Last Updated on March 31, 2014 by Nancie
This is my contribution to Foodie Tuesday, hosted by Inside Journeys. If you missed last week’s Food Tuesday you can take a peek here 🙂 When I’m in Korea I usually venture into Seoul once a month to eat, drink, and laugh with a group of likeminded expat boomers. We almost always choose a foreign food establishment. The food is always good, and the company outstanding. Our last lunch I rate outstanding on both counts. The chosen venue was Zelen, an elegant Bulgarian restaurant located in the heart of Itaewon, that area of Seoul catering to Expats and foreign visitors. This was the second time that I have dined here, and I was excited. I had enjoyed my first dining experience, and was looking forward to another.
The meals are hearty meat and potato dishes that stick to your ribs, and leave you satisfied. For those who prefer to leave the meat eating to others, there is a nice selection of vegetarian dishes. After a lot of back and forth, I decided on the vegetarian mousaka. I was not disappointed. The filling was nicely seasoned, and the tasty top crust had me almost believing that there had to be meat hiding somewhere!
A bit of creativity with the lamb skewers!
The elegantly furnished dining room is large, but laid out so that the noise is kept to a minimum, and you’re ears aren’t burning from conversations wafting over from the neighboring tables. Lots of natural light too. The cozy dining alcoves next to the windows are very popular.
Creative chefs at work…
Happy boomer Expats…(Taken by one of our friendly servers.)
Open for lunch and dinner, dining is a la carte or set menu. You can easily eat under $20.00US if you don’t get into the alcohol. Of course, I wouldn’t do that! (I have some swamp land for sale, too!). The house wine is very nice, and a good pour, at $8.00 per glass. Baskets of bread are provided, which is a nice treat in Korea! If you live in Korea, here for a visit, I highly recommend Zelen for lunch or dinner. Map and Location Phone Number: 02-749-0600 (reservations recommended during peak hours) Address: 116-14 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea Facebook Located on the street behind the Hamilton Hotel. Exit subway exit 2, take your first right, and walk towards the Moghul Indian Restaurant. At the T-intersection, make a left and go straight. Zelen is just after Jack Ryan’s, on the second floor above Pattaya Thai restaurant.
Please note: I did not receive any form of compensation for this review. I simply like the restaurant and want to share my experience with my readers. If you are a boomer expat in Korea, join our Facebook page to learn more about our monthly luncheons and other goings on. [box type=”shadow”]You can follow BTS on… Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram Foursquare [/box]
14 responses to “Zelen Bulgarian Restaurant in Seoul, for Foodie Tuesday”
It all looks delicious! There’s a good chance I would have ordered that mousaka, too!
Hi Amy! I would pay big bucks for a piece of that moussaka right now…!!
Good food, good friends – always a winning combination, Nancie!
I like the feel of Zelen’s. The tables look nicely spaced, as you’ve said, so you’re not listening to other diners’ conversations.
Thanks for linking up. Hope you have a great rest of the week. ‘See’ you on Thursday!
Hi Marcia! It really is a lovely restaurant. The “feel” is very European.
Those lamb skewers look amazing. I’ve never been to Korea, but you’ve made it sound like quite a tasty travel option.
Hi Doreen…Lots of great food here. If I was visiting for the first time, I’d probably want to experience Korean food. Although, it would be hard to pass up an eating experience like Zelen’s.
This post almost makes me wish I were an expat in Seoul so I could get in on the Boomer expat lunches. My husband’s parents were born in Bulgaria, leaving in 1940, as it became clear that Europe was not going to be a good place for Jews. (It turned out that the King of Bulgaria managed to keep Bulgarian Jews out of German concentration camps even though officially, Bulgaria was a German ally). What surprised me when I entered the family as an in-law was the large amount of what we consider Mediterranean (Greek) dishes in the Bulgarian cuisine repertoire. There are a few specialties that seemed more influenced by the Russians and eastern Europe, but much of it is the lighter cuisine of places to the southeast of Bulgaria. Bulgaria borders on Turkey, something I didn’t quite remember from my 7th grade world geography studies.
Hi Suzanne! Thanks for sharing a bit of Bulgarian history. I would love to visit Bulgaria and experience the food first hand!
This restaurant has a nice ambience. And the food looks delicious. So nicely presented.
Hi Donna! Definitely one of the best foreign restaurant eating experiences I have had in Korea.
That sounds like such an unlikely combination: Bulgarian food in Korea, but it’s part of what traveling is all about. Great unusual experiences. Those skewers look delicious!
Wow! Who knew that you could find such wonderful Bulgarian food in Seoul?!? Everything looks absolutely delicious.
Really nice dishes. I’m so hungry now.
It looks delicious. Sound like an wonderful way to spend time with friends and family and have something delicious to eat.