By Seongmin Park in icassp — Apr 16, 2024

Where to eat at ICASSP 2024

My contribution to the AI community

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Hi. Please bear with us during the following SEO: # Food near COEX # ICASSP 2024 restaurants # ICASSP24 foods # Is bibimbop something we want to push as the poster child of Korean food # The same goes to galbi

On this blog, we usually ramble about things we barely know about.

Neural networks, for one.

But today is finally my time to shine. I happen to live near COEX, where ICASSP 2024 is hosted. Other blogs write about interesting papers to read at ICASSP. Here, we dive deep into what to eat.

No more tourist traps! No more acquired tastes! No more bibimbop! No more galbi! They have all those in LA.

In COEX

(Starfield Mall / Parnas Mall / Hyundai Department Store)

Dim Dim Sum

There's a Tim Ho Wan across the street from COEX but I heavily prefer Dim Dim Sum. They're both from Hong Kong so they're probably both "authentic". But Dim Dim sum hits the sweet spot in the savory-salty-greasy ternary axes. Dishes are less greasy than I typically expect from Chinese food. Dim sum skins are mushy when I need them to be mushy and super crunchy when I need them to be super crunchy. Try the Mala noodles at the end to cleanse the dimsum. Korea just went through a big Mala craze so we collectively had to eat a lot of Mala, and Mala at Dim Dim Sum is clean. There is no oil circle floating around.

Gaya (나의 가야)

If you've never had shabu shabu before, you should try it here. Shabu shabu is a less-saucy-and-more-meat-oriented sukiyaki. I am a firm believer in "wet meat is spoiled meat", but shabu shabu is a big exception. For me, three components make or break shabu shabu: cleanliness of the broth, freshness of the meat, and flavor of the sauce you dip the meat into. Gaya nails all three. And they cook the meat for you.

Just be careful if you take your kids with you because there's a hot boiling pot in the middle of the table. And most dishes come in big hot pots. It is safe if you know what you are doing (Gaya is a franchise we frequently visit with kids when eating out), but if you are new to Korea and don't know which dishes are supposed to be boiling, then be extra careful!

Check the price at the entrance if you are on a budget because shabu shabu in Korea is expensive. Easily 150+ dollars for 4 people.

Mutan

You've tried Chinese. You've tried American Chinese. This is a chance to try Korean Chinese. Korean Chinese is typically considered "street food", as they are very inexpensive, popular, and there is something on the menu for everyone. Mutan adopts Korean Chinese dishes for the high end, fixing.. mostly the price tag but also the quality. $25 bucks for a dish of Jajangmyeon is honestly absurd but they do give you what you pay for – absurdly good Jajangmyeon.

Hadongkwan (하동관)

Hadongkwan sells really simple beef broth. You plob the rice into the broth, let it soak, and eat it with Kimchi. I wouldn't recommend this place if you are new to Korean food – the appeal comes from the overwhelming smell of beef paired with kimchi that is fermented just right.

Cheese Room x Melting Shop

Their flatbread is very good. Somewhere to go to if you need some escape from all these eastern dishes. Not much else to say, so let me use space to introduce you to how Koreans judge food (among other things).

If you like the food eating out, you say "this tastes just like food at home!"
If you like the food at home, you say "this tastes just like eating out!"
If you like a drawing, you say "this looks just like a photo!"
If you like a photo, you say "this looks just like a drawing!"

I bet that's not something GPT can tell you.

Baskin Robbins 31

Yes yes I know but this place deserves a mention. They offer 100 flavors! So if you have some obscure BR flavor you liked as a kid but it was phased out, you might find it here.

In Apgujeong, Apgujeong Rodeo, Garosu-gil

If you are willing to take a 15-minute drive to Apgujeong, there are many more good places to eat.

Gino's New York Pizza

I lived in West Village, Manhattan for two years, and the best part of that was being close to all those wonderful pizza joints on Bleeker. Gino's is the only Pizza I had in Korea that tastes like the ones you eat in NYC. I was so impressed that I followed the owner on Instagram. The guy regularly visits international pizza conferences and convenes with pizza journalists and some pizza big names. Serious stuff.

And the proportion of each slice looks so cute, like emoji pizza.