#kondae

Thurs. Oct. 5. @ 5:00pm. It is now time to look for dinner food! 

Kondae Taste Street (aka Kondae tasty street, Kondae tasty alley, Kondae food alley. ..) is an area near Konkuk Univ. that is filled with eateries, convenience stores, noraebangs, & a small amount of shopping. I found it hard to navigate around here bcos there were a lot of diagonal alleyways. On top of that, beyond the “eateries” layers, there were residential complexes at the end of the alleyways. Parts of Hongdae are like this too, but I found it easier to navigate thru bcos the streets were more “regular” in a sense. Here, in this area, I ran into several instances where I was in the middle of a 5-6 way intersection. Street signs & numbers weren’t very effectively placed either, which made things more difficult. 

The reason why I had to look at street sign info was bcos I had a restaurant that I wanted to eat at. I can’t remember if I have mentioned this before but I used an app called MangoPlate to find food haha it’s super user-friendly, has a lot of diff filtering options (such as by cuisine type, by price range, by area) - I really like the “by area” option. It also gives you neighbouring choices after you’ve clicked into a restaurant so you can see what’s nearby. For Kondae, I found 4 places & “favourited” them on my phone. 

This was my top choice: Golmoke Golmok. It was located on the 2nd floor of a short (deadend) alleyway. The staircase to get to the 2nd floor was really shady (literally) bcos it was located behind the building, if that makes any sense. But whatever. I wanted to eat here bcos there’s a dish they serve that I think looked & sounded awesome haha it’s a hot pot ddeokbokki (+ ramyeon noodles) with seafood but the twist is that it’s not a red/spicy sauce like the typical ddeokbokki. It is a creamy white sauce, so imagine something like a creamy carbonara or alfredo sauce but it’s boiling in a hot pot with typical ddeokbokki ingedients in it. It’s something different & unique; they’ve been named (by MangoPlate) one of the top 10 ddeokbokki places in Seoul.

However. ..

I got up to the restaurant. It was pretty small, with only half a dozen or so of tables (each table has 4 chairs but can probably accommodate up to 6 ppl). I told the guy that it’s “for 1″ & he said “no” =( & then I said “no” in my head.. . as I processed his response. This place .. . the dishes (so like the hot pots they have on their menu) are meant for sharing so it’s for at least 3 ppl. They don’t do individual servings. I tried to explain that it was ok; I’ll still pay for the entire dish. .. & he kept saying no & points to a table of 4 girls that were enjoying the food, “4 ppl, 4 ppl.” So then. .. I had to go :’( I was quite upset about it bcos it took me some time to find the restaurant & I really wanted to try their white ddeokbokki. .. *shrugs* it just didn’t work out. It was my 1st time being rejected by a restaurant but I also understand that from their perspective, they don’t want to waste food bcos they only offer the one-size portion that’s meant for sharing.

Therefore, my 2nd choice: Premium Jjimdak (aka “Naega Jjimhandak”). This is a chicken stirfry restaurant. The top one is the Andong Jjimdak (Andong = name of a city; jjimdak = braised/stirfry chicken). Andong is famous for this type of chicken dish; it’s marinated chicken that’s cooked with veggies in a soy sauce base. The bottom one is the spicy gochujang jjimdak, which is a variation of their Andong jjimdak.

Let’s go! Excited to try jjimdak for the 1st time.

Once you sit down, you’ll be given these: cold water jug, a salad & some cubed pickled radish. The salad was interesting. It contained raw green cabbage, raw purple cabbage, corn, & corn flakes (the cereal), & the sauce was a light. .. wasabi mayo type of dressing. The texture was super crunchy & fresh. The pickled radish was also very good; very refreshing & only slightly spicy. The cold texture was so awesome! 

Here is a glimpse of the counter. Behind it, the kitchen.

The other side of the restaurant. Again, it was a 2nd floor restaurant. Nice lighting & clean. 

Their menu~

Basically they have the 2 chicken dishes: the OG Andong chicken & the spicy version. But there’s a lot of customizable options. The top & bottom on the far left are their OG Andong jjimdak; the top is boneless option while the bottom contains bones (bcos some ppl like to nibble on bones). Far right are their spicy versions; again, boneless & bone options. Depending on how many ppl are dining with you, they have small, medium, & large portions. The middle dish is like their most popular dish, which is the boneless cheese jjimdak (ie: contains melted cheese on top), which cost 3000w as a cheese add-on fee. The yellow boxes are the extra add-on options & beverages. You could get extra cheese, dumplings, noodles, & rice. 

I got the small Andong jjimdak (I always go for the original when I try new places) with a side of rice. The dish itself does not come with rice so it’s 1000w for the bowl of rice. 

This is it in more detail~ Onions, carrot, cabbage, (boneless) chicken, some ddeokbokki rices, glass noodles/sweet potato starch noodles, & dumpling sitting in a soy + sesame sauce. Smelled so good!!

