Strait Side Diner · 15 stories

Tables by the Strait

I write about restaurant visits in Busan and Gyeongnam. · Writes about: Restaurants · Food & snacks · Cafés · Hair & beauty salons

PlaceSeongdong, SeoulCafés

Seongsu café: ₩10,000 iced latte & 8-piece bocado set, Bocado Butter

Bocado Butter Seongsu Main Store is a bocado dessert café on Yeonmujang 7ga-gil, a 5-minute walk from Seongsu Station Exit 4 in Seongdong, Seoul. The 8-piece bocado and coffee set (₩10,000) was ordered with an iced café latte, plus butter caramel cream (₩1,500), and the crunchy bocado topped with thick cream alongside the cold latte made a perfect pairing. For a crisp dessert and coffee in Seongsu for just over ₩10,000, this combo at Bocado Butter Seongsu Main Store is easy to recommend.

Written Oct 28, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulCafés

Apgujeong bakery: vanilla bean latte & toast 30s longer, Option Black

Apgujeong Saengsikppang Option Black is a bakery café near Exit 3 of Apgujeong Station in Gangnam, Seoul, where you toast a master baker's saengsikppang (soft fresh loaf) yourself in a tabletop toaster. The writer ordered the S loaf and D loaf set with unsalted and salted butter, plus a homemade vanilla bean latte. The verdict: toasting 30 seconds longer than the default makes Apgujeong Saengsikppang Option Black's bread crisp outside and soft inside.

Written Oct 26, 2026Sponsored
PlaceEunpyeong, SeoulRestaurants

Baby-friendly Korean BBQ near Nokbeon Station: baby meal, Yukjjeup

Yukjjeup Nokbeon is a newly opened pork belly and pork neck Korean BBQ restaurant near Nokbeon Station in Eunpyeong, Seoul. A family of regulars from the Eungam branch visited with their youngest, who had just started solid food, and ordered a baby meal, the Yukjjeup 600g sampler and yeolmu bibim guksu (spicy young radish kimchi noodles), and they were pleased by the thick, juicy pork and family touches like baby chairs and the baby meal. For an easy Seoul Korean BBQ meal out with a little one, Yukjjeup Nokbeon is a good fit.

Written Oct 22, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSeocho, SeoulRestaurants

Korean BBQ with baby chairs at Seoul Express Bus Terminal: Ugojip

Ugojip (우고집) is a Korean BBQ beef restaurant in the basement of Banpo Shopping Town Building 5 at Express Bus Terminal in Seocho, Seoul. After shopping at the terminal with a younger sibling, the writer ordered the 400g couple set for 49,000 won and especially liked Ugojip's house soy sauce topped with hot green chili and the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) packed with beef. With baby chairs on hand, Ugojip is a solid pick for a family meal near Express Bus Terminal.

Written Oct 19, 2026Sponsored
PlaceMapo, SeoulCafés

Gongdeok Station café: after-dinner bakes with kids, Fluffy Bake Shop

Fluffy Bake Shop is a madeleine and financier dessert café near Exit 2 of Gongdeok Station in Mapo, Seoul, featured in the financier episode of the TV show Amazing Saturday (episode 266). The writer chose baked sweets in a shop filled with the aroma of Lescure AOP butter, had them prettily wrapped, and shared them with the kids after dinner; the plate was empty before anything could be left over. Fluffy Bake Shop is a Gongdeok Station dessert café worth stocking up at for family snacks or gift-ready baked treats.

Written Oct 14, 2026Sponsored
PlaceMapo, SeoulHair & beauty salons

Gongdeok lash salon: first lash lift to skip daily mascara, Iyo Shop

Iyo Shop is a one-person eyelash salon near Gongdeok Station Exit 3 in Mapo, Seoul, specializing in lash volume, extensions and lifts. Busy with childcare and unable to keep up with daily mascara, the writer had a first-ever lash lift at Iyo Shop, the nourishing + black tint lift (₩50,000), and although slight tape marks remained, the short, sparse lashes curled up sharply as if pressed with a lash curler. For short lashes that make extension upkeep a hassle, Iyo Shop's nourishing + black tint lift was a satisfying choice.

