Seo-gu, Gwangju Korean restaurant: 17 dishes at Misikga Imokase

I recently took a trip to Gwangju in Jeolla-do, the city of great food. People say everything is delicious wherever you go in Gwangju, but since it was a trip, I wanted to eat properly good food. While looking for a local dinner spot in Sangmu District, I found a place where you can enjoy 17 different dishes in a Korean set-meal style, so off we went.

Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch, near Sangmu Station

Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch (미식가 이모카세 상무본점), where I visited, is close to Sangmu Station, which is probably why it is so popular.

As befits a local Sangmu District dinner favorite, this place is on another scale: it has three sections in total—the new building, main building, and annex!

• One private room for 8 people
• Two private rooms for 10–12 people
• One private room for 16 people
• One private room for 20 people
• One private room for 28 people
• One private room for 60 people

Isn't that seriously enormous? That many people use it for group work dinners and meals out. Since there were just two of us, we ate in the main building.

The main building had slightly more retro décor than the new building and annex, with a range of tables for two, four, and six. There were lots of couples like us, as well as groups of friends.

When we arrived at our table, they brought out the tableware and water. The spoon and chopsticks were placed in hot water ^^ A very clean, hygienic place!

Ordering the Imokase set meal for two

The menu was posted on the wall. Imokase was the main offering, with add-on dishes available. It costs ₩30,000 per person, or ₩35,000 per person for two people. We said there were two of us and ordered drinks, and the food immediately started arriving… Here are the first dishes.

Korean beef yukhoe (seasoned raw beef) / japchae (glass noodles with vegetables) / dressed acorn jelly / makhoe (raw fish salad) loaded with soybean powder / dried pollack hangover soup

They also brought dried pollack hangover soup. It was set on the burner beside us, and we were told to eat it after 10 minutes. The presentation was seriously insane!

The yukhoe was tender and delicious, and the japchae tasted exactly like the japchae you eat for a holiday feast. And the acorn jelly—its pleasantly bitter flavor was incredible. As for the makhoe, wrapping it in perilla leaves was pure heaven!

Grilled yellow croaker / potatoes / kimchi pancake

Grilled yellow croaker is perfect with rice, right? ^^ They gave us potatoes too, and the freshly fried kimchi pancake, with its tangy kimchi flavor, was love.

Braised butterfish / samhaph (boiled pork, aged kimchi, and fermented skate) / perilla-oil fried egg / pan-fried beef with seasoned scallions

Then the main-event dishes came flowing out.

There was braised butterfish and samhaph. The braised butterfish had delicious seasoning and plenty of flesh, which I loved.

This samhaph is what we came for. The boiled pork was so soft and truly delicious.

One bite with pork, aged kimchi, and fermented skate, and you think, this is the real deal. I simply had to say cheers ^^

The fried egg was nutty too, and if you top the pan-fried beef with seasoned scallions and eat them together, you won't envy a specialty restaurant.

This already seemed like a lot, but there was more.

Spicy stir-fried webfoot octopus / cheese fried rice / hangover ramen / fruit dessert / bingsu (shaved ice dessert)

Stir-fried webfoot octopus on top of all this—what is this?! But the seasoning was incredible. A true rice thief. After we ate the octopus, we asked them to chop up the remaining pieces and fry them with rice… and then it came: the cheese came! It was amazing that they didn't hold back on the cheese. And there was even hangover ramen! The spicy broth was fantastic.

You thought it was over, right? No! It wasn't over! Finally… fruit for dessert and the super-popular Chang-eok Tteok pumpkin injeolmi (rice cake coated in soybean powder)..!

And then snowflake bingsu and Saewookkang shrimp crackers. The fruit can vary by season, but we got bananas, cherry tomatoes, dragon fruit, and oranges—all things I love ^^ Please, have the Chang-eok Tteok pumpkin injeolmi twice. It is seriously so good. I adore Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch for serving this too. We finished with the snowflake bingsu.

From 17 main dishes through dessert

Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch, the local Sangmu District dinner favorite I visited on my Gwangju trip, left me so satisfied. At ₩30,000, everything from the 17 mains through dessert was perfect, and I understood why locals love it. If I travel to Gwangju again, this is somewhere I would want to revisit! If you're looking for a local dinner spot in Sangmu District, I recommend Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch.