Lotte World Mall, which has stirred up all kinds of controversy, finally opened, and I could not skip going to see the Rubber Duck. While I was there, I also checked out a few of the restaurants.
The Rubber Duck
It really is big. I did not look at it for long, but it was impressive. I should have gone on a nicer day, but I was busy and ended up rushing over almost on the last day.
Odeng Sikdang
After agonising over where to eat, I went to Odeng Sikdang, famous as the originator of budae jjigae. I do not have the time to go all the way to the main shop in Uijeongbu just for budae jjigae, and the value for money here seemed far better than the other places (not so much that this place is good, more that the others are bad). On top of that, this place had the longest line.
Side dishes
I suppose the odeng is there because it is Odeng Sikdang.
Budae jjigae
Not bad. Unlike a certain budae jjigae chain that only pushes the heat, the ingredients were decent too. I added cheese as a topping. It did feel a little short on solid ingredients, but adding anything more would have made it too much food. If there had been three or more of us I would have added sausage without a second thought, so that was a bit of a shame.
Rice
It has mixed grains in it. Nothing wrong with that.
Nicely boiled
Thanks to the cheese, the flavour became a lot milder. I have been eating budae jjigae for a long time, but I never knew cheese would go this well with it. I ate very happily that day.
The best budae jjigae of my life is at Jang Baksa Budae Jjigae in Jongno 5-ga; their broth is really rich, but it is on the spicy side. If they allowed a cheese topping on their budae jjigae, I would love to give it a try.
Fruit at the Lotte Mart in the basement
Maybe to celebrate the opening, Lotte Mart was selling fruit at below wholesale market prices. Not just persimmons but apples, oranges, kiwis and so on, all at ridiculous prices. A big supermarket selling at these prices has to be running at a loss, so it is quite something. I guess this is the power of Lotte.
Since Lotte Mart is in the basement, the new-building smell is among the worst in all of Lotte World Mall. On top of that there was the recent incident of the aquarium leaking water, so it is a place I am very reluctant to go to. But with fruit at these prices, I want to go there often. I normally eat a great deal of fruit. (In the end, life is precious, so I will probably keep going to the market even if it is cold and cash only.)
A crown-shaped decoration
Overall it had quite a luxurious feel. Maybe the strategy is to build it well and draw in Chinese tourists. On my second visit I stopped by the duty-free shop, and some nice winter clothes were 30% off, so I went on a huge spending spree. In November I also bought an iPhone 6 Plus right after that, so I am spending the year-end holidays very poor. Somebody please buy me some meat..
Chocolate ice cream from Godiva
If Lotte World Mall had not pushed things so hard to get open, I think it would be a really good place. You can see traces of the money and effort that went into it everywhere. Still, visiting right now seems a bit risky.. once word gets around that things have settled down, I will have to go back. Who knows when that will be..
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