This post was first posted at Mukshidonna (먹쉬돈나) ~ Bukchon-ro on Deliciouslogy | Wordpress.
No matter how I search, I can't seem to find this particular branch of Mukshidonna that we visited and it keeps pointing me back to the original branch at 17-18 Anguk-dong, Jongno-gu. So, I'll share with you the directions (available here, here and here) to the Anguk-dong branch which Pauline says is even better (even though this branch we ate at was already awesome!).
We got very lost while looking for Mukshidonna even though we had asked for directions from the tourist information center as well as the information ambassadors (around tourist attractions in Seoul, they're everywhere - look out for their bright red polo tees with a giant 'i' and a sash).
However, we were very lucky to come across 2 young men who spoke some English and were very helpful. They ended up walking us to the outlet even when it was starting to rain. Thank you so much strangers! These 3 lost Malaysian tourists are forever grateful!
Click the image to view a larger version!
The top section is the main meat and vegetable you want in your stew - seafood, bulgogi (beef), budae (army stew - which has sausages and ham) and plain vegetables as well as cheese in the broth. The tteokboki is a default item, you don't have to pick this item.
2nd section - noodles of choice - Ramyeon (Korean ramen), Jjolmyeon (a chewy Korean wheat flour noodles), Dangmyeon (sweet potato vermicelli similar to glass noodles) or Oodong (udon)
3rd section - additional meat items - Odeng (fish cake), meat dumpling (fried dumpling), yakki dumpling (meat dumpling), tempura (mixed fried vegetables and prawn), seaweed noodle roll (no idea what this is), hard boiled eggs and ham
4th section - this cheese is sprinkled on top of the noodles
5th section - fried rice that's cooked with the remaining sauce from your stew
The sharp sourness of the danmuji (pickled radish) cuts through the heartiness of this dish so it's nice to nibble on some between mouthfuls of tteokboki.
Look at that delicious simmering pot of goodies! I swear this is a good reason to go back to Seoul - to eat at Mukshidonna again.
The portion that we ordered was huge - our only regret was the fried dumplings that were hard and had too much flour.
The other ingredients in our pot - the chinese cabbage, tteokbokki, the army stew ingredients, yaki dumpling, mussels and odeng were all excellent and fresh. I'm salivating as I write this post..
The broth was a lovely mix of sweet, spicy and salty and all the ingredients soaks up the broth so that every mouthful was rich and delicious! For fans of stews, this would be the ultimate comfort food, Korean-style.
When you're about 90% done, let the waitress know that you ordered fried rice and they would take away your hot plate and return with this - fried rice with seaweed and corn that has absorbed all that tasty broth. Together with the earthy brininess of the seaweed and the sweetness of the corn, this was one of the best hot plate fried rice that we had throughout the trip.
All hot plate/hot pot places will offer fried rice (some offer a more sinful version - cheese fried rice). Do note that because the rice soaks up all that broth or sauce, it's a slightly moister version of Chinese fried rice that most fried rice eaters are used to.
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Here's a summary of what we ate during our trip, click the image below for a larger view.
Kindly compiled by my extremely efficient travel finance manager, the excel sheet for the above image is available here.