Mercy, by Duffy.
First: the random basket truck in Insadong. Like.
Next: two years ago, my favorite sandwich place in Korea, called Jenny's Cafe, rocked my world, and guaranteed my third date with Girlfriendoseyo, because we enjoyed it together so much. A few months after that, I brought some friends to Hongdae to eat at Jenny's with them, and my jaw hit the sidewalk when I saw that it was gone. I thought it was gone forever, I was seriously bummed. The bread they had there was so good, and the mushroom salad was just ridiculous, and I thought I'd never have it again. I was bummed enough that I've actually thought about writing a eulogy for it here at Blogoseyo.
But then on Saturday night, wandering around Hongdae with my buddy Evan, we saw a few things.
We saw these posters...for a band, I think.
Here's my handsome buddy Evan. Pay special attention to the shape of his chin.
Evan was mad that nobody ever puts his picture up on their walls or their blogs. So now I have.How do you like that, Evan?
We'd planned to eat Okonomiyaki, but my favorite place, Noside, was closed for renovation.
So Evan showed my where Flying Chicken was, which looks really good...but then we decided to try the other Okonomiyaki place, where there was a lineup out the door and down the stairs. Screw that! So instead, I said, "Well, let's walk around and see if a place calls out to us." Evan was cool with that, and I know that generally these days, if I follow my nose, it leads me somewhere cool. Well bum-chin wanted to go a block up and turn left, but I said, "Let's head down this side street here." We did, and what did my wondering eyes see, but...
Holy crap! It's Jenny's Cafe, Redux!
So we went in there, and ate. I would have fought Evan if he hadn't agreed to go in with me. Lucky guy.
and there it was. Back in style.
with more seating than before.
the bread was...some of the best bread I've had in Korea. Different kinds, each one a home run.
I was especially fond of the ciabatta and the white rye.The mushroom salad came out, and it was good enough that I'll remember it two years from now, just like last time.
I had the jenny's spaghettini, which was gentle and well-balanced
Evan never stopped raving about his Feta/olive penne.
Neither of us were that hungry, but we totalled those dishes, in about seven minutes, in dead silence, because brothers and sisters, it was that good. Silly. Ridiculous.
Here's how to find it. Go to the Hongik university main gate, and turn right, and follow the road. When you come to that little corner with the Ska club, where Route 66 used to be, where Rocky Mountain Tavern is now, turn left down that little alley where Halmoni club, Joker Red, and club FF are. Keep going until you come to that big street with cars parked in the middle of it. Across that intersection is a Joe's Sandwich
And an "On the Grill" -- go down the small street between those two shops. You're on the right track.
About 40 meters past, maybe less, theres a corner like this, where you turn left.
You'll pass a few places that look really cool. As hard as it may be, pass them, and Jenny's will be on your right.
That place is "Jenny's Cafe" where they serve entrees. It's great. If you remember, and miss, Jenny's amazing sandwiches, then you have to go to their OTHER location, Jenny's Bread.For this one, stand facing Hongik University's main gate, and go left, instead. Walk down the right side of the road, around the bend (where their old location used to be). When you pass ssamzie market, take the nest left, and look for a sidestreet on your right.
Jenny's Bread is down here, and they serve sandwiches. If they're even 80% as good as they used to be, it's worth the trip.
Here's how it looks at 10pm.
It's nice.
Here's how to find them:
So go there. Eat good bread. You'll realize how much you missed it, and be sad, but realize that you can eat some now, and be happy.Roboseyo's nose never fails. It's led me to a number of the best places I've eaten over the last three years. Fortunately, friends have led me to the others.
Dang, my life is good.
Oh yeah. I also took these pictures this weekend.
It was hard to understand the meaning of this sign. This was my guess.
Pukaksan, behind the Blue House and Gwanghwamun was great. I got lots of pictures, but some of them might be giving away locations of defense structures on the ultra-secure area, so some aren't going up here. There is an awesome wall behind the Blue House which surrounds downtown Seoul, which honestly deserves to be top three in Seoul's tourist promotional walks and things to do in Seoul, but is de-emphasized. Great views, an amazing look at Korea's history (it's a 600 year old wall), as well as Korea's modern history (ultra-secure, especially given the 1968 attack on the blue-house where the North Korean commandoes ran up this mountain to hide during their assault).
On the way to the entrance to Bukak Mountain
On the way down to Daehangno.
Air quality on Pukaksan was poor.
Then, later, cherry blossoms at night.
