While palling around Seoul, I could not help but to give the Taco Bell a try. Come on, you know I could not resist.
Taco Bell – Seoul, South Korea
I guess it has become the new tradition…Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, London, Tokyo…I’ll seek out Taco Bell when I find it.
Here, the goal wasn’t to have dinner at Taco Bell, but just a snack. Taco Bell has now opened several locations in South Korea.
I stopped by before dinner at one of the Seoul branches and ordered a quesadilla.
Like in California, Taco Bell has cut labor costs by installing machines from which you must order the food. That made it very easy for me, though, since there was an English language option.
The chicken quesadilla was fine.
Then it was onto a Korean restaurant for dinner…see I can try the local food.
This was a dish with noodles and eggs and was decent…though I walked away still a bit hungry.
So I went back to Taco Bell up the street for one more quesadilla and a burrito…yeah, it’s a good thing I exercise indeed or else I’d be as fat as a zeppelin.
Comfort food in Seoul…one Taco Bell at a time.
Do I recommend you give up Korean BBQ or bibimbap for Taco Bell? No, I don’t. But if you do find yourself in need of a tolerable taco or burrito, Taco Bell will work.
It wasn’t crowded, though….you have to wonder if this sort of place can last if its just dull Americans who visit it…
I have come to leave nasty comments and chew bubble gum, and I’m all out of bubble gum.
I went to Taco Bell in Tokyo and it seemed more similar to Chipotle to me. Only a few menu items, such as tacos, burritos, etc and then you selected from several protein options. It was tasty. Taco Bell, in Madrid, however, was much more U.S.-styled.
I’m living in Korea currently and for some reason, Taco Bell has never really caught fire here like some other American long standing fast food joints like McDonald’s, KFC or Burger King. Shake Shack and Five Guys do seem to be doing quite well here. It’s not because Koreans don’t like Mexican food (even though Taco Bell is actually Tex-Mex)… they do. I’m seeing more and more small Mexican restaurants open up around the city, so there is a definitely a demand for it, especially among younger generations. But Taco Bell has always had trouble gaining a foothold here and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Any Mexican recommendations for me for my next trip?
In Seoul? Piggy’s Taco, Villa Guerrero, Cuchara.
By the way, where was that Taco Bell you went to, exactly?
Gangam-gu
Maybe the Koreans are wise to Taco Bell being garbage?
I have literally never been hungry after a meal in Korea. Don’t you eat the banchan?!?!?
I have an odd stomach.
It’s more fun to try to order at the kiosk using the native language.
You cannot pay me enough to eat Mexican food.
Not for a million? Plug in Churchill line.
Twice Taco Bell in one day? This may qualify for an intervention. Probably there are support groups. Or an Tex-Mex emotional support animal?
I admit I’ve been waiting for this post. I will say that the Taco Bell looks a lot more visually pleasing (the store, that is) than any I’ve seen anytime recently in the US. Interesting to see the translation of “shell” to “bread” and back.
Nothing wrong with a snack from a US export once in awhile. Usually it’s fascinating to see the localized differences. I heard recently the McDonald’s HDQ at Chicago has a restaurant attached or nearby that offers menu items from around the world.
I unfortunately eat one or the other on occasion as it’s often the only thing open at 11pm in small town America.
The bread is nasty – can’t stand the flatbread items. And those new Cheez-It things? Who comes up with this crap…the Doritos tacos are bad enough!
Give me a cheese quesadilla with extra creamy jalapeno sauce and I’m a happy guy. I will say the new Cantina Bell menu is to my liking.
I agree the cheeze-it stuff is bad, but back in the early 2000s the crunchwrap was but a temporary innovation. Remember the “good to go commerical?” Where would we be today without the crunchwrap supreme?! Taco Bell innovates so society may improve for all.
Taco Bell has been in Korea for about 15 years.
A $3.60 crunchy “bread” taco. I’m always amazed at lousy menu translations. How cheaply could you hire a Korean student studying in the US to proofread? Occasionally in France, they try to give me an English menu. My French isn’t fantastic, but I can translate food items perfectly. The literal translations they offer are usually ridiculous.
I don’t know anything about Taco bell in Seoul, Bangkok, or anywhere in the world.
But I do know the one in Vegas.
Everything in Vegas was so expensive, I was so comfortable eating at Taco bell.
I confess that that Korean dish doesn’t look very appetizing to my unsophisticated, non-foodie, palate.
As a huge fan of Korean cuisine, I didn’t really appreciate certain staples of it until my third visit to the country. I suppose it’s not easy to get super excited about Korean fried chicken when there’s similar stuff available all over the world, but the pork knuckle (jokbal) is an extremely popular dish that tastes amazing and seems to get very little traction in Korean restaurants abroad. The similarly delicious omelette/pancake hybrid (jachaejeon) is often/usually reduced to a simple starter abroad when there are places in Korea which build their menus around it (full portions, huge variety of toppings etc).
Try a bulgogi burger at McDonalds in Korea. It seems almost a tragedy to eat it in a country with such great food but it’s super yummy. For the Korean restaurant you ate at, I’d go with #2.