Hungry in Seoul: The Best Halal Korean Dosirak (Lunch Boxes) - BoA Travel House

Kimbap and Tteokbokki Dosirak

A few months ago in our Euro-Asian World Trip we headed to Seoul, South Korea in search for halal authentic Korean food. I watched tons of Youtubers eating Tteokbokki (a chewy spicy rice-noodle street food), kimbap (like a sandwich in sushi form), jajjangmyeon (black bean noodles traditionally with pork), and I desperately hoped we would find a few places which would offer these traditional dishes in a halal form.

Well, I'm happy to say our search was a HUGE success when we found out that BoA Travel House offered halal packed lunches (Dosirak) to go, with everything I was hoping to try! Woohoo! :D

BoA Travel House Front Entrance

BoA Travel House Halal Dosirak Menu. Click here for full size.

We ordered a day beforehand by checking their Menu online and messaging their Facebook page, Halal Korean Food Dosirak, Hongdae of Seoul.  They were incredibly responsive, kind, and helpful, answering all of our questions quickly over Facebook and even being patient with us when we got lost and arrived late to pick up our order!

BoA Guest House Kitchen & Dining Room

We were greeted by friendly staff at the front desk and ushered to this charming room which seemed to be a combined dining room, recreation centre, and kitchen all in one, but more on that later.

Everything was packed up for us and ready to go, and we were planning to find a park or place outside to eat, but as it was raining we asked if it was possible if we could eat here, and they kindly agreed! :)

Kimbap and Tteokbokki Dosirak

First up we had the Kimbap and Tteokbokki Dosirak which amazed me in how perfectly it looked like the pictures on the menu.

Even though Kimbap looks like sushi, it's sort of like the "sandwich" of Korea and has way different ingredients and flavour. This was delicious! It had halal chicken sausage, carrot, egg, pickled radish, and was crunchy and tasting of sesame oil and just awesome. It was way better than I imagined!

Tteokbokki is a popular street food in Korea, and this was my first time trying it. It's kind of a thick rice noodle that's chewy, spicy, a little sweet, and really filling.

Then there were two Banchan (side dishes) which were tiny little hard boiled eggs cooked in soy sauce, and a refreshing corn salad. Both tasty!

Jajang Dosirak

Next up I wanted to try the iconic Jajangmyeon, a black bean noodle dish. This dish is eaten commonly in Korean culture and is talked about all the time, but the problem is that it's cooked with pork! I was really curious about the taste because I've never seen anything like it.

BoA Travel House to the rescue! They made a halal version using halal chicken sausage as a substitute for pork and I finally got to try it. It has a mild flavour, kind of like a thick, non-salty soy sauce, and was definitely addicting. I understand why people eat it all the time, now!

Along with the Jajangmyeon came these side dishes, which were little cubes of pickled radish (very refreshing!), some fried rice, and the same corn salad as the previous lunchbox.

Soy Sauce-Fried Chicken

Next was trying out the famous Korean fried chicken that is revered across the country, called "Half-Half Chicken" on their menu. The interesting thing about their style of chicken is the way it's cut. The chicken really isn't separated in the traditional way you'd see at your local fried chicken place, but instead has bony bits all over the place, so it's truly a finger food.

Chili Fried Chicken

There were two kinds, Chili and Soy sauce, and though both were delicious, the Chili style was the winner in my opinion.

Along with this meal we were served two cups of lemon tea, and after finishing our amazing meal we set about exploring the incredible room we were in.

We found out that this hotel / travel house was incredibly Muslim-friendly and a popular place to stay for Muslims around the world, but especially from Malaysia. We didn't stay here, but the walls of this room are full of pictures of Muslims guests, and on their website we discovered they even have a Prayer room!

All over the walls of the Dining area were little notes and pictures of guests who had stayed, and you can really get the feel that they practice the utmost care for them.

There were hanging garlands with hundreds of thank you notes from guests.

They had cute little information boards with a world map of guests' nationalities pinned to a world map (there's been tons of visitors from Canada, by the way!).

There were tons of posters available with tourist information.

Along with an awesome stash of resources for day trips and other tourist sites in Seoul.

BoA Travel House boasts rave reviews and awards from TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, and other travel sites, and now we completely understand why. Even though we didn't stay here, we now know that we'd be right at home in this place with the incredible care and accommodations they offer Muslim guests.

Location

Address in Korean: 03785서대문구 신촌로1길 15
Address:  15, Sinchon-ro 1-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03785, South Korea
Phone Number:  +82.2.323.6255
TripAdvisor Review: Click here
Hotel Facebook Page: Click here
Halal Dosirak Food Page (also BoA): Click here
 

We had a wonderful experience with BoA Travel House's delicious Halal food as well as lovely hospitality, and we would love to stay there next time we visit, as well.

Thank you for everything!

-Maryam

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