14.323 Pungcheon Minmul Jangeo

Cycle 14 – Item 323

24 (Fri) November 2023

Pungcheon Minmul Jangeo

3.0

at Pungcheonga

-Cheongdam, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W, Mom + Dad, Uncle M

Almost exactly 2 years ago, GMTD had documented the beginning of construction on our building in Cheongdam (see 12.231 Godeungeo Gui).  It is now, after several delays, at long last, nearly complete.  We named it “Cheongdam 2-2,” based on the older (soon to be obsolete) street address system.

Due to a regulation in Gangnam that prohibits structures from blocking sunlight on adjacent properties, we had to adopt a tiered design that makes each floor smaller than the next (that’s why the top floor on the right is so narrow) – if built straight up, we would’ve have double the usable floor space.
Smack dab in the middle of Gangnam – Oksu Station (where we used to live) can be seen at 10 o’clock on the other side of the river, while Ttukseom Station (where I currently work) can be see at 1 o’clock in the top right corner of the map.

Uncle M, Catholic priest, performed a blessing on the building.

Afterwards, we treated him to dinner.

The basement, which takes up nearly the entire property – imagine if every floor were this spacious.

Pungcheonga (풍천가) is a Korean restaurant.  Specializes in grilled eel.  Several restaurants across the country go by the same name, some of which might be related to this restaurant.

DID YOU KNOW: Many Korean restaurant names include the word for house, including “jip (집),” “ok”(옥),” and “ga (가).”  I’ve always felt that “jip” (the standard word in everyday usage) is the most middle-of-the-road (like “movie”, in Hollywood parlance), while “ok” (as used to describe the traditional Korean home hanok) is more old-fashioned (like “picture”) – a prior DYW described how many Pyongyang-style mul naeng myeon restaurants use “ok” (see 13.214 Mul Naeng Myeon) – and “ga” (derived from the Chinese character “家”) tries to be a bit fancy (like “film”).

Located next door to our building.

“Pungcheon-gang (풍천강)” is what locals refer to Jujin-cheon (주진천), a small river that flows through Jeollabuk-do province, where freshwater eels are caught in the mudflats of the delta leading out to the Yellow Sea.  Many restaurants sell what labelled “Pungcheon minmul (freshwater) jangeo (eel),” including our local go-to eel restaurant (see for example 11.250 Pungcheon Jangeo – King Special Large).  The term is not a protected designated (as far as I’m aware), so it’s uncertain whether the eels are actually sourced from Pungcheon.

Extremely expensive: premium (“gaetbeol (mudflat)”) = 78,000 won for 330 g (234,000 won per kg), standard (“Pungcheon”) = 45,000 won for 330 g (135,000 won per kg).  Our local go-to place recently raised their prices to 88,000 won per kg (see 14.288 Grilled Eel with Chili Crisp).

Decent but not impressive array of banchan.

In light of the special occasion, we went with the premium.  Each eel only 330 g in total, the individual pieces were disappointingly small, delivering a less-than-luxurious mouthfeel.  The flavor was fine. Our local go-to place is 3 times better at 1/3 of the price.

I doubt that I’ll return of my own accord – maybe if I have business next door (our building), need to host dinner, and don’t feel like going far.

(See also HANSIK)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

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