50 Best and then some day 5: delicious tripe

I really messed up my itinerary today.

Besides all the eating I had planned for this trip, I really wanted to do some sightseeing around Seoul. Having explored a couple of palaces within city limits on my previous trips, I figured I should look for something outside but not too far away. Namhansanseong (남한산성) Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that's just outside the city, and it's only a short trip from my hotel in Gangnam. Since I hadn't booked anything for lunch today, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to go for a visit.

Well... while the park is open year-round, the palace within the grounds is closed on Mondays. So... I guess no sightseeing for me.

Instead, I met up with RAW Yeah for coffee this morning. He was incredibly kind to have picked up something from Foursheets in Hong Kong to pass to me, and we ended up hanging out for a little bit at Peer Coffee inside Starfield COEX Mall. As a lover of Ethiopian Yirgecheffe coffee, this pour-over from Haru Suke was right up my alley.

I didn't want to venture too far from the hotel for lunch, so I simply strolled over to Joongang Haejang (중앙해장). This is a place famous for their "hangover soup" and other goodies, and came recommended by not just Mikacina but also Jay Essu.

As soon as I've ordered, the staff brought over two small plates of kimchi. I guess there's no need for me to take my probiotics today...

Beef tripe bone and intestine soup (한우 내장탕) - I chose not to order the signature hangover soup, because this was more up my alley.

I've got different tripe and intestines from the cow, in a milky bone broth that I really love. As recommended on the menu, I dipped the goodies in a little bit of salt. So, soooo satisfying!

I retired to my overheated hotel room to rest up, but even with a fan now moving air in my room, the temperature was still too warm. So I decided to go shopping and walk around Starfield COEX Mall, going through almost the entire place. Of course, this took me to Starfield Library again... and this time I counted the number of people who were actually reading books.

I got a little hungry in the late afternoon, and needed a little something to sustain me till dinner, so I stopped by Samsong Bakery (삼송빵집) because I was attracted by their different offerings of baked croquettes. The picture of a corn-filled croquette really made me drool.

Vegetable baked croquette (야채 고로케) - in the end I chose this one with different diced vegetables. It was pretty decent, but maybe not as satisfying as the corn or meat-filled ones would have been.

Time to go back and freshen up for dinner...