This was a small. .. There’s quite a bit of food in here. I know it looks flat in the photo but the plate was sort of like a flatter bowl, like it’s a little deep in the center.

My favourite part of the ddeokbokki: it was stuffed with cheese in the middle!! :D What a pleasant surprise~!

Of course, I was unable to finish everything, but I finished the rice & about half of the dish, which means.. . I did pretty well. 

After dinner, I walked around the area to digest. As the evening approaches, the signs appear brighter & more ppl are now wandering thru the streets. 

There is my restaurant from the outside (2nd floor). 

Street view of Kondae Tasty Street/Road. 

Every time I see these flags, I think of Itaewon lol.

Bcos I had a particular restaurant in mind when I 1st arrived here, I just went looking for it, but this area (Kondae Taste Street) has an official “entrance”, & here is what it looks like. In my opinion, it serves as a nice place to meet up with someone. The place is structured like a large web of alleys & corners, & so as a tourist, it doesn’t have an impact for me. 

Nonetheless, selca in front of the “official” entrance.

This is what you’ll see when standing underneath the banner of the entrance. 

Continuing from the last post. ..

In this post, I will share my favourites with you! The vast majority of products at the Common Ground were clothing & accessories, but oftentimes, what catches my eye are handmade crafts & specialty items. We’ve looked at some shops & the trends that exist here, so this post will include the non-clothing/apparel items. I hope you’ll enjoy reading =] 

Let’s begin!

Close to an entrance/exit, this Too Cool For School was in a different layout than what I’m used to. I always see their stores wherever I go, but I believe this is the 1st one that I’ve seen that was inside a bigger building. This shop was more like an aisle rather than a shop. The display shelf leaned against a wall, & in front of it, there was a long-ish display case as well. 

This shop smelled very pleasant when I walked by. 

Sock stuffies. I’m not into them but they’re actually quite popular in Korea. When I browsing around at Edae, many shops (well, not “many” but more than what I had expected) carried a few of these in their shop. They’re cute, but I wouldn’t spend my money on them. 

Sock cacti. 

More sock cacti, but these ones were smaller. Comes in keychain version too. 

This was my 2nd favourite shop here at Common Ground. From afar, it looks like a flower shop. ..

Close-up, it resembles a mini herb garden. 

But. .. it’s actually a cafe! 

There’s so much going up front that it’s easy to miss what it really is. .. but here, you can see the typical coffeeshop apparatus in the background. 

More felt fabric/sock cacti, & then the ones on the bottom shelf are real plants.

Mini dried flower bouquets. They kind of look like small trees haha. I love that deep purple one so much!!

Want it without the display case? Sure! They have individually packaged ones as well. Great for those of you who like doing all sorts of DIY things. I think these would look nice on handmade cards or in shadow boxes, where you can arrange them in your fashion. 

This was a jewelry kiosk. I really liked the classic black & white theme in their display. 

Their jewelry stands out in this setting. 

Mirror selca.

I was confused by this “store”. ..but 1st, selca! :P

The reason why I was confused was bcos. .. this “store” doesn’t have an entrance or anything. You just sort of walk into it. It’s a larger store (compared to everything else) that was situated in a corner spot, so on one of the walls, you can see the outside via the window. Inside, it seems like it’s one store. However, there are distinct sections in the store that make you question whether or not if you’re till in the “same” store. It’s hard to explain. .. it makes things more confusing when you see different check-out counters inside. Like maybe the sections share the space? I don’t know. 

A closer look at the partially lit frame. FYI: Andersson Bell is a brand. They started out as a company selling trendy women’s & men’s clothing & accessories. Then they branched out, like everyone else these days, & started carrying lifestyle products like. .. soap & incense holders. Some of their things are quite random. This “store” sold some of their clothing. I didn’t care too much for them; maybe there’s more than what I had found. 

This was what I meant earlier by confusing =/ There were sections that were completely unrelated to its neighbour. 

I have a hard time accepting the wire/fenced industrial organizer as a display case/shelf. .. but it somehow worked here. Like it was okay. .. 

Random corner with Alice in Wonderland merch :O

Wasn’t random after all; it was part of the special feature of 10x10. It was just placed a bit farther away from the rest of the 10x10 things. 

10x10! I was only able to get the 10x bcos there was stuff in front of the other 10 -.-” bad angle.. .

Anyways, 10x10 was a stationary-only online shop, mainly targeting high school & college students, tempting them with trendy & unique stationary. Then they opened stores in Seoul. I’ve never seen any at the places I’ve gone to; this was the only one I’ve seen/visited. They also exist as kiosk type of shops inside shopping centres. Bcos of their expansion & existence as a physical store, they also branched out & not only sell stationary products in their inventory these days.

Selca. 

This last place was my favourite (saving the best for last)! Terrariums are slowly becoming a more & more popular thing here in Edmonton, but this place has like. .. “next level” terrariums, which I obviously found were really awesome.  

