I'm Home

I'm finally back in Seoul, and it almost feels like I came back to my hometown. 

Obviously Seoul is not my hometown, but I did spend a significant amount of time here last year. After 6.5 months, coming back here feels very comfortable and pleasant. I did not feel any type of culture shock, everything felt natural to me and old habits and routines came back. 

I'm only here for a few weeks, but I'm still happy that I had the opportunity to come back to the city that brought me so much joy and amazing memories. I may have mentioned it in a previous post, but my boyfriend is currently serving in the Korean army. He was able to save up his breaks for when I could visit so we spent a really fun week together. He's back at work, but luckily we have a few more days planned to meet up. 

(Currently, I'm sitting at a cafe across from where he is working - *stalker status) 

I wanted to make a quick post while I'm sitting here at my stakeout. Since one of my favorite things about Korea is the food here, why not make another food/ restaurant review?

 Last week we went to a restaurant called "I'm Home." The name of the restaurant made me feel a certain kind of way because I have a poster at home saying "I'm home whenever I'm with you." Just being able to share a meal with my boyfriend after so long felt special to me so the name of the restaurant felt fitting to our situation. 

My boyfriend, Jaemin, found this place outside of Seoul because it served "American style brunch." It's been a long time since he's had the typical eggs and bacon dish and I was also curious as to what the "American style bunch" would taste like in Korea. The place itself was very cute, just as everything in Korea is. It definitely had the retro feel going on with the bright colors and the black and white tiled floors. 

The prices were a bit higher than if you were to go get a typical asian breakfast meal, but I think it was still fair. We ordered two juices and two brunch dishes, and the total was around $35. I think that's pretty comparable to a nice joint in America. I got a potato wedge and bacon dish with a side of salad and Jaemin got a dish with shrimp, eggs, bacon, pineapple, and sausage. Both of our dishes were served with some flavored ranch, which I wasn't really a fan of. We also got freshly squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice! Everything was super delicious, but I would like to note that this bacon does taste a bit different from the bacon at home. 

Overall the ambiance of the place was really nice and it almost felt like we had gone to America for an hour. The restaurant is located in a outdoor shopping area that has lots of little clothing shops and cafes. After our brunch we went to a nearby cafe and had red bean bingsu, which was also super delicious. If you're ever in Seoul and want to go out of the big city and have a nice date, you should definitely stop by this area! 

The address to this restaurant is:

(I'm Home) 아임홈

경기도 성남시 분당구 백현동 578-8

(1183-8 Jukjeonro15Beon-gil, Bojeong-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do)

p.s. I will try my best to make a few more posts while I'm here in Korea - hopefully they're not all food related..

from Jackie