Seoul International Airport?

[janetofreno]

DH is off to India to handle some family business in a week or so. Coming and going he has layovers for three or four hours in Seoul...both will be at dinner time. Any ideas for food there?? Its a new place for him. Or can he count on edible food in coach on Korean Air? (chosen for the cheapest last-minute ticket....).

[marshal4]

I have had some long layovers at Seoul International on a few occasions. I cannot tell you about Korean Air coach as I have always flown business, which serves surprisingly good food. The Korean dish Bibimbap is very good, and from what I have heard, I believe it is served in coach class as well. It means "mixed stirred rice" or "mixed meal" although it does not sound very appetizing, it really is very good and I have ordered it many times on Korean Air. Failing that, there is a hotel to the left, way down at the end and up on the floor above, when you come from the arrival gates that has a restaurant that is quite good. I think there is only one hotel you can stay in within the airport so it should not be too difficult to find. The airport is fairly new and is very large and I have had the time to search most of it for restaurants but there are very few, other than lots of fast food places, and none of them appealed to me. I have stayed in that hotel to lay my head down for a couple of hours and have eaten at the restaurant on several occasions. I can recommend it.
I hope this is of some help to you.
E. Kagawa
http://restaurantdiningcritiques.com

[janetofreno]

DH reports back that he did eat at the hotel in the terminal, and found it quite acceptable, so he thanks those who suggested it. His comment on Inchon International Airport: Its a beautiful place, but apparently the Koreans don't believe in restaurants, because there aren't many there!

As for the Korean Air food, he says the Bibimbap was certainly edible but got old the third time he was served it on various legs of his flight. And the breakfast served was awful. But the upside was that the flights were not crowded, so he had an entire row to stretch out on; service was great by the FAs, and the inflight movies were excellent.

BTW, he somehow managed to gain 10 pounds in a week in India, so clearly he was well-fed by his family there. And he brought back home-made pappadums and some "treats" from the duty-free shop in Seoul (of the liquid alcoholic type) so I'm happy....

[Peech]

I would go to Byeok-Je inside the terminal, and order either the kalbi-tang (beef ribs in clear broth), sangyetang (chicken stuffed with sticky rice in soup), or whatever headline beef dish they have.

[klyeoh]

I'd second Peech's choice. Byeok-Je seems to be the best option (there are a couple of other interesting Korean choices in the transit area - Bong Hee & Chang Tuh, but Byeok-je offers the widest variety of Korean dishes).

Personally, I'd always eat before I go to Incheon airport. Else, I'd just grab one of the buns filled with creamy seafood/minced meat at Paris Baguette.

[Drambuie_man]

Much of what is said here is spot on. The higher-class places are ran by the hotel catering services, so they're decent (but just that, then again it IS an airport terminal). Avoid any high-class offering of anything non-Korean however (with the possible exception of Japanese), you will likely be disapointed.

You will find these places at the heart of the main terminal in a balcony area above out-going immigration. Since you are flying Korean Air, I doubt this will happen, but watch out you may be in the new Satillite terminal. I am unsure how to transit between the two given the train is pretty much one-way (arrivals/departres). The Satlillite terminal has higher-class places in the center, but I never tried them.

Assuming you want to avoid fast food, do not be tempted by anything outside the heart of the terminal. Koreans do not generally rate their cusine as "fast food", but they have them. You will find places outside the heart offering noodles, kimbap (rolled rice), stews (chi-gae), etc., however all these are well below average and not worth it.

If he wants to risk leaving the terminal and going through immigration, the only thing in the area reachable and worthwhile is "Eight" at the Hyatt accross the parking lot (free shuttle). A good stylish asian/fusion place with nice open atmosphere, however at Korean Hotel resturant prices.

As far as Korean Air food...well its airline food what do you expect? As you leave ICN you usually have a choice of two dishes in coach a noodle/rice/meat/gravy dish of debatable culinary orgin and the aforementioned bibimbap. If you have never had the dish, and do not foresee a situation when it may be offered to you again, I grudingly say try it. The reason it is ALWAYS one of the choices when leaving ICN is because it's ridiculiously cheap to make at home, and even cheaper in bulk. And given the way the try to ferret out the most cost, remeber the old joke about the astronauts on the rocket. That said, the dish is so classic and elegant it's about as hard to screw-up as a cup of coffee (wait, bad metaphor for Korea, but you get the idea), so whatever bibimbap you get on the plane will be edible.

