Gyeongju restaurant: ssam-style arugula pizza with Mom, Midam Kitchen

A Hwangnidang-gil day trip, just me and Mom

This time I went to Gyeongju with just my mom!! And guess what, she hasn't been back since her honeymoon there with my dad?? I mean, it's so close to Busan!! T_T

I've been to Gyeongju quite a lot, so why didn't it ever occur to me to bring her?? T_T I felt kind of guilty, and I decided I should come to Gyeongju with Mom more often from now on...

So this time we planned to eat something yummy and stroll around Hwangnidang-gil, haha. For lunch we picked pizza, which Mom has never actually said she loves, lol, but it always makes the corners of her mouth go up, lol.

While searching for Hwangnidang-gil restaurants, I found the newly opened Midam Kitchen (미담키친) and went there.

Where is Midam Kitchen, and what are its hours?

Midam Kitchen is at 33 Cheomseong-ro 49beon-gil, Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk. It's in the middle of Hwangnidang-gil but set slightly away from the busiest street.

So it's not hard to find, and it's nice for wandering around Hwangnidang-gil after your meal.

• Hours: 10:30am–9pm
• Last order: 8:30pm
• Closed: every Wednesday

If you're looking for a Gyeongju date-night spot, it's also well placed for stopping in during a Hwangnidang-gil walk!

A dining room that feels like a decorated hanok

Stepping inside Midam Kitchen, the atmosphere was pretty unique? To me it felt like a house where people once lived, a traditional hanok, turned into a restaurant. The layout was a bit different from an ordinary Western restaurant, but that was actually the charm, lol.

Each table has some separation from the others, so it's nice for a private meal. It was comfortable for Mom and me to sit and talk. Maybe because it's newly opened, I also liked how clean it felt overall, haha.

There are plenty of hanok-style cafés in Hwangnidang-gil, but a Western restaurant with this vibe is pretty good too!!

They have baby chairs too, so it's good for families!!

Midam Kitchen menu and prices: what two of us ordered

You order on the tablet at each table.

We decided on one pizza and one risotto.

A fresh salad sounded good too, but our stomachs are limited, lol. Mom picked the beef risotto, so I figured the pizza should be something a bit fresh and went with the arugula tomato pizza!!

The arugula tomato pizza is ₩21,900 and the beef risotto is ₩15,900. I wondered if that might be too much food for two, but we ordered anyway, lol.

Oh, and strangely, Midam Kitchen has pork cutlet (donkatsu) too? I want to come back with my second kid, who is a total cutlet fiend, lol. They have ades too, but we kept it simple with a cider (lemon-lime soda)~!

Eat the arugula tomato pizza like a ssam

For Midam Kitchen's arugula tomato pizza, the staff told us to wrap the arugula around the slice and eat it like a ssam (a leaf wrap), so nothing slides off and it stays neat. With tomatoes and arugula on top, it looks fresh from the start.

When they brought the pizza, the staff even told us how to eat it. They said arugula pizza is best eaten like a ssam rather than just as is!!

Ohhh, so that's how, lol. Wrapping the arugula as they showed us, it didn't flop around and slide off, and it was neat to eat!

I thought two slices would be left, but we finished the whole pizza

Honestly, when ordering I worried whether the two of us could finish it?? I really thought about two slices would be left over, lol. But the pizza was so much better than I expected!!

And we ended up leaving not a single slice, lol. Mom usually eats small portions, so I was sure she'd only have a little?? But we split it exactly half and half!! I guess it suited her taste too, haha.

How was the beef risotto?

The beef risotto Mom chose is ₩15,900. The meat was salty-sweet and the risotto was thick and rich. Since it has meat in it, it seemed good to eat alongside the pizza too.

Taking a bite, the meat was salty and sweet and the risotto was thick and rich. There was also bell pepper here and there, which added a mellow sweetness.

This combo worked surprisingly well!! With food like this you often start craving pickles, right?? But this was so good that I felt we didn't even need pickles, haha.

Good pick, Mom, lol. Alternating between the arugula tomato pizza and the beef risotto made a great combination too.

Overall verdict on Midam Kitchen with Mom

We ate really well at Midam Kitchen in Gyeongju's Hwangnidang-gil with Mom!!

I loved the unique space that seems to make use of a hanok, and above all the food is good :) The most amazing part was that my small-appetite mom ate half the pizza!! lol

The beef risotto was thick, salty and sweet, and I was happy with it too!! If you're looking for a Hwangnidang-gil restaurant in Gyeongju and want pizza or risotto, give Midam Kitchen a try :)

A tasty lunch with Mom and a stroll around Hwangnidang-gil!! I really love spending time together like this, haha. I'll have to bring her on the next Gyeongju trip too, lol.