It’s peak summer travel season and recently I have been flooded with emails asking where to go for "real good Korean food" in Korea. When I visit Korea, my friends or relatives will take me to restaurants in hotels, as they are deemed high quality and more expensive than other places. But hotel restaurants are one of the last places I want to eat. Seoul is now a foodie town with so many specialty restaurants that I prefer a hole-in-the-wall kind of place where the locals go. One of the places I always try to visit is Wooraeoak for bulgogi, at 62-29, Changgyeonggung-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul.
Other places worth visiting are: Gwangjang market for street food; Tosokchon (5, Jahamun-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul) for the best chicken ginseng soup; and Noryangjin Fish Market, where you can select live seafood including king crab, snow crab, live squid, abalone and various fish, then take it to a restaurant on the second floor where they will prepare your "catch." We can’t get live king crab in Hawaii so this is a real treat. The best site for restaurant information is english.visitkorea.or.kr.
THIS WEEK’S SYNOPSES
"Rosy Day"
Episodes 9 and 10
Sunday, 6:30 p.m.: Young hires Song-jung to ghostwrite his autobiography. She doesn’t want to do it, but she’s stuck in the contract. Young finds himself doing things to get her respect. Ihn-woo tries to get Da-jung to go out with him. He finds himself more and more attracted to her. Jae-woo also has feelings for Da-jung. Jae-woo’s grandmother thinks it’s too much of a coincidence that Min-shik and Song-jung have the same birthday and both grew up in an orphanage.
Sunday, 7:45 p.m.: Song-jung’s ex-husband shows up out of nowhere in front of her house. To make matters worse, Min-shik’s mother-in-law is there, too. Song-jung explains that he’s someone she’s working with. She tells him to get lost until he tells her that he can get in touch with her runaway publisher. The whole family celebrates Min-shik’s birthday. It’s a different scene at Song-jung’s house. She doesn’t like to celebrate her birthday, making her daughters tiptoe around her. But after a terrible day, Song-jung is uplifted when she gets home and finds her girls waiting for her with cakes to celebrate her birthday.
"Dr. Stranger"
Episodes 17 and 18
Monday, 7:45 p.m.: Joon-gyu is surprised by Hoon’s return, and tells Jung-han to stop Hoon from doing a successful surgery. Hoon asks Jae-joon to give up on the prime minister’s surgery. Jae-joon brings up Lee Sung-hoon’s name and shows him a copy of a malpractice complaint.
Tuesday, 7:45 p.m.: Joon-gyu promotes Jae-joon to acting chair and even throws him a party. The prime minister gives airplane tickets to Hoon and tells him to leave with his mother, but Hoon says he can’t leave without Jae-hee.
"You’re All Surrounded"
Episodes 17 and 18
Wednesday, 7:45 p.m.: Furious after Tae-il’s attack, Pan-seok goes to see Seok-soon. Soo-sun gives a summon to Ae-yeon, infuriating her. Ae-yeon is scared that the detectives are closing in on her. Dae-goo finally meets with Ji-il while looking for a connection between his mother and Ae-yeon and is faced with an uncomfortable truth.
Thursday, 7:45 p.m.: Dae-goo can’t believe that Seok-soon is Detective Seo from 11 years ago, but he confronts her nonetheless. Pan-seok’s team continues to dig up evidence against Ae-yeon and Moon-bae. Turns out Hyeong-chul left Dae-gu crucial documents, and feeling cornered, Seok-soon threatens Moon-bae.
"Endless Love"
Episodes 3 and 4
Friday, 7:45 p.m.: In-ae gets into a college while serving her time in a juvenile detention center, and is featured on a documentary program. She vows to avenge Gap-soo and Kwang-cheol’s death, but Kwang-hoon tells In-ae to stay hidden and concentrate on her studies until the right time comes.
Saturday, 7:45 p.m.: In-ae is sure Park Young-tae, whom she saw at Chun Tae-woong’s house, is the man who killed Gap-soo and Kwang-cheol, but Kang-hoon tells her not to be rash. A movie director who saw In-ae’s documentary offers her a movie deal.
Jeff Chung is general manager of KBFD TV, which televises Korean dramas with English subtitles. Reach him at 521-8066 or jeffchung@kbfd.com.
