caricatures of people, drawings of bunnies and scheming pandas, birthday wishes declarations of love or of what menu item someone ordered – covered the walls. [Disclaimer: Meagan's photos were taken at another restaurant, 낙서 파전.]
Feeling hungry and, it turned out, too optimistic, my friend and I ordered Set B – pajeon, fried meatballs (동그랑땡),gochu twigim (고추튀김), tteokbokki, and corn (옥수수콘) – along with a bottle of makkeolli. When the pajeon came it was deep and stuffed to excess with green onions and octopus, the pajeon equivalent of a Chicago deep dish. The other fried foods were crisp, hot, satisfying, and plentiful, and the lesson we learned was that a set for just two people is a mistake. Best bring at least three. I wound up having leftovers for dinner for the next two days. While over-ordering may pain your stomach, it most definitely won’t pain your wallet. For the set and makkeolli, we paid only 25,000 won; apajeon alone is only 7,000, much cheaper than you’ll get it for at most other places. The prices mean you don’t need to worry about passing a long while here, and as Seoul loiters in its deep winter chill there are few better ways to wait for spring than sitting on a hot floor with heavy, satisfying food and the kindling of warm friends and warm conversation.
A friend and I picked one of the restaurants more or less at random, trying out 이모네 왕 파전, which is open 24 hours. The place was already busy at 5:00 on a Saturday evening, slightly raucous and full of students from the nearby universities. We were ushered into its warren-like interior, one of the ajummas literally pushing me in my back (in a not unfriendly way) to guide me to where she wanted us to sit. The floor was hot from the ondol, and I stripped down to just my t-shirt, which felt wonderful after coming in from the cold. The walls of the restaurant were covered in a plain cream wallpaper that had been turned into a public sketch pad. Graffiti and doodles – caricatures of people, drawings of bunnies and scheming pandas, birthday wishes declarations of love or of what menu item someone ordered – covered the walls. [Disclaimer: Meagan's photos were taken at another restaurant, 낙서 파전.]
Feeling hungry and, it turned out, too optimistic, my friend and I ordered Set B – pajeon, fried meatballs (동그랑땡),gochu twigim (고추튀김), tteokbokki, and corn (옥수수콘) – along with a bottle of makkeolli. When the pajeon came it was deep and stuffed to excess with green onions and octopus, the pajeon equivalent of a Chicago deep dish. The other fried foods were crisp, hot, satisfying, and plentiful, and the lesson we learned was that a set for just two people is a mistake. Best bring at least three. I wound up having leftovers for dinner for the next two days. While over-ordering may pain your stomach, it most definitely won’t pain your wallet. For the set and makkeolli, we paid only 25,000 won; apajeon alone is only 7,000, much cheaper than you’ll get it for at most other places. The prices mean you don’t need to worry about passing a long while here, and as Seoul loiters in its deep winter chill there are few better ways to wait for spring than sitting on a hot floor with heavy, satisfying food and the kindling of warm friends and warm conversation.
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