Pangyo Korean gastropub lunch: cheese potato jeon with honey, Useum

What is Useum Pangyo Branch?

Useum Pangyo Branch is a Korean restaurant at 31 Daewangpangyo-ro 606beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, on the 1st floor of the Hoban Metro Cube. It's open daily from 11:00 to 23:30.

I finally made it to this Pangyo Station lunch spot I'd been meaning to try ever since it opened near the station haha.

There were photos of various Korean dishes posted outside, so I'd been thinking I should try it! Things like eobokjaengban (mixed beef hot pot), hanwoo gomtang (Korean beef bone soup), hanwoo bulgogi, and yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef bibimbap) — lots of variety.

Lunchtime seating and reservations

I got there early for lunch and the tables at Useum Pangyo Branch were pretty roomy. The place itself is big too, so it looked good not just for lunch but for a Pangyo team dinner. FYI, Naver Reservation is available, so I'd recommend booking ahead if you're coming with a larger group or for a lunch appointment.

While looking around the restaurant I learned the meaning behind the name — 우슴 (useum) is an old spelling of 웃음, meaning "laughter" haha. Ate well and had a laugh haha.

Side dishes and the three dishes we ordered

Here are the basic side dishes at this Pangyo Station lunch spot. They set out various sauces and banchan (side dishes) — it felt like a proper Korean spread. If you run low, they refill the side dishes, so we got to enjoy as much banchan as we wanted. We ordered three dishes in total.

We ordered one hot pot, one jjim (braised dish), and one jeon (pan-fried dish). There were so many menu options it was hard to decide, but since soup and jeon are pretty much a given, we went with these three instead of adding a rice dish.

• Hanwoo bulgogi hot pot ₩45,000
• Braised beef short ribs (galbi-jjim) ₩56,000
• Crispy cheese potato jeon ₩18,000

Hanwoo bulgogi hot pot ₩45,000, choice of 2-3 or 4-5 people

The hanwoo bulgogi hot pot at ₩45,000 (2-3 people) is a hot pot with hanwoo (Korean beef) bulgogi, mushrooms, and vegetables. It came out more generous than I expected. There's also red chili paste on the side — mix it in and the broth turns into something closer to a yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) base.

We ordered the 2-3 person size, but you can also choose the 4-5 person option when ordering. It was nice being able to adjust based on how many people showed up. Sometimes when a dish is too small for the group you end up ordering two of the same thing, and then the timing gets thrown off between tables, right?! With this option you don't have to worry about that!

Back to the taste — it was hot and hearty with hanwoo beef in a soup-style broth, so it worked well as a lunch. Since it's a soup-type dish, it does take a bit of time to come to a boil, so keep that in mind! Rice has to be ordered separately, so add it on if you need it.

Crispy cheese potato jeon ₩18,000, dipped in honey

The crispy cheese potato jeon at ₩18,000 has julienned potato cut long like fries and fried into a jeon (pan-fried pancake) — it comes out genuinely crispy, so I'd recommend it to anyone who loves potatoes. They melt mozzarella cheese over it too, and the potato-cheese combo was great.

Like gorgonzola pizza, there's honey on the side for dipping, so it's up to your personal taste! I love sweet stuff so I kept dipping it in honey generously :) Even writing this now I remember the taste and I want it again.

Braised beef short ribs (galbi-jjim) ₩56,000

The braised beef short ribs at ₩56,000 come out in a stone pot with sweet pumpkin and glass noodles simmered in — this too was the 2-3 person size. It could also be ordered as 4-5 person, but since we wanted to sample a variety of dishes, we ordered everything at 2-3 person size.

It was pleasantly sweet and exactly the galbi-jjim flavor I was hoping for, so I enjoyed it without complaint. For anyone considering this Pangyo Station lunch spot, I'd recommend Useum Pangyo Branch for its range of Korean dishes.