Shelf Note Keeper · 8 stories

Salt Shelf, Gangwon Cafes and Restaurants

Writes about cafes and restaurants tucked along Gangwon's coast and hills. · Writes about: Cafés · Restaurants

Nowon Station salad shop for Pilates diets, snow cheese cobb: Prefers

Prefers Diet Food Nowon Station branch is a protein-focused salad and plate restaurant on Sanggye-ro near Nowon Station in Seoul. The writer, who is learning Pilates, ate alone there at lunch and ordered the beef cobb plate salad and the pork plate salad, and the meat portions were so generous that she was almost too full to finish the salad. For meat lovers who won't give up on dieting, Prefers Nowon Station branch is a meal that is both tasty and filling.

Written Oct 20, 2026Sponsored

PlaceNowon, SeoulRestaurants

Seoul Korean BBQ in Nowon: staff grilling and sesame oil garlic, Hanam

Hanam Doeji Jip Seokgye branch is a Korean-raised pork (handon) BBQ restaurant near Exit 1 of Seokgye Station in Nowon, Seoul, where staff grill the meat for you. The writer booked by phone and ordered the ₩49,000 mixed platter (600g of pork belly, premium pork neck and fresh pork ribs) with a beef brisket doenjang stew; thanks to 500°C pre-grilling the meat was ready fast, and the writer, who never used to eat meljeot (salted anchovy dip), kept dipping into it. Hanam Doeji Jip Seokgye branch is an easy pick for a relaxed family pork belly dinner without any grilling worries.

Written Oct 18, 2026Sponsored

PlaceJungnang, SeoulRestaurants

Myeonmok-dong Korean BBQ with cheonggukjang and potato wraps: Daepan

Daepan Sotddukkeong Kimchi Samgyeopsal is a Korean BBQ restaurant on Dongil-ro in Myeonmok-dong, Jungnang, Seoul, that grills pork belly on a cast-iron cauldron lid. At 6 p.m. on a Sunday, a couple ordered 2 servings of pork belly and soju and paid 3,000 won extra to swap the complimentary doenjang stew for cheonggukjang (strong fermented soybean stew). With unlimited kimchi pancakes, mushrooms and potatoes from the self-serve bar plus green onion kimchi, they ate their fill for under 50,000 won. Daepan Sotddukkeong Kimchi Samgyeopsal is a good-value Korean BBQ with generous sides, also worth considering for family get-togethers.

Written Oct 16, 2026Sponsored

PlaceSokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho makguksu couple's breakfast: acorn jelly in a basin, Topgol

Sokcho Topgol Makguksu Main Branch is a buckwheat noodle restaurant right next to Sokcho Beach in Sokcho, Gangwon, serving house-made deulmemak (perilla oil makguksu) made from Bongpyeong buckwheat flour mixed with squid ink and reishi and sanghwang mushrooms. The writer and her boyfriend ordered deulmemak (13,000 won), a solo serving of suyuk (boiled pork slices, 17,000 won) and the signature acorn jelly (17,000 won), piled the suyuk onto the acorn jelly and the noodles, and cleared every generous portion. Verdict: the mild deulmemak with tangy acorn jelly and suyuk at Sokcho Topgol Makguksu is a combination she strongly recommends.

Written Jul 24, 2026Sponsored

PlaceSokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho tofu restaurant, easy on the stomach: Daecheongmaru

Daecheongmaru is a Korean restaurant on Gwangwang-ro in Sokcho, Gangwon, specializing in chodang sundubu (soft tofu stew) and dried pollack dishes. The writer, who lives with gastritis, visited Daecheongmaru at 11 a.m. on a weekday for the first meal of a Sokcho trip. The writer ordered chodang sundubu (₩14,000) and sanchae bibimbap (mountain-vegetable rice bowl, ₩16,000), which comes with a bowl of dried pollack soup, and finished every last side dish of the mild, easy-on-the-stomach food. For a gentle breakfast or first meal in Sokcho, Daecheongmaru is a good fit.

Written Jul 23, 2026Sponsored

PlaceSokcho, GangwonCafés

Rainy-day palm tree café in Sokcho with Ulsanbawi views: Cafe Neorae

Cafe Neorae is a large Ulsanbawi-view bakery café in Sokcho, Gangwon, starting on the 2nd floor of the Yetgoeul Sundubu building in Haksapyeong Kongkkot Village (Sokcho's soft tofu village). The writer and her boyfriend visited Cafe Neorae right at opening on a rainy day. They ordered on the palm-tree-decorated 2nd floor, moved between 3rd-floor window seats over a decaf Neorae Latte and a Golden Pear Sparkling (7,500 won each), and looked around the rooftop. Verdict: the rainy-day view of Ulsanbawi rock and the sofa seats at the very back of the 3rd floor were the most memorable parts of Cafe Neorae.

Written Jul 25, 2026Sponsored

PlaceSokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho tofu restaurant, pollack hangover soup before Waterpia: Jinsol

Jinsol Halmeoni Sundubu (진솔할머니순두부) is a Sokcho restaurant on Wonamhaksapyeong-gil that specializes in sundubu (soft tofu stew) and hwangtae (dried pollack) dishes. On a rainy summer morning after a night of drinking, the writer went back to Jinsol Halmeoni Sundubu before Seorak Waterpia and had hwangtae haejangguk (dried pollack hangover soup, 12,000 won) and spicy sundubu in a stone pot (14,000 won), a hangover cure and a filling breakfast in one. With an early opening, a free parking lot and a separate dog-friendly room, Jinsol Halmeoni Sundubu is worth returning to for breakfast on a Sokcho trip.

Written Jul 26, 2026Sponsored

PlaceJungnang, SeoulRestaurants

Eel restaurant in Jungnang with parents and spicy soup: Cheonsangae

Cheonsangae Jangeoga Myeonmok Sagajeong Branch is an oak-charcoal freshwater eel restaurant on Myeonmok-ro in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, near Sagajeong