There’s a lot of varieties here at a glance but think of it as a mix & match situation with size, jar type, & content arrangement. 

These were the more colourful ones that were about 4 inches in height. Super cute! Contains water (others do not). 

Slightly taller ones in cylindrical jars.

Love the beaker idea for these cacti. If only I had an office, I would buy these for my office. 

These were by far the most unique ones. The middle ones were so adorable! Impossible for me to take with me via air travel, though *sigh* 

This concludes my visit to the Common Ground. A girl asked if I wanted to take a picture in front of the container (in English) & gestured that she was willing to take one for me, so I accepted her offer. Thank you! 

Thurs. Oct. 5th @ 3:35pm.

Going from Edae subway station to Konkuk station was very convenient; you just need to hop onto the green line (line #2). This was one of the reasons why I lumped this “attraction” with my Sinchon/Edae day. When I was doing my research, I found out the trip takes approx. 30mins & it was so on point! I took the previous video of the subway escalator at 3pm, & I arrived here at 3:35pm!

Konkuk (/Konguk) university is another major university. As such, the Kondae (abbreviation for Konguk University) subway station has many exits. To get to Common Ground, exit 6 is the most efficient one (by shortest distance). If you wanna explore the area a bit more, feel free to take other exits. Unlike Yonsei Univ. & Edae, I felt this university’s location is more. .. along busier traffic. Like there’s more stuff around here than either of the previously named one. It sort of reminds me Hongdae/Hongik University. 

To get to Common Ground from exit 6, once you get out of the exit, walk backwards. If you want to think of it another way: look directly at exit 6, & keep going straight. You will see Common Ground in this orientation =]

Selca in front of the Common Ground main entrance.

I’m gonna have to divide the Common Ground posts into several ones bcos I have lots of photos to share! 

So the 1st thing you’ll notice is the unique design of this place - blue shipping containers. Many of them stacked on top of & beside each other, forming a 3D/real life Tetris!

Due to the awesome design, every corner of this place is like a photo-worthy spot! On the main floor/ground level, you’ll see alternating blue container/shop window/blue container/shop window. .. kind of pattern. However, on the 2nd & 3rd levels, they’re ads &/or posters. 

If you continue to walk past the main entrance, you’ll eventually reach this open space, where there are more entrances to the “building”. I loved the display that was hanging!

Now allow me to tell you more about this place~

Common Ground is a new-generation “mall” that opened its doors in 2015. It is the largest shipping container “mall” in the world, which I think is really cool! The facility is composed of over 200 shipping containers. Each one has a number so see what number I goes up to :P

The Common Ground has 2 main buildings, & these are connected by an open outdoor pedway. These 2 main buildings form a large “ [ “ pattern when viewed aerially. In between, there is a large open courtyard for various activities depending on when you come. In the above selca, I was standing in the middle of the courtyard. When I went, it was like an outdoor market where vendors had booths selling their products. Products ranged from jewelry, clothing, & really awesome crafty things that were crazy expensive! It was really cool to check out! At other times, you might see a pop-up music event, or some art exhibit, OR just an empty lot! 

I loved the little Pacman details everywhere!

Like I said, every wall/corner is a photo opportunity haha. You may end up spending more time outside with pictures than anticipated - just a friendly tip.

Let’s head into the Market Hall. The 2 buildings are named the same thing bcos it’s actually just 1 large building (think: 2 complexes of a condo, or like a stage 1 & 2 development). I didn’t see any difference between the two, to be completely honest. 

Here’s a good look of the marketplace in the courtyard. Not sure if you can see it in this picture but the object to the left of the “IMPERIAL” is a large “food truck” & contained several individual food booths. It’s more like a food stage in my opinion. 

There were stairs both inside & outside the facility. For the rest of this post, I’ll just take you on an outside tour. We will visit the inside in the next post(s), aiiight?!

The open outdoor pedway I mentioned earlier is located just beside the hanging Pacman display. If it weren’t for this pedway, you’d have 2 distinct buildings.

Don’t like blue? You have a few red containers up on the rooftop terrace for photos.

There! An excellent view of the “food truck” haha the fanciest food truck I’ve ever seen with seating & everything. Posts are all around it & when it’s dark, the lights are turned on. It’s like a mini carnival.

The rooftop terrace of both buildings contain cafes & eateries, which I thought was really smart. There’s plenty of natural lighting & the smell won’t be trapped inside. The hanging lightbulbs also makes it kind of romantic when it’s dark. Long benches & chairs are available in case you need to wait for a table. There are also designated smoking areas (/more like corners) as well. 

Selca!

Another selca. This place is so artistically built, I love it so much!! The mall portion itself is 2 levels, but it’s also asymmetrical & despite the 3rd floor is the rooftop terrace, you can see a pseudo-4th floor structure beside it. 

I'm now on the other side of the pedway. I stood at that opening above the white doors for the selca.