Filter Nook · 13 stories

Filter Paper Corner

I write about café visits and quiet coffee stops around Seoul. · Writes about: Cafés · Bars · Restaurants · Shopping

PlaceJung-gu, SeoulRestaurants

Myeongdong jokbal restaurant with corn paper mala wraps: Miss Jokbal

Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch is a jokbal (braised pork trotter) restaurant tucked just off Myeongdong's main street in Seoul, a 5-minute walk from Euljiro 1-ga Station and Myeongdong Station. Two people came on a weekday around 6:30 p.m. and ordered a small garlic jokbal, Miss steamed egg and fish roe rice balls with draft beer, and the complimentary kimchi kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) and corn paper wraps with mala sauce stood out. Thanks to the sweet, non-spicy garlic sauce and the range of dipping sauces, the garlic jokbal at Miss Jokbal never got boring.

Written Jun 10, 2026Sponsored
PlaceJongno, SeoulRestaurants

Jongno 3-ga dumpling hot pot, booked holiday lunch: Jongga Mandu

Jongga Mandu is a handmade dumpling and dumpling hot pot restaurant on Supyo-ro in Jongno, Seoul, formerly called Seonggyeong Mandu. The writer booked a table on Naver for 12:30 on a public holiday, walked in with no wait and ordered the half-and-half broth dumpling hot pot for 2 (listed as 28.0 on the menu). The hot pot came with clear and spicy dried pollack broth, meat and kimchi dumplings, beef brisket and kalguksu noodles, eaten like a course. Verdict: Jongga Mandu's dumpling hot pot was just right as a hangover lunch the day after drinking.

Written Jun 8, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulRestaurants

After-work Korean BBQ in Gangnam, Seoul: egg yolk sauce ribs at Sojei

Sojei Seoul Flagship Store (소제이 서울본점) is a Korean BBQ restaurant specializing in LA-style flower ribs and braised oxtail on Gangnam-daero 114-gil near Sinnonhyeon Station in Gangnam, Seoul, opened by a popular LA rib restaurant from Seomyeon in Busan. On a weekday visit around 8pm after work, the blogger had the complimentary beef tartare (yukhoe) side, 500g of thick LA flower ribs (listed as 60.0 on the menu), the small oxtail stew (33.0) and extra somyeon noodles (2.0). With thick ribs grilled by staff and a sweet-and-tangy oxtail stew sauce, every dish at Sojei Seoul Flagship Store was satisfying.

Written Jul 5, 2026Sponsored
PlaceMapo, SeoulRestaurants

Gongdeok seafood pub after work: aged sashimi and abalone udon, Neoul

Neoul Gongdeok Direct Branch is an aged sashimi and seafood pub near Exit 10 of Gongdeok Station in Mapo, Seoul. After work on a weekday, two of us ordered the small aged sashimi platter (53,000 won), abalone innards udon (23,000 won) and Donghae soju. Verdict: Neoul's aged sashimi is chewy and full of umami, and the hearty abalone innards udon fills the gap, so the two dishes make an excellent pairing.

Written Jul 14, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSeocho, SeoulBars

Sinnonhyeon jazz bar for first-timers: dois dos meninos at Flat Nine

Flat Nine is a live jazz dining bar on Gangnam-daero 65-gil, between Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station in Seoul. A couple seeing live jazz for the first time watched the dois dos meninos show at 4pm on a weekend, ordering the Classic Course for two (78,000 won) plus the 15,000 won per person show fee. If the usual movie-and-restaurant date feels stale, a jazz dinner date at Flat Nine is a great choice.

Written Jul 11, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulBars

Gangnam craft beer bar with ₩40,000 all-you-can-drink beer: Beer Room

Beer Room is a craft beer bar between Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station in Seoul that offers 3 hours of unlimited craft beer and fries for ₩40,000 per person. Two of us ordered the unlimited deal, added a margherita pizza, drank 4 beers each and got 2.5 refills of wedge fries. To try several craft beers in Gangnam without worrying about the price of each draft, Beer Room's 3-hour unlimited deal is the answer.

Written Jul 26, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSongpa, SeoulRestaurants

Garak Market fish shop, sashimi and sujebi spicy stew: Yeongjae Susan

Yeongjae Susan (영재수산) is a sashimi and seafood shop on the 1st floor of Garak Mall in Garak Market, Songpa, Seoul, known for king crab, snow crab and takeout sashimi platters. On a weekend, a couple ordered the small Nong-Gwang-Cham set and ate it straight away at a chojang-jip, a restaurant inside the market that serves the fish you bring. The set came with thick cuts of large sea bass, large flounder and large red sea bream, plus flounder fin and sea bream skin. With more than two people could finish and a spicy fish stew with potato sujebi (hand-torn dough) added, Yeongjae Susan makes for a filling Garak Market sashimi date.

Written Jul 25, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSeocho, SeoulCafés

24-hour Sinnonhyeon café for team projects & salmon sandwich: Selecto

Selecto Coffee Sinnonhyeon Branch 24 Auto Brew Cafe is a 24-hour café within a 5-minute walk of Sinnonhyeon Station in Seocho, Seoul, staffed by day and unmanned at night. On a weekend visit around 1 p.m., the blogger toured the solo seats, team-project and study rooms and the in-store printer, then chose a bean for a 3,800-won iced americano and ate an 8,500-won smoked salmon sandwich. Selecto Coffee Sinnonhyeon covers all-nighters, urgent printing and small group meetups in one stop.

Written Jul 26, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSeongdong, SeoulBars

Korean pub in Wangsimni for Boknal: ginseng omija highball, Ari Gyegok

Ari Gyegok Wangsimni Hanyang University Branch is a traditional Korean liquor pub in Seongdong, Seoul, a 3-minute walk from Wangsimni Station. On boknal, the hottest days of summer, the writer skipped samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) and ordered the clay duck pancake set for 2 (₩41,800) and a bottle of omija highball with ginseng (₩19,900), tasting spicy hangover chicken hot pot, nurungji (scorched rice) and the whole fried clay duck pancake. If you are tired of samgyetang but still want a boknal stamina meal, the set for 2 at Ari Gyegok Hanyang University Branch is a good choice.

Written Jul 30, 2026Sponsored
PlaceDongjak, SeoulRestaurants

Whisky & sake BYO Korean BBQ in Isu, Seoul: beef yuksashimi, Hwaseol

Hwaseol Isu Branch (화설 이수직영점) is a free-corkage Korean BBQ restaurant near Isu Station in Dongjak, Seoul. The writer brought whisky and sake and ordered the 550g Korean pork set (69,000 won) and 150g Korean beef yuksashimi, thin-sliced raw beef (27,000 won); staff grilled the meat, and doenjang stew came free with the set. Hwaseol Isu Branch suits anyone who wants to enjoy good bottles from home with Korean BBQ and no corkage fee.

Written Aug 2, 2026Sponsored
PlaceGangnam, SeoulRestaurants

Seoul Korean BBQ with black rice makgeolli pairing: Sansol Sinnonhyeon

Sansol Sinnonhyeon is an aged-pork Korean BBQ restaurant on the ground floor of Gangnamdae-ro 112-gil, a short walk from Sinnonhyeon Station in Gangnam, Seoul. Arriving at 8pm on a weekday meant no wait, and the table came to the san moeum mixed platter for 2-3 people, 500g (56,000 won), Damheun black rice makgeolli (15,000 won) and country-style doenjang jjigae (9,000 won), with the thick, creamy makgeolli cutting through the fatty pork. Corkage is free and downward-venting ducts keep the smoke away, so Sansol Sinnonhyeon works for both team dinners and dates.

Written Aug 13, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSongpa, SeoulShopping

Songpa flower shop lavender basket for meeting future in-laws: Habio

Habio Flower by Su is a fresh flower shop on the first floor of Building 110 at Park Habio in Songpa-gu, Seoul. For a first visit to her future in-laws, the writer asked Habio Flower by Su for a mini flower basket in lavender tones and picked up a bright arrangement mixing pale lavender, soft yellow and cream, priced at 65,000 won. Tell the owner only the color your future mother-in-law likes and she builds the rest, so reserving ahead and picking it up is the easiest way to solve a first-meeting gift.

Written Sep 25, 2026Sponsored