I Live In Korea

Without easy access to bagels, oatmeal and pancake mix, I’m in a bit of a bind for breakfast. It would be quite easy to make eggs or buy cereal, but that would involve cooking the eggs (my kitchen is not up to my standards). Cereal/milk isn't up to my standards, nor is it hearty enough for me.

Rice and kimchi are staple dishes at pretty much all Korean meals, and soup is also a likely component of breakfast. This is obviously not exactly what I’m used to back home and again it involves cooking. Nowadays people are starting to eat more pastries as Dunkin Donut and Snap, Crackle and Pop become more popular around the world. Then there’s always toast, jam and fruit as an option.

Luckily for me there’s a bakery just outside my apartment that I frequent 5+ times a week. The vast majority of the time I order these three items…

The first is a sweet bean donut which I think is self-explanatory, it’s a donut with sweetened beans inside. While this may sound like an odd combination but I can assure you that not only is it delicious but it’s also somewhat healthy since it has beans in it. Plus this donut doesn’t have the same ingredients, nor is it cooked the same as donuts back in the US.

The next is just a cruller covered with sugar. Similar to the sweet bean donut, the pastry itself is not the same as the crap we eat back in the US. Even at Dunkin Donuts here the donuts taste a lot lighter. It’s due to the ingredients and there is also not nearly as much sugar on it.


Last is a thin breakfast burrito with onions, peppers, ham, egg, cheese, a mysterious yellow substance on top and a sprinkle of blackened sesame seeds. This egg burrito is delicious! These three things cost me $4, it fills me up and there healthy take on pastries here makes me feel fine to go for a run or to the gym shortly after I eat. Can’t beat it.

At 11am the baker brings out this dish though….


This is an egg sandwich which is phenomenal. There’s eggs, ham, LOBSTER, peppers, onions, melted cheese and carrots inside of a massive fried piece of dough. When I walk into the bakery after 11am, they know what I’m coming for and get it for me sometimes as they see me walking across the street. This costs $2.50, it’s huge and it again it’s delicious.

This is my breakfast 5 or 6 days of the week. The only time I won’t go to this bakery is if I’m extremely hungover and need something to clog my arteries. In which case I head to Lotteria. Lotteria is like an unholy alliance between Roy Rogers and Burger King with an Asian twist. Eventually I’ll get around to talking about Lotteria’s food and there top notch service... Eventually…Until then think about a place where you can get fried chicken, burgers and fries. While I stay away from fast food at home, again, it is cooked completely different here and it tastes a lot different to. I’ll get to that in time…