Restaurants in South Korea
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A
BSD Dubu House
Over 20 varieties of spicy sundubu are on offer in this neat and clean basement restaurant decorated with collectables, but the traditional beef one is hard to beat. Add a raw egg to the sundubu, empty the rice into a bowl and add boiling water to the remaining rice to make burnt-rice tea. Side dishes include freshly fried fish.
reviewed
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B
Dolkemaeul Tofu House
The star here is the excellent sundubu (uncurdled tofu) cooked in a stone pot and served with hotpot rice, soup, fish and side dishes. Add an egg to the tofu, spoon the rice into a bowl and pour hot water from the kettle into the rice hotpot to make burnt-rice tea that takes away the spiciness.
reviewed
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C
Pulhyanggi
Sit on chairs or floor cushions at this long-running, 2nd-storey restaurant where the popular attraction is the dozen or more items served up in the set meals. The mainly vegetarian sets offer traditional food such as sweet-and-sour mushrooms, sesame soup, acorn jelly, rice cakes and special teas.
reviewed
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D
Le Saint-Ex
The blackboard menu at this very French bistro with consistently good food and service is always tempting. A heater and even blankets are available for the outside patio. The W17,600 lunch sets are excellent, and in a sneaky move the irresistible desserts are always on display.
reviewed
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E
Mad for Garlic
The bare brick walls, the wine glass and wine bottle decor and the open-plan kitchen make this a top spot for atmosphere and couples. The Italian menu doesn’t disappoint, nor does the Dracula Killer starter. Bottles of wine start from W30,000.
reviewed
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F
Bonjuk
Big bowls of tasty and healthy rice porridge feature in this chain of small, neat restaurants - try ginseng and chicken, mushroom and oyster, seafood, sweet pumpkin, or red bean.
reviewed
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Millak Town Raw Fish Centre
This collection of raw-fish shops provides a rustic dining experience. Located at the northeast end of Gwang·an beach, purchase a fish for around and walk upstairs to eat; the woman selling you the fish will indicate which floor. Inside the seating area, your fish will be prepared and served for a per person fee.
Raw fish is called hoe (회; sounds similar to 'when' without the 'n'). A typical raw-fish dinner starts with a small banquet of appetisers including raw baby octopus still wiggling on the plate. A platter of thinly sliced raw fish without rice is the main course. Fish is dipped into a saucer of chogochujang (초고추장), a watery red-pepper sauce, or a dish of soy…
reviewed
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Pungmi Chueotang
This scruffy-looking restaurant draws people from great distances for the chueotang (추어탕; loach soup). Made from ground loach and leafy cabbage, the dark green soup has a mild taste. If it's too mild, dip into the plastic tubs of seasoning, which includes sancho (산초), a brown spice that adds a rich, earthy flavour when used sparingly.
With a self-serve counter of unlimited side dishes like baked fish and seaweed, it's an outstanding meal and one of the city's best deals. Getting here is not easy, though. Take a taxi from Seomyeon or Sports Complex station, Exit 11, and go to the main gate of Children's Park. Walk along the road to the right of the park entrance…
reviewed
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G
Gamrodang
Chef Youn Hie-hong offers a series of small but wonderfully original vegetarian dishes that are bulging with healthy ingredients such as hamcho, a salty green herb that grows near the sea, and deodeok. Loosely based on Buddhist temple food, the carefully prepared items are full of varied and subtle flavours. Every course is special – the salad with a seven-herb dressing, the fragrant rice wrapped in lotus leaf, the pink cactus juice kimchi, the fried mushrooms in citron juice, the tofu sandwich, and the pink bamboo salt. The children’s menu is W12,000. Don’t be put off by the tatty exterior.
reviewed
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H
Beomtae Sonjjajang
Here's a sterling example of a successful restaurant owner who won't update, modernise or even clean up the shop interior. According to superstition, the good fortune a successful shop enjoys could be lost if the interior were changed. Consequently, some shoddy-looking restaurants, like this one, serve great food. The jjambbong (짬뽕; spicy seafood soup), gunmandu (군만두; fried mandu) and tangsuyuk (탕수육; sweet-and-sour fried pork) are all excellent.
reviewed
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Boso
Gastronomic adventurer? Come to Boso for a more-than-you-can-eat banquet. Tourists don’t frequent the place, and the food is uncompromisingly Korean, including raw fish, raw prawns, eel and ray. There’s also galbi, a whole pumpkin cooked with sticky rice, nuts and a sweet sauce inside, japchae, soup, porridge, salad, vegetables, stuffed peppers, octopus, fruit, tea… Oh yes and steamed egg, dubu jjigae, mini- pajeon, mul kimchi… The helpful owner speaks English.
reviewed
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Podo Cheong
It's not the best sutbul galbi (숯불갈비; charcoal-fired barbecue) restaurant but it is very good. The main draw of this busy restaurant is the backyard barbecue feel in the outdoor patio. Lean moksal (목살; pork chop) tastes great though most Koreans choose samgyeopsal (삼겹살; bacon). Unless you're hoping to accelerate the likelihood of a heart attack, avoid this cut, which is essentially a slab of fat with a hint of pork.
reviewed
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I
Geumsu Bokguk
Do you remember the Simpson's episode when Homer ate blowfish and was told he had 24 hours to live? This restaurant serves that fish. A worthwhile restaurant for anyone who wants to experience a seafood delicacy and earn bragging rights: I ate poisonous fish and survived. Stay on the 1st floor for relatively inexpensive dishes. Head upstairs and join the Japanese tourists who have a strong yen for the pricey sets. Located on a small lane across the street from the Paradise Hotel in Hae·undae.
reviewed
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J
Tobang
A white sign with two Chinese characters above a doorway leads the way to this small nine-table traditional restaurant, where you sit on floor cushions under paper lanterns. Order the sundubu jjigae or doenjang jjigae for some Korean home-cooking flavour and excellent side dishes that include bean sprouts, fish, cuttlefish and raw crab in red-pepper sauce, plus a minimalist soup, rice and lettuce wraps. Authentic home cooking for W4000 – no wonder queues build up at lunchtime.
reviewed
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Kkwong Memil Guksu
A tiny five-table eatery near the bus terminal, it has one staff member and two items on the menu: the kkwong-gui (꿩구이) is simple and highly recommended - half a pheasant is grilled at your table. Order rice to go with it as the side dishes are nothing to write home about. The other option is kkwong memil guksu (꿩메밀국수) - pheasant pieces share a soup with homemade noodles wide enough to drive along.
reviewed
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K
Sanchon
The atmosphere created by the Buddhist artworks, music and lanterns makes this a very special restaurant. In addition, the owner, Kim Yun-sik – an ex-monk – is an expert on Korean Buddhist temple food, and the vegetarian marinades, glazes and seasonings are unique. The same meal of 20 small courses is served at both lunch and dinner. The prices may not be very Buddhist, but the food and atmosphere are heavenly. Dancers and drummers perform nightly at 8pm.
reviewed
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Gonghwachun
The set meals are the best deal at this quite posh and formal restaurant. A W25,000 set meal offers eight courses, not large portions but well-presented and with contrasting seafood flavours. Also included is the invented-in-Incheon-Chinatown jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce). The scallops in a spicy, finely chopped sauce are a stand-out. Walk up the road from Incheon station – Gonghwachun is the large four-storey restaurant facing you.
reviewed
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L
Noryangjin Fish Market Restaurants
Up on the 2nd floor of the fish market are half a dozen traditional-style restaurants, selling the freshest fish and seafood. They specialise in raw fish, but also serve spicy soups with octopus, blue crab or fish plus steamed crab, grilled prawns or clams, or jeonbokjuk (abalone rice porridge). All come with side dishes such as grilled fish, quail eggs, acorn jelly, beans and tofu. Beware of sannakji, which is live baby octopus.
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Tosokchon Samgyetang
Despite the crowds, the samgyetang arrives fast and still bubbling. Tip some salt and pepper together into a small saucer and use it as a dip. This 30-year-old icon is housed in a sprawling hanok (traditional house), and for many locals – and even ex-presidents – it’s the best in Seoul. Black chicken samgyetang is W19,000. Walk straight for 100m from Exit 2, turn left at the GS25 convenience store and it’s on your left.
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Osegyehang
A clean, modern vegetarian restaurant run by members of a Taiwanese religious sect. The food combines all sorts of mixtures and flavours, and is proving to be popular. The pumpkin slices garnished with cinnamon and nuts tastes much better than it sounds, and the barbecue-meat-substitute dish is flavoursome. The food is original and worth trying – although noodles in red-bean soup could be a step too far. Non-alcoholic beer and wine is served.
reviewed
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Zelen
A couple of young Bulgarian guys have done a great job setting up this restaurant. Warm and welcoming, with candles and a mermaid water feature, the Bulgarian food is original and very good. Meat lovers have plenty of options, and there are wines, too. Meals like kiufte meatballs are served on a big white platter, while the giuvedje stew is smaller but packed with meats. It’s best to book if you want to come on the weekend.
reviewed
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Tosokmaeul
Are you ready for full-on, full-flavoured Korean peasant fodder? Gamjatang is served up in this cluttered diner. Pick out the chillies to make it less spicy. The uncompromising side dishes are salty-and-fishy-as-hell shrimps, radish and cabbage kimchi drenched in gochujang, raw onions and raw chillies. Thankfully the rice is plain, and there are plenty of paper tissues to deal with runny noses and sweaty brows.
reviewed
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Busan Ilbeonji
Generous super-fresh fish and crab meals are a bargain at Mrs Moon’s restaurant up on the 2nd floor of the Noryangjin fish market. Match the hangeul above to the sign to find it, or maybe just ask someone. Saengseon-gui is W5000 and kkotge (a crab in a spicy or mild soup) is W10,000 and includes great side dishes such as garnished tofu, sweet red beans, pumpkin, raw fish salad and shredded jellyfish.
reviewed
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R
Samarkand
Within the vast Dongdaemun market is Samarkand, a laid-back, family-run, home-cooking Uzbekistan restaurant. Sitting in the armchairs with Uzbeki pop DVDs on the TV is like eating in someone’s living room. The soups ( shurpa has meat, solid vegetables and chickpeas in a tasty broth) and kebabs ( shashlik is minced meat served on a huge skewer) are great, and lepeshka bread goes well with the meal.
reviewed
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Fresh House
A great spread at a great price has ensured the popularity of this new buffet restaurant at Olympic Park. The cooks are constantly bringing in appetising, mainly Asian food. With the accent on freshness, this buffet is proving to be a hit with meat lovers, sushi lovers, salad lovers, dessert lovers – everyone is catered for. Tip: if daege (king crab) is on the buffet, grab a seat as close to it as possible.
reviewed