As far on the way as klyeoh mentioned (thanks for your KL thoughts by the way), I recomend a shop stall in front of the Yongsan train station (from where you can take the Airport bus). I think it is just by Sinyongsan subway station exit 5 (the exit closest to the front of Yongsan station). They serve some good and inexpensive steamed dumplings.

[pane]

peech and drambuie:

do either of you (or others?) have recommendations for places to eat for longer layovers? i am in seoul for a 12 hours layover next week, from 5:30 in the morning until 5:30 at night.

we'll probably want to leave the airport for lunch--any recommendations for places that are an easy cab or public transport ride from the airport?

[klyeoh]

For a 12-hour layover, you MUST take one of the limousine buses straight to the city centre (Myeongdong) & have at least a couple of proper meals there (lots of dining choices). Incheon airport is quite a distance from Seoul (1.5 hours each way, if traffic's heavy), but you should have more than sufficient time to do breakfast & lunch in the city.

[Peech]

I completely agree. For tourists - especially with very short stay - Myeongdong is probably the best place to go...

[klyeoh]

Hi Pane, just saw this post on the CH board - another good reason for you to catch a quick bus-ride to Myeongdong: the opening of the new Pierre Gagnaire at Lotte Hotel, one of the hotels accessible directly via the KAL limousine bus:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/561462

Make sure you catch the right bus, don't mistake Lotte Hotel (in Myeongdong) with the Lotte World Hotel (in Jamsil) which is served by a different KAL limousine bus service.

[pane]

Thanks Peech and Klyeoh! We're in Seoul tomorrow, and I expect we'll follow your advice exactly. After reading the glowing review of Budnamujip on the board, we thought we'd go there, but the locations seem like they might be too much of a haul for a couple of people unfamiliar with Seoul and due back at the airport at a specific time.

Myeongdong limousine bus it is!

[HungWeiLo]

I'm planning on taking the same flight in the near future (with Asiana). With a 13-hr layover, I'm really tempted to take the train to Seoul. Has anyone done this before? I don't read or speak Korean, so hopefully they'll at least have the subway stops labelled in Romanized Korean. From what I've read on the subway map at http://www.irtc.co.kr/eng/map/metro.asp, I can take:

AREX (airport express) to Gimpo airport
Transfer to Subway Line #5 to Seoul

or

AREX (airport express) to Gyeyang station
Transfer to IRT to Bupyeong
Transfer to Subway Line #1 to Seoul

Do these plans raise any red flags for those more knowledgeable about their subway system? Seems pretty straightforward to me.

Assuming I make it to Seoul (and transfer over to the Myeongdong station, where I see a recommendation from earlier), any particular places I should check out for breakfast and lunch? Easily accessible locations from the subway stop would be best.

[pane]

alex

fwiw, i did that leg yesterday, and it was plenty of time to explore seoul. we took the KAL bus (as recommended) out of the airport by about 6:15 a.m. and had time to eat breakfast, explore (saw one major palace, the seoul tower, a bit of the shopping district), and have lunch before returning to the airport by 3 p.m.

i'd guess traffic was light (we were there on a sunday); the limo bus to lotte hotel took almost exactly one hour. i'll have a longer report posted to this board in the next few days.

[prasantrin]

I have relatively short stopovers at Incheon coming up (3 hours outgoing, 2 hours incoming). Is there really nothing interesting at the airport without having to leave the transit area?

I found Bon Pi Yang which I think is the restaurant Peech mentioned (according to the website, it's run by Byuck-jea Galby), but it's in the public area of the airport, and I'd really rather not have to leave the transit area. I'd like something like kalbi if I can get it.

[Peech]

The Byeok-Je I went to was inside but I can't remember which gate it is closest to...

[prasantrin]

Do you remember if it was on the first floor or the second?

I ended up at a little noodle bar on the first floor (more like fast food), but I saw some restaurants on the second floor of the terminal, too.

I've got another layover in a month, so I can try another place then!

[Peech]

it's on the same level as all the shops and the gates. No need to go upstairs for the second floor.

[klyeoh]

Departure Level, West Finger Point, near Gate 30?

[erica]

ON a related note, can anyone confirm the existence of a supermarket on the lower level of ICN? I have never seen it but would be interested to explore during a long layover.

[erica]

Anyone know about the supermarket?

[ashkha]

I'm about to book tickets on Asiana, and I have a choice of a 4-hour or 8-hour layover in Seoul on the way back. I was wondering if anyone had done the transit tours offered at the airport, or would it better to take the hotel voucher that Asiana gives?