Taco Chili Chili (Seoul)

In L.A., Taco + Korean cooks = Kogi. But since Kogi truck isn't roaming Seoul yet, we'll have to wait before enjoying their fusion marvels this side of the Han river. Heck - here, even classic tacos are not a commodity.

But today, as the thermometer read 31 celsius, I felt like having fajitas. Or lamb doner kebab.

And in Seoul, fajitas + kebab = Itaewon. A few minutes later, here I am. Still undecided, but even more ravenous after a mouthwateringly thorough SWOT analysis.

So I quickly settled for both treats, with a digestive walk in between. Featuring a stop at Itaewon Book Store to fetch an old picture book on North Korea cultural heritage.

Just meters away from this Shakespeare & co upon Han sans auteur books ni poetry (fellow Parisians will get the general idea), Taco Chili Chili had set up a few tables outside. Obviously as a pedagogical tool to explain to every driver caught in the traffic jam on his or her way to Namsan tunnel that, whether you're a Korean or a foreigner, eating a taco is by essence jawbreakingly complex.

I took a seat inside with the opposite view on the performance... and the full, tragic understanding of becoming part of it.

Tacos, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, nachos... if the food tastes more Korean-Cal-Mex than Tex-Mex, it nonetheless does the job. They kindly added a coriander twist to their fajitas, which made me feel less guilty for eating a double whammy junk food combo.

And my digestive walk turned out to last over ten kilometers under an unforgiving sun.


Taco Chili Chili (Mexican snack)
527, Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, ROK
Tel : +82.2.797.7219

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IFB / Itaewon Book Store
533, Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, ROK
Tel : +82.793.8249
A very small place and a second hand books place like many others (ie on Cheonggyecheon or near Dongmyo), only featuring more English literature... well... there again, more the "& co" than the "Shakespeare" kind of literature.