Original Food - Seoul, Korea (Ewha Womans University)

Original Food has been in existence since 1967 and was a favorite lunch spot of my mom and her friends during college. A few years ago, they remodeled, but up until that point, she claimed it looked exactly the same as when she was in school. They kept the front area, where they have the two friers, the same and they still specialize in tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and fried squid. We come here nowadays mostly to eat the fried squid. We had already eaten lunch elsewhere so we stopped by for a midday snack. Here's the guy, clearly not focused on the glorious task at hand, overlooking the two huge woks where the squid and other veggies are fried.

Here's why I think it tastes so good. First of all, they only fry the squid legs and not the body of the squid. The squid legs are a lot chewier and not as rubbery. The best part is that they fry an extra ruffle of batter that gets extra crispy and tastes like you're eating a fresh shrimp chip. I know I am not doing the fried squid proper justice, so you must try it for yourself. Jung said that this was one of his favorite foods of all time.

You get five pieces for 3,000 won. We came in and moaned about how full we were from lunch and how we could only eat one piece each. After we finished off the plate, we ended up ordering another one. Then thirty minutes later, my mom called and asked us to bring some home for the parents. So clearly the whole family is a fan.