Because of my line of work, I know a lot of people in Pangyo. Honestly, if I had built a proper career, I would probably be working in some corner of Pangyo myself. I went out there to see everyone for the first time in a while, but Pangyo is such a young town that there is nothing you could really call a famous restaurant, so we settled on a decent chain place. The lady serving us was really friendly, which is what stuck with me.

Banchan

The food was clean, the atmosphere was fine and the prices were not bad either. Maybe it is the age of cut-throat competition among small businesses, but chain restaurants these days are on a really high level.

Samhap

A tidy skate samhap comes out (fermented skate, boiled pork and kimchi). If you are after a stronger punch it might feel a bit tame, but in the ordinary sense it was a perfectly good samhap.

Tofu kimchi

As a light snack with drinks, nothing beats this. Jjigae-ae Gamdong is a slightly odd name, but the food is decent.

A complimentary mackerel

They brought out a big one, whole. With more snacks on the table we should really have kept drinking, but since it was a gathering of developers, it was not much of a drinking mood.

Eomuk-tang (fish cake soup)

It settles the stomach nicely. Japanese-style izakaya are great, but the Korean style is pretty good too.

St. Bernardus Abt 12

For round two we moved to Maekju Changgo (the Beer Warehouse) nearby. They had a beer I had enjoyed in Hawaii, so I ordered it; the price is steep, but it really is delicious. I am happy that there are so many good beers around these days. The only problem is that it keeps taking me longer and longer to wake up after drinking beer.

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