Hot spots: Ttukseom puts on new shoes

The first you notice about this handmade burger joint is the bright yellow sign that stands out amongst all the rib restaurants on Galbi Street. When asked how the place came to be, owner Lee Yong-ho simply states, “Because the thing I eat the most is burgers.” An ex-member of the national snowboarding team, he acquired a taste for burgers while traveling to Canada and the U.S. for training. The secret to Alley Burger’s success is their integrity—they create all of their own patties and sauces, which is a steal at 5,000 won (or less). Feeling adventurous? Try his mother’s special bulgogi sauce on your burger for a more Koreanized taste.

Prints on the fabrics available at this store include one of a woman collecting water and another of silhouettes of African trees and animals. While there is something vaguely familiar about them, they come from quite a distant place—Namibia. Selling handsewn goods by women from this African country, the company’s name and slogan is penduka (meaning “wake up” in Oshiwambo). Penduka is a fair trade brand that started exporting last year. Nambian women get to stand on their own throughthese product designs and this is the only enduka showroom in all of Korea. Even for those that don’t know the philanthropic back-story, the items here are swoon-worthy. Pick up items such as pouches, eco bags and more to make the trip to Penduka all the more valuable.

Seoul Soup Pie can be understood as either “Seoul Forest Pie,” or “Seoul Soup and Pie” (both phonetically the same in Korean), because as the name suggests, place sells both soups and pies. Look for the owner’s personal touch in everything from the pretty vintage European-style tiles to the tiny but tidy kitchen. The neat trays and utensils give you a feel-good vibe even before you dig into the tasty fare. Their menu includes creamy chicken soup, tomato bacon soup, tomato meat pie, pecan pies, kale juice and beet juice. It’s the perfect light meal for your summer. 

He thought he was taking simple baking classes to impress his bread-loving girlfriend. He didn’t realize that he had signed up for a certification course and ended up becoming a professional baker. Thankfully for him, they got married and opened up a bakery—Bonanza Bakery. This bakery only sells eight kinds of bread, none of which contain butter, sugar, milk or eggs. What they lack in variety, the place makes up for in no-nonsense methods and simple tastes. Fresh bread is served three times daily at noon, 2pm and 5pm, but these sell like hot cakes, so be sure to arrive on time. For the organic offerings in cranberry walnut, jalapeño cheese, fig walnut at 3,000-5,000won, it’s definitely  bargain. One of the best sellers, “I’m Choco,” is a chocolate bread appealing to both those with and without a sweet tooth.

Seasoned wild vegetable rice, Wolsan mulberry leaves, Hwageok gooseberry sprouts, Ilpo Aster scaber leaves and Grandma Bang Wisun’s soy sauce. No, they’re not names from a natural science documentary, they’re items featured on the menu board of this restaurant. Young Ms. Kim, who runs this restaurant, decided to make good of the excess produce many elderly women in the Gangwon province were selling. She combined the freshness of these ingredients with her mother’s recipes to produce dishes such as seasoned wild vegetable rice, whole pollack roe bibimbap and soy bean paste soup. Koreans eat here when they miss mom’s home cooking, so come to see what authentic everyday meals are like.