Gwangju restaurant with hangover soup and ramyeon: Misikga Imokase

Omakase... imokase... isn't that just an exciting word?? Watching Culinary Class Wars, I always wanted to try an imokase place, and I heard there was an amazing one in Gwangju, so Suriname Ppyu went and checked it out!!

Where is Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch, and where do you park?

Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch is a Korean-food imokase restaurant on the 1st floor of the King Kong Noraebang building at 114 Sangmupyeonghwa-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju. You'll need to use a nearby alternative parking lot — there's no parking support.

A sneak peek of the full omakase spread... it had 12 sections and still wasn't enough room, no secret there. Let me show you each dish one by one below!

Main Hall, New Hall, Annex: how many people fit in the group rooms?

Misikga Imokase Sangmu Main Branch is divided into three sections — Main Hall, New Hall, and Annex — with rooms that can hold group parties, so it works for company dinners and family gatherings too!!

Inside the New Hall

The New Hall sits to the left of the central Main Hall! There were really so many more seats besides the Main Hall!

Inside the Annex group rooms

Group diners, pay attention! The Annex to the right of the Main Hall has two rooms — Room 1 fits up to 16 people, Room 2 up to 20! A company dinner in the 20-person room had just wrapped up when we passed, and we got to snap a photo! Everyone walked out patting their full bellies, saying it was delicious lol.

Inside the Main Hall

The Main Hall is where we ate! It's on the 1st floor of the King Kong Noraebang building! There were also outdoor-style seats that felt like a street tent (yajang), which was nice! It'd be even better to eat with the doors open once the weather warms up!

How much is the set table, and what are the 17 dishes?

The imokase set menu has 17 dishes total! Price is ₩30,000 per person! For two people, it's ₩35,000!! Since it's a full set, adding a main dish costs extra.

The spoon and chopsticks came soaked in hot water! I really appreciated that careful attention to hygiene! Okay, the exciting spread finally begins!!

• Samhap bossam (skate, pork belly, kimchi wrap)
• Beef yukjeon (pan-fried beef)
• Bean-powder raw fish (kongkaru makhoe)
• Native Korean beef yukhoe (raw beef tartare)
• Spicy stir-fried baby octopus (sinjjukkumi)
• Yeonggwang gulbi (dried yellow croaker)
• Japchae (glass noodle stir-fry)
• Seasoned acorn jelly (dotorimuk muchim)
• Pollack hangover soup (hwangtae haejangguk)
• Braised pomfret (byeongeo jorim)
• Kimchi pancake (kimchijeon)
• Perilla-oil fried egg
• Hangover ramyeon (haejang ramyeon)
• Cheese fried rice
• Fruit
• Pumpkin injeolmi (rice cake)
• Injeolmi snow ice (bingsu)

First round with soju-beer: Korean beef yukhoe and Yeonggwang gulbi

As soon as we sat down, Misikga Imokase laid out yukhoe, japchae, gulbi, and potatoes! The yukhoe was made with native Korean cow (amso) beef, so it was even chewier and more delicious!

Could you really hold back on drinking with this alone? One glass of soju-beer~~ Fish duty was on Sunam again today!! The seasoning was spot-on so I wanted plain rice, but I held back since there was so much more delicious food coming haha.

The seasoned acorn jelly, where the combo of big chunks of jelly and sweet-and-sour vegetables really worked.

Bean-powder raw fish! I was surprised the slices were so thick and large, surprised again by how well they went with the bean powder, and surprised a third time by the pairing with fragrant perilla leaves.

Hangover food mid-drink: dried pollack soup and kimchi pancake

Pollack hangover soup. A spicy, tangy hwangtae haejangguk that lets you cure your hangover right while you're still drinking! Basically an invitation to keep drinking, right?? haha

Kimchi pancake. Fried up fresh right then, warm, crispy on the outside and moist inside — loved it!

Braised pomfret. There's a braised hairtail place I love in Jeju, and this had the same sauce flavor, so I ate it happily. The crunchy onion and radish were seriously delicious too..!

Samhap bossam, spicy baby octopus and perilla-oil fried egg

Samhap bossam. Only Sunam ate the skate part, and he said it was just right?? Can you see how thick the meat is... eating just the meat with the aged kimchi alone felt like it could burst your mouth. It was nice that they served a variety of aged kimchi and mustard-leaf kimchi too!

Spicy stir-fried baby octopus. Apparently the owner also runs a sinjjukkumi place in Duam-dong..! As a sinjjukkumi lover, I was so happy..! Though it was a bit less spicy and sweeter than the original place!

Perilla-oil fried egg. Did you know fried eggs are good for curing hangovers ㅇㅅㅇ A fried egg is great at this point anyway, but frying it in perilla oil made it even nuttier..❤

Beef yukjeon and scallion salad. By this point my stomach was so full, but it was so good I kept eating anyway! The yukjeon paired really well with the sweet scallion-salad sauce!

Cheese fried rice. The owner really knows what they're doing... The sinjjukkumi place is honestly a spot you go to for the fried rice, right? They piled the cheese on generously, so I scraped the pan clean to the end. Seems like they use pricier cheese too, since it was extra nutty.

Finishing with hangover ramyeon and four desserts

Hangover ramyeon. After going back and forth between drinking and hangover cures, one more round of hangover relief..! The ultimate hangover cure really is ramyeon after all!!

Four desserts. Assorted fruit, pumpkin injeolmi, shrimp chips, and injeolmi snow ice. It's really wild how there's always room for dessert no matter how full you are...! Including the trendy pumpkin injeolmi made for such a great dessert lineup..!

Is Misikga Imokase worth it? Final verdict

Usually omakase or imokase places have lots of dishes but the quality can suffer — Misikga Imokase nailed both taste and quantity! If you ask which was the tastiest, honestly everything was.....!! If you want to enjoy a proper course meal, I highly recommend Misikga Imokase! It's a place where you can end the night here instead of awkwardly heading to a second round!!

• Address: 114 Sangmupyeonghwa-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
• Parking: nearby alternative parking lots (no parking support)
• Hours: 4:00 PM – 12:00 AM
• Closed every Sunday