While I’m spending most of my available wiki time on Sinchon, these days, I might as well start the Mexican series off with the famed Choi’s Tacos, in the local area.
Choi’s Tacos (초이스 타코) first appeared on the scene in the spring of 2005 and word-of-mouth has sprung like wildfire, ever since. Not just among expats, but moreso among Koreans. In fact, at any given moment, if you were to walk past Choi’s, you’d see that all seats in his small little place are almost always full of Koreans. That’s obviously the difference here. If you open up anything that plays well to foreign tastes, you better pray to god that Koreans will embrace it, otherwise you are dead in the water. In this case, Choi’s opened up in a vital location where pretty much anything would sell to at least somebody. Even Snot-Covered-Ass-On-A-Stick might even get people walking up to that location. Sinchon street locations seem to sometimes make the damndest of successes, like Mr.Wow and its huge line-ups, for instance. But the great location should not discount what great food is there. He’s likely paying a fair price for that spot and in an area notorious for high turnover and he has been there for 3 years. And that kind of recipe for long-term success can only come in the form of great food and the word-of-mouth that stems from it.
Choi’s Tacos circa 2006. From Yahoo 거기 profile.
Present day:
As an aside, I must say that I absolutely love Choi’s logo and branding. Props for understanding the importance of investing in that, particularly the patience to evolve over time.
There are 4 sushi buffet places in Sinchon that we have profiles or are writing profiles for, but the first done is a place called 다초밥부페. Lunch is 10,000 won and dinner is 12,000. There’s also a 3,000won fine, if you have any leftovers on your plate, so ‘take what you can eat and eat what you take’.
Manokamana is winning rave reviews from Koreans who congregate in the Sinchon area and are into Indian flavors. A great menu, surrounded by beautiful interior to help create the exotic mood.
Photos from Polpol74’s blog
Photos from Menupan profile
The most popular little Chinese restaurant in Sinchon is tucked in a quieter part in between the hustle bustle nightlife of Edae and Sinchon districts. But it receives a cult following from Koreans, nevertheless, and has been on food and restaurant TV programs, no less than 13 times in the past 5 years. Named after the popular north Hong Kong neighborhood, Wan Chai is a must visit for any Sinchonite or Seoulite hungry for great Chinese.
Photo from kaiiskai’s blog
Photo from Fluorescence’s blog
Photo from Violeto4’s blog
I’ll start knocking some of these down:
옛날옛적 (Old Times, Old Days) is a gogi buffet that charges 5,900won/per person. I have no idea how that deal works, but it looks cheap as hell. Its not all-you-can-drink, like Carne Station, so if this deal is all-you-can-eat, then they’re obviously hoping to make up for it on the beer sales. I’ve seen a lot of signs of BBQ buffets offering this similar deal, but have yet to go in one.
