It’s no surprise that I stick out a little here.  South Korea is an extremely homogenized society.  About 97% of the population is ethnically Korean.

But that percentage doesn’t apply to Itaewon.

Itaewon is in the Yongsan district of Seoul.  A lot of immigrants live there and it is close to an U.S. military base.  I went there one weekend because I was told there was authentic Mexican food, an elusive cuisine in this country.  I was no longer the only non-korean person in the crowd.

You can find Mexican, Turkish, American, Uzbek, Indian, Pakistani, Russian, Mongolian, Kazakh, and who knows how many other types of food.

I was going to get tacos until I came across an Uzbek restaurant.  I know nothing about Uzbek food, but if this is what it looks like, I need to get on the next plane to Samarkand.

lamb kebabs, rice, bread, and plenty of veggies

the restaurant decor

The restaurant is called Lazzat and I can’t even remember how I found it.  I was just wandering around Itaewon station and I saw a sign for Uzbek food on the second floor of a random building.

I also tried Turkish tea.  I like my coffee or tea with lots of sugar and milk because I’m a wimp.  This tea was so tasty I didn’t need more than one tiny sugar cube.

I bought some cookies to go with it

Itaewon is also well-known for Namsan tower and Namsan mountain.  You can see all of Seoul from the tower and the mountain is popular with hikers.  I didn’t get to the tower this time, but I did go to a beautiful park near the mountain.

What can I say, I like parks.