As someone who lives alone and is terrible at keeping a stocked fridge, I tend to eat out a lot. This in itself fuels my love for discovering kick-ass restaurants. I'm also one of those girls who takes a picture of her food every time, so the storage on my measly 16 GB iPhone fills up instantly (cause you need to get it in every angle, duh). While I'd like to write something about every restaurant I visit, I always feel like I'm lacking photos because I'm usually too hungry and frazzled to remember to take more. So I've started "Isabelle Eats," a segment where I share my two cents of places I've dined at in the last few weeks. This time around, they're all located near my university in Sinchon and Hongdae.

1. Boiling Pot 보일링 팟

I was just here yesterday with my friend Sharon. It's funny cause we've known each other for a few years now, and have actively commented on each other's Instagram pictures, but this is the first time we've officially hung out. As summer is steadily approaching, I wanted something cool and fresh, we went to Boiling Pot. I think it started out as a ramen shop, then transformed into a cafe/sandwich joint. I got their grilled chicken salad and a fresh kiwi juice. The salad was just okay (but I don't think I'll be coming back for it) but the kiwi juice was exactly what I was looking for. What really made the night though was the company I was with <3

2. Painter and Cook 화가와 요리사

A favorite among Yonsei University and Ewha University students. I love the concept of this tiny restaurant! Just as the name implies, the owner is both a painter and a cook. His paintings and sketches are hung all around the restaurant and he whips out really great donkatsu. There's, of course, the regular pork chop katsu, or you can explore their menu and try sweet potato katsu, kimchi katsu, curry katsu, pineapple and peppers katsu, and the list goes on. Here I got the Cheongnyun Jjigae 청년찌게: katsu on kimchi jjigae with rice and fried egg. Really filling for 7,500 won.

3. Saigon Bridge 사이곤 브릿지

I love pho. I love pho so much I went to Vietnam just to eat pho. It's my ultimate comfort food and I wish Korea had better pho. (How many times can I say pho?) Last week, after finishing midterms, I headed to Sinchon and walked right into Saigon Bridge. There was no one else in the restaurant, but I ordered a bowl of beef pho anyway and crossed my fingers it wouldn't disappoint -- I needed something soothing after the brutal week I had. The verdict: it's really not that bad! The broth wasn't sickeningly sweet, like other Viet places in Seoul, and they didn't overload my bowl with onions. For 10,000 won it's a hefty price to pay, but the portion size was big enough to share between two people. 

4. Donburi Hongdae 돈부리 홍대

Okay, this is in Hongdae...sorry. According to people on Mangoplate, you should expect to wait between 10 to 30 minutes for a table, but lemmetellya it's totally worth it. I ordered the salmon donburi 사케돈. The salmon extremely soft, there's no hint of it ever been frozen, and the rice was seasoned perfectly. I can see why this is one of their best sellers. Btw, you can ask for extra rice (free of charge!) if you find it's not enough! 

Boiling Pot 보일링 팟

Seoul Seodaemun-gu Changchun-dong 2-36

서울시 서대문구 창천동 2-36

070-8200-6985

Painter and Cook 화가와 요리사

Seoul Seodaemun-gu Daehyun-dong 60-51

서울시 서대문구 대현동 60-51

(02) 364-1970

Saigon Bridge 사이곤 브릿지

Seoul Seodaemun-gu Changchung-dong 5-39

서울시 서대문구 창천동 5-39

(02) 363-5420

Donburi Hongdae 돈부리 홍대

Seoul Mapo-gu Seogyo-dong 366-18

서울시 마포구 서교동 366-18

(02) 3141-8398