Written Oct 13, 2026Sponsored
PlaceEunpyeong, SeoulRestaurants

Baby-friendly rib restaurant in Yeonsinnae: gondre rice at Seongil

Seongil Sikdang Deunggalbi-jjim Yeonsinnae (성일식당) is a braised pork rib restaurant near Yeonsinnae Station in Eunpyeong, Seoul, serving ribs in a large steel pot, cauldron-cooked gondre rice (rice with Korean thistle greens) and buckwheat pancakes. On a weekday at lunch opening time, the writer came with a friend and a 10-month-old baby, sat the baby in a high chair, ordered the 2-person braised rib set at spice level 1, and the baby happily ate the gondre rice and buckwheat pancake. For a hearty lunch with a little one in Yeonsinnae, Seongil Sikdang is a safe choice.

Written Oct 12, 2026Sponsored
PlaceEunpyeong, SeoulRestaurants

Nokbeon Station sundaeguk restaurant with suyuk a baby can eat: Samo

Samo Sundaeguk Nokbeon (삼오순대국 녹번점) is a sundaeguk (Korean pork and blood sausage soup) restaurant in Nokbeon-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, across from the Eunpyeong District Office. On a dinner out with her husband and 10-month-old baby, the writer ordered the 2-person suyuk set (1 special sundaeguk plus a small suyuk, boiled pork); Samo Sundaeguk Nokbeon split the soup into two earthenware bowls, and the pork was so tender, with no gamey smell, that the baby, stuck in a weaning slump, happily ate it. Samo Sundaeguk Nokbeon is a satisfying family dinner spot near Nokbeon Station for parents eating out with a baby.

Written Oct 11, 2026Sponsored
PlaceMapo, SeoulCafés

Unique Hongdae café with a cloud ceiling upstairs: Chimney Mansion

Chimney Mansion is a chimney bread (trdelník) bakery café on Jandari-ro 6-gil in Mapo, Seoul, between Yeonnam-dong and Hongdae. On a visit with her eldest daughter, the writer had an iced latte, plain ice cream, and original and pistachio chimney bread on Chimney Mansion's second floor, where white shirred fabric wraps the ceiling like clouds, and tearing the bread apart with the dedicated mini scissors and tongs was half the fun. Chimney Mansion is a unique Hongdae café that suits families and couples who want photogenic spaces and dessert together.

Written Jul 18, 2026Sponsored
PlaceEunpyeong, SeoulRestaurants

Eungam Korean BBQ with a baby high chair and water dropwort: Yukjjip

Yukjjip is a Korean BBQ restaurant in Eunpyeong, Seoul, a 2-minute walk from Eungam Station Exit 4. On a visit with a baby still on solid-food purées, Yukjjip offered a wooden high chair with a tray and baby rice ordered for ₩0, and staff grilled the 600g mixed platter with seasonal wild water dropwort added. Yukjjip is a low-effort Seoul Korean BBQ choice for families dining out with little ones.

Written Aug 4, 2026Sponsored
PlaceEunpyeong, SeoulRestaurants

Tonkatsu lunch with chicken karaage in Yeonsinnae: Katsu Monster

Katsu Monster Yeonsinnae Branch is a tonkatsu restaurant on Yeonseo-ro 28-gil near Yeonsinnae Station in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Lunch here was the triple katsu, which brings pork loin, pork tenderloin and cheese katsu on one plate, plus a side of chicken karaage (3pcs); the coating stayed crisp, the pork held its juices and the cheese katsu poured out melted cheese. With a bar table for one, Katsu Monster Yeonsinnae Branch is an easy place to eat lunch alone.

Written Aug 14, 2026Sponsored
PlaceEunpyeong, SeoulRestaurants

Eunpyeong ramen with a baby carrier and extra cilantro: Oreno Ramen

Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong is a chicken-broth ramen restaurant on Bulgwangcheon-gil in Eunpyeong, Seoul, listed in the Michelin Guide as a Bib Gourmand pick. With their youngest in a baby carrier, the couple took turns holding him and ate one bowl each of tori paitan and karai paitan, adding cilantro for a sharp, fragrant lift to the rich chicken broth. Between the wood ear mushrooms and the sous-vide chicken breast chashu, Oreno Ramen Eunpyeong is an easy recommendation among Eunpyeong ramen restaurants.

Written Aug 18, 2026Sponsored