Culture Chanel The Sense of Places exhibit has been on display at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) since August 30th and closed its doors today on October 5th. I obviously have zero interest in Chanel and the only thing I know about it is that it's bloody expensive. But Christine wanted to check it out so I followed along. Happy wife, happy life right?
DDP is a sight to see itself. It was designed by Iraqi British architect Zaha Hadid and was officially inaugurated on March 21, 2014 after five years of construction. It serves as an exhibit, shopping mall and is connected to the Seoul Subway. The parking lot was extremely large and convenient as well.
Seoul is the fifth city to host Culture Chanel The Sense of Places after Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Tokyo. It is curated by Jean-Louis Froment and serves as a retrospective of Coco Chanel's life story.
There were two lines: For those who had pre-booked and those who hadn't. So even though the line looks really long (and it was), the pre-booked line (on the left) moved rather quickly.
We waited about 10 minutes.
What I found unfortunate about the exhibit was the lack of information it provided. They did give us a book that was supposed to explain all the items on display but it was too dark inside the exhibit to read anything and it ended up being a long line of people pushing each other in order to take pictures of each display.
After the exhibit, we headed to Sangsu-dong which is close to the more well known Hongdae neighborhood to check out a yakitori restaurant called Kushimura. I've been wanting to check this place out for a long time. It's extremely popular amongst food bloggers when it comes to yakitori and is considered to be one of the best yakitori restaurants in Seoul.
Here's a list of some of our other favorite yakitori restaurants:
압구정 와라쿠 (Apgujeong Waraku): http://woongkyoandyujung.blogspot.kr/2013/06/apgujeong-waraku.html
방이동 유다 (Bangi-dong Yuda): http://woongkyoandyujung.blogspot.kr/2014/04/bangi-dong-yuda.html
문타로 (Muntaro): http://woongkyoandyujung.blogspot.kr/2012/08/3-muntaro.html
First of all, the restaurant is extremely small. There are 10 seats at the counter, a table for 2 outside, and couple more tables further inside the restaurant. I thought Kushimura opened at 6:30pm but they actually open at 7pm so we went to a bar next door to kill some time.
We went back around ten after seven, not wanting to be the first customers but to our surprise it was completely packed! Luckily, they had exactly two seats left at the counter.
Ok, here's the menu. For those that can't read/speak Korean, I recommend you go with Set C.
Welcome dish. Simple yet delicious.
Owner/Chef/Robatayaki Master
We ordered Set B: 8 Skewers of 5 Different Variety
쯔꾸네 (Tsukune: Chicken Meatball)
Some serve the egg completely raw. Kushimura serves them poached but this was overcooked.
Although I was disappointed with the egg, the meat itself was AMAZING.
Here's tsukune served at another izakaya in comparison. Raw egg is not bad either.
네기마 (Negima: Chicken & Green Onion)
Juicy.
And of course, Christine asks for mayo. We love our mayo (and a splash of shichimi does the trick).
하쯔 (Hatsu: Chicken Heart)
One of Christine's favorites.
Mercado Brazilian Steakhouse in Apgujeong serves these as well.
모모니꾸 (Momoniku: Chicken Thigh)
These were incredibly tender.
Cheers.
토마토베이컨 (Bacon Wrapped Tomatoes)
These were the last skewers from Set B.
The dangerous(?) thing about yakitori is that it's not cheap by any means yet so addicting. A pair of skewers is on average 4,000 won. That's slightly cheaper than a McD's Value Meal! Anyway, we couldn't stop here so we ordered several more.
사사미 (Chicken Tenderloin cooked Medium Rare)
Kushimura's Signature Skewer
This might freak some people out but yes, it's chicken cooked rare.
The guy's still in business so I assume these meat are incredibly fresh.
It was good but not as good as some of the other skewers we had.
My personal favorite: 낭꼬츠 (Nankotsu: Chicken Cartilage)
Cartilage with quite a bit of breast meat.
카와 (Kawa: Chicken Skin)
When it comes to Kawa, I think Yuda takes the crown.
This was good but it could have been a bit more crunchy.
쟈가이모 (Jagaimo: Potato)
When you put that much butter on anything, it has to taste good.
야끼오니기리 (Yaki Onigiri: Grilled Riceball)
With a Masago center.
There are a few other things on the menu besides skewers but this place pretty much focuses on serving quality yakitori. Due to the limited seating, there's a constant wait for seats so the best time to come is at 7pm right when they open. As far as the food, it was top notch but in my opinion, a restaurant isn't just about the food. The owner/chef rarely spoke to his customers and I found that a bit unfortunate. The great thing about sitting at the counter/bar is to have a conversation with the chef, learn about the food and even share some drinks (at least in Korean culture). Despite this shortcoming, this is definitely one of the best yakitori restaurants in Seoul and I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking Japanese yakitori.
상수동 쿠시무라 (Sangsu-dong Kushimura)
마포구 상수동 341-5 (Mapo-gu, Sangsu-dong 341-1
02-333-2650
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