Sangmu, Gwangju Korean pub with Ipsaeju soju and makhoe: Misikga

When you travel to Gwangju, you want to try lots of dishes you can only get in that region, right? This time I went to a place where you can enjoy a whole table of yukjeon (beef pancakes), hongeo samhap (fermented skate combo), Korean beef yukhoe (raw seasoned beef) and grilled fish: Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch (미식가 이모카세 상무본점), a Korean restaurant in Sangmu 🍽️

Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch: location and hours

Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch is at 114 Sangmupyeonghwa-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju, on the 1st floor, a 5-minute walk from Sangmu Station Exit 6. It is open daily 16:00–24:00 with no regular days off, and paid parking is available.

Do you need a reservation at Misikga Imokase?

I made a reservation before going, so I got in without a long wait. But when I arrived, the place was much bigger than I expected. I thought it was just the main building, but they run three: main, annex and new building. I was surprised..

I figured it could hold a huge number of group customers in Sangmu. It was really busy when I visited, almost full. Maybe because it was dinner time, there were lots of people drinking as well as people having a meal. When you're looking for a dinner spot in Sangmu, a place that handles both a meal and a drinking session is handy, and Misikga Imokase has that advantage 👍

Imokase set spread: price and what's included

The Misikga Imokase set spread is ₩30,000 per person for 3 or more, and ₩35,000 per person for 2 diners. There were two of us, so it was ₩35,000 each.

You get to taste 17 dishes in one go, so it feels a bit different from a regular restaurant where you order items one by one. That's the charm of imokase (a chef's-choice-style spread, "imo" meaning auntie)~ The dishes come as a basic spread, and at the end you get fried rice, fruit, Changeok tteok (rice cake) and bingsu (shaved ice) for dessert. Note that the menu can change depending on the day's ingredients and the restaurant's situation, so keep that in mind!

Roomy tables for two and group rooms for up to 30

Inside, there were lots of tables and lots of staff. The seating is set up for everything from a regular meal for two to gatherings of many people. I especially noticed that besides group seating, the annex has separate rooms. According to the information given, Annex Room 1 holds up to 20 people and Room 2 up to 30.

For a company dinner or family gathering with many people, it seems worth asking ahead. I actually saw groups eating together and people having a birthday party. We were just two, but they still showed us to a fairly big table! It felt like a six-seater, so even as dishes kept coming, there was plenty of room and it was comfortable.

Ipsaeju, Gwangju's local soju

We came to Imokase, so of course we need a glass of soju, right? In Gwangju, besides Chamisul and Chumchurum, there's also a soju called Ipsaeju (잎새주). You have to try the local liquor, so I ordered it^^

Grilled croaker, soybean-powder makhoe and Hanwoo yukhoe

Starting with two grilled croakers

The first dish of the Misikga Imokase spread was two grilled croakers. Golden on the outside and moist inside, so "crispy outside, juicy inside" fits perfectly. Grilled fish tastes different depending on how it's cooked even without special seasoning, and the flesh wasn't too dry, just clean and mild. Like eating grilled croaker at a pojangmacha (street tent bar)...? haha

Top 3 of the night: makhoe piled with soybean powder

Makhoe (casually cut raw fish) piled with soybean powder!!! Personally it made my top 3 of the day. At first I was curious what it would taste like with so much soybean powder on top, but once I ate it, the texture of the fish itself was really good. The pieces were cut big, so there was a definite chew, and the springy texture was impressive. The soybean powder adds a nutty flavor different from ordinary raw fish. I couldn't check exactly which fish it was, so I can't say, but I enjoyed it a lot. Maybe amberjack..?

Hanwoo cow yukhoe (Korean beef tartare)

I also liked that Korean beef cow yukhoe is included in the spread. I usually enjoy yukhoe as drinking food so it was a welcome dish, but so many other dishes came out that day that I couldn't eat much of it 😂

Braised butterfish with acorn jelly and a bowl of rice

You eat acorn jelly (dotorimuk) often anyway, right! Still, the spicy seasoning and the soft texture of the jelly made it a nice side to eat with the other dishes. If you usually like acorn jelly, it's a familiar dish you'll enjoy.

Honestly, the braised butterfish (byeongeo-jorim) was much more delicious than I expected. I think seasoning decides braised fish, and the seasoning at Misikga Imokase was pretty impressive. It wasn't just spicy and salty; it made me want to eat it with rice or other dishes. The soft butterfish flesh and the radish, eaten with the sauce, went together well. I ordered a bowl of rice right then...

Dried pollack hangover soup that recalled Inje

The refreshing hwangtae haejangguk (dried pollack hangover soup) surprised me with how deep the broth was right away. Inje is famous for it, isn't it? The broth had such depth that it reminded me of the one I once had in Inje. It's good with drinks, and a spoonful of broth in the middle of the meal feels like it resets your mouth~

Samhap bossam, good even if you skip the skate

The samhap bossam (three-way combo) at Misikga Imokase pairs boiled pork, hongeo (fermented skate) and aged kimchi. The meat was really good ✨ Tender to chew, with the pork's own flavor coming through, and with the wrap vegetables and aged kimchi the combination was great. The aged kimchi was especially charming — the flavor you could call typical of Jeolla kimchi, hahaha. Fully fermented kimchi goes well with the meat and with the other dishes too. The mustard leaf kimchi served with it was tasty as well, and I kept reaching for it.

The hongeo was fairly well fermented. I normally can't eat hongeo well, so I first tried it as samhap with the pork and aged kimchi, and after that I didn't reach for it much. If you like hongeo's distinctive smell, you'll probably like it more. Above all, the pairing of pork and aged kimchi was good, so I was personally satisfied 👍

Sweet-and-spicy jjukkumi and cheese fried rice

The sinjjukkumi (spicy webfoot octopus) had an appealing spicy-sweet sauce. I heard the restaurant also runs a Duam-dong Sinjjukkumi shop, and since they actually have a shop for it, it tastes the part. The sweet-spicy sauce really woke up my appetite. After relatively mild dishes like bossam and yukjeon, eating spicy octopus brought my appetite back, hahaha.

They later turn the octopus into cheese fried rice for you. It might be a good idea to leave a little aside from the start. Actually I'm not really a cheese person, but I really enjoyed this fried rice. Mixing rice into the spicy-sweet octopus sauce felt like familiar cheese rice. Even though I was full, I kept eating... 🫶

Perilla-oil fried egg and scallion yukjeon

A fried egg cooked in perilla oil came out too. It looks like an ordinary fried egg, but the nutty aroma of perilla oil made it feel different.

Eating yukjeon in Gwangju seems to have a different charm from the yukjeon I had in Seoul. This scallion-topped yukjeon (pajeori yukjeon) was better than expected!!! Above all, the quality of the beef was good. I think yukjeon only satisfies when the meat itself is delicious, and here the flavor of the beef came through, which I liked 👏

Kimchi jeon, japchae and hangover ramyeon

Kimchi jeon (kimchi pancake) and japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), staples of Korean food, came out too. Japchae is usually eaten as a side dish with rice, but here it felt like it also suited drinks. It was seasoned on the salty side, so it was good to pick at bite by bite.

A spicy hangover ramyeon came out as well. A lot of food had already come, and when ramyeon showed up, it really felt like enjoying a huge variety of dishes. I felt I'd lose out if I skipped it, so even though I was full I took a bite^^

Dessert: fruit, Changeok injeolmi tteok and snow bingsu

It doesn't end here, which is another feature of Misikga Imokase. After the basic spread, three dessert items follow. That day we got Shine Muscat grapes, cherry tomatoes, bananas, dragon fruit, oranges and more. Eating fruit when you're full from lots of food freshens your mouth. I especially remember the dragon fruit, which was sweet and delicious.

Changeok injeolmi tteok (rice cake coated in roasted soybean powder) came out as dessert too. I personally like Changeok tteok, so it was nice to meet it here. In the end I went to buy Changeok tteok the next day,,,

The last one is injeolmi snow bingsu 🍧 I liked that after the meal and drinking food you can finish with a sweet dessert. Injeolmi plus bingsu should suit people who like nutty, sweet desserts. I was full but ended up scraping the bowl clean,,

Would I go back to Misikga Imokase?

Even a real final Saewookkang (shrimp crackers) at the very end, hahaha. At an ordinary Korean restaurant it's not common to get such a variety of desserts after the meal, but Misikga Imokase includes dessert in the spread, so eating is fun and you get so much variety. Totally my taste... as soju drinking food, I agree!!

However, since so much food comes out early on, you can get quite full by the end. Rather than eating too fast from the start, it's better to taste a little of each dish. I'm heading to Gwangju again next week, and I was satisfied enough to want to come back 💓