Sotbap set lunch at Garden Five, Seoul: perilla mushroom at Gomemui

My sister and I went to Hyundai Outlet, and we had lunch at Gomemui (고메무이) in the B1 restaurant area. Here's my post about the neat, delicious set-meal pot rice we had^^

Where is Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive, and how do you park?

Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive is on B1 at 66 Chungmin-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 189 m from Exit 4 of Jangji Station on Line 8. You can use the Garden Five underground car park free for 4 hours, so it's easy by car too.

It's close to Jangji Station, so public transport works well, and the underground car park is large with 4 hours of free parking, which is handy for a café stop or shopping after your meal. After you enter the Garden Five car park, park on the Techno building side, marked by blue pillars, and it's easier to find.

• Hours: daily 10:30–20:30
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: 14:30 and 20:00
• Parking: free in the Garden Five underground car park
• Groups: up to 70 people
• Wheelchair accessible; pets not allowed

Gomemui at Garden Five is on B1 of the Hyundai City Outlet Techno building, right next to the down escalator, on its right side.

The restaurant has bright, pretty lighting and wood-tone interiors, and it looks spacious, pleasant and clean.

What's on the menu at Gomemui Gardenfive?

Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive offers a wide choice: Japanese-style premium pot rice (kamameshi-style rice cooked in an iron pot), salt-koji-aged katsu (breaded cutlets), udon, soba, curry and side dishes.

We ordered the perilla oil mushroom pot rice and the salmon egg-soboro pot rice. It was lunch, so I was trying not to eat anything too heavy^^

What Gomemui means, and its koji fermented sauces

They say "gome" is Japanese for rice and "mui" means one and only, together symbolizing a precious flavor found nowhere else. Add the French word gourmet, and the name is meant to convey a gourmet's sensibility, turning even a single meal into a special experience.

What stood out to me was Gomemui's own fermented sauces. They say every menu item uses rice koji (a fermentation starter) for a healthy meal. Koji salt gets enzymes and amino acids from fermentation that add natural sweetness and savoriness, rice koji is rich in essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals, and soy sauce koji is made with low-sodium soy sauce with various enzymes and minerals. Maybe that care is why my stomach felt so comfortable after the meal^^

How is the pot rice set meal served?

Gomemui's pot rice comes as an individual set tray, with eating instructions and a cute little rice paddle sitting on top of the pot. I love a tidy set like this. You don't have to worry about what the other person is eating, and I like focusing on my own dish and tasting it properly.

My sister's perilla oil mushroom pot rice gave off a fragrant perilla oil aroma. Shiitake mushrooms and garlic are simmered in perilla oil and then folded into sticky pot rice.

This is the salmon egg-soboro pot rice I ordered, and it looks both appetizing and pretty haha. Torch-seared salmon and crumbled egg (soboro) are topped with flying fish roe and chopped scallions.

The side dishes were crunchy, tangy mustard leaf kimchi, seed jeotgal (salted seafood) with nuts and squid, and myeongnan jeotgal (salted pollock roe). Every one was tasty and clean-flavored.

How does the perilla oil mushroom pot rice taste?

The perilla oil mushroom pot rice at Gomemui comes with a bibimbap sauce made with minari (water dropwort). My sister mixed her rice, and I was curious, so I took a bite.

First, the mushroom rice simmered in nutty perilla oil had a deep, savory flavor. Then the fragrant minari crunch made it fresh and clean. The balance of flavors was really good. Next time I visit, I'm getting this perilla oil mushroom pot rice haha. It was so good^^

What's the best way to eat the salmon egg-soboro pot rice?

For the salmon egg-soboro pot rice, I scooped rice into a bowl and mixed it, pouring in the house sauce a little at a time and tasting as I went. I didn't pour a lot at the start, just enough, and the slightly sweet-and-salty house sauce went really well with the salmon and egg soboro.

I heard Gomemui uses only top-grade rice, and the rice really was sticky and soft, so it mixed easily and went down very smoothly.

I put the grilled salmon on top of the well-mixed rice. The salmon was light and nutty, and the egg soboro rice was soft and not heavily seasoned, with the chewy savoriness of the rice coming through. So good.

It's even better wrapped in seaweed (gim). The scent of the sea wraps around it and makes it more fragrant.

When it starts to feel a little oily, the tangy mustard leaf kimchi wipes away the richness. The mustard leaf kimchi was the best^^

Finish your pot rice with sungnyung

Gomemui's pot rice finishes with sungnyung (a light, warm scorched-rice tea). It's refreshing and leaves your mouth clean and your stomach feeling relieved.

If you're near Hyundai City Outlet or Jangji Station and want a neat set meal with hot pot rice and sungnyung to finish, Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive seems like a great fit.