Enjoy Squid Game Eats in Portland

Ddukbokki at Chimcking. Photo credit: Chimcking

I’ll admit it—I loved Squid Game. Sure, it’s bloody and violent but so was the original Total Recall, which I also loved. One of my favorite aspects of Squid Game is that it introduced me to a whole bunch of great Korean actors, and now I’m looking forward to watching some of them in the upcoming series on Netflix, The Silent Sea. Anyway, back to Squid Game—it certainly made an impression on a worldwide audience and I was happy to see at least two “hat tips” to the movie here in Portland.

Earlier this month, Portland Monthly published an article, “Where to Find the Food from Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ in Portland,” which I thought was a really smart premise. It’s filled with mostly delicious Korean food but also the hardboiled egg, cooked potato, and corn, which you can get at U.S. markets like Fred Meyer and Trader Joe’s. I’m looking forward to eating the Ddukbokki—AKA Tteokbokki—from Chimcking (4118 NE Sandy Blvd) sometime soon. I’ve had their KFC, which is quite tasty. Ddukbokki has got to be one of my favorite Korean dishes.

I’d also like to try the Dalgona coffee at Toki (580 SW 12th Avenue), which leads me to the other Squid Game oriented food item—macarons.

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For a limited time, Donna’s Macarons is offering macarons filled with a honey buttercream (or a flavor you prefer from their menu) and stamped with the distinctive Squid Game shapes from the Round 2 Game, “Sugar Honeycombs.” They are $32/dozen and packed individually. You can order them here.

And of course, we are fortunate to have H-Mart here in Portland—one opened up back in 2019 at 3301 SE Belmont Street and it is full of ingredients you can buy to make Korean food at home. I love hanging out there; I could wander the aisles for hours.

If I missed any Squid Game food references in Portland, please shoot me a message (but not in the style of “Red Light, Green Light,” though).