16.342 Khai Jiao Gung

Cycle 16 – Item 342

Post 5,821

13 (Sat) December 2025

Khai Jiao Gung

3.0

at Naiso

-Munjeong, Songpa, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W and IZ

Back in May, dbBOOKS had partnered with publisher Honford Star and Seoul Silent Book Club to host a launch party and book talk for Bora Chung’s latest novel Red Sword (see most recently 16.118 Fried Chicken).

BOOK LAUNCH/TALK

Today, the event was for the Lovecraft Reanimated, a series inspired by the works of science fiction legend HP Lovecraft: Alien Gods, written in Korean by Lee Suhyeon (translated by Anton Hur); Come Down to a Lower Place, written by Yi Seoyoung (translated by Janet Hong); The Call of the Friend, written and drawn by Choi Jaehoon, who also did the cover art for the series (translated by Janet Hong); and A Plagued Sea, written by Kim Boyoung (translated by Sophie Bowman).

Held at Tango Brujo, a tango dance studio in Mapo.
Honford Star owns the rights to the first three books in the series, which are currently available.
A Plagued Sea (held up by author Kim Boyoung) will be published next year by Honford Star and Tor Books.
dbBOOKS also sponsored the production of freebie posters featuring the cover art – here, Choi Jaehoon autographing his own work.

W and IZ accompanied me to the event, though they bailed midway through the book talk.

DINNER

On the way home, we stopped for dinner at the Naisoi location in the M-State building adjacent to Munjeong Station.

Located in B1.
Fooled into believing that Hoàng Viêt is owned/operated by Vietnamese people, based largely on the kitschy decor (see generally 16.324 Chá Giò), I’m pretty sure that the chaos of this place proves that it’s owned/operated by Thai people.

The Naisoi location in nearby Park Habio was featured in Cycle 12 (12.082 Khai Jiao).

As indicated by the widely different handwritings, every note written by a different person.

I’d wager that this M-State location came first, judging by the menus, which appear to have been revised and augmented over many years.

Starting with the basics/classics on the main menu, they appear to have gradually introduced a wider variety of items by posting them on the walls and seeing what stuck.
Condiments, including fish sauce and sriracha!

The food was good.  Authentic (even though the omelet wasn’t as brown and crispy as it typically is, even compared to the rendition at the other locations – but loads of cilantro).

Deep-Fried Squid (2.0): meh.
Stir-Fried Morning Glory (3.0): with ground pork!
Shrimp Fried Rice (3.0): jasmine rice!

Coconut might be a shade better in quality (see for comparison 15.266 Minced Shrimp Omelet (Khai Jiao)), but I’m more excited by the menu options here.

(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See HANSIK)

(See BOOZE)

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