26 Jul 2014

Seoul - Miss Lee Cafe


Hola amigoes, I bet you guys didn't know but I'm actually a cafe chain boss owning two successful cafe outlets in Korea in the HOTTEST locations: Insadong and Myeongdong. Yes, Miss Lee Cafe is mine because. I. AM. MISS. LEE. *cues applause from my non-existent fan club*

Okay jokes aside, I do not own any cafes in Seoul (even though I really wished I do). Miss Lee Cafe got famous because of the Korean variety show "We Got Married" as the Yongseo/Goguma couple visited the Insadong outlet on one of their dates while on the show.


The cafe specialises in traditional Korean school canteen food, and I'm not surprised to see many high school girls visiting the cafe for their favourite dosirak, which is the Korean version of a Japanese bento set. However, dosirak is way more fun to eat because of the method of preparation. Almost everyone can make a dosirak easily! I mean what's so hard about frying an egg, a few slices of luncheon meat and adding some kimchi into a box of rice.


Every meal ordered at Miss Lee Cafe is accompanied by a small dish of traditional Korean sweet snacks. I have no idea what is it called but it tasted like super sweet malt candy, super crunchy as it is coated with sesame seeds. Min, Ying and I ordered a dosirak each and they came with a bowl of soup too. And here's how you prepare your dosirak!

Step 1: Mash up all your food into small bits and pieces


Step 2: Mix the ingredients all together with your spoon

 
Step 3: Close the lid of the dosirak box and start shaking it violently so that the dosirak will turn out to be a real good mix!


And you are all good to eat.


To be very very very honest, Miss Lee Cafe's dosirak is NOT the best we had in Seoul as the best dosirak we had was in Myeongdong. But I'm sworn to secrecy to not spread the location to anyone by Min soooooo if you really wanna know badly where to find the best dosirak we had, please do come ask me personally! :> Miss Lee Cafe's dosirak is so-so to me, maybe because I did not really like their kimchi and luncheon meat as the kimchi used was more towards to sour side, whereas I'm a fan of spicy and slightly salty kimchi (like the Bibigo kind). I find that Kimchi is a key ingredient in the dosirak, so if you want to try making dosirak yourself, do use good kimchi! I tried making a few times and my friends all said it was pretty good hehehehehehe.

ADM kids please do come to me if you want good dosirak. One box $3, okay I'm just kidding.

Most people visit Miss Lee Cafe for the quirky nature of the cafe and also if they are fan of Seohyun/Jung Yong Hwa. I can't even define a theme for it, it's just so "chapalang" with like their patron's messages written on papers hung all around the cafe which makes the whole place look super chaotic yet it still feels pretty homely. I would not actually go back but, if I was in the Insadong area, I would drop by Miss Lee Cafe to have a not-so-filling lunch if I would like a late morning brunch. Sorry, Kpop stars do not really have that much of an influence on me hehe.

Stay hipsterrrific,
Ming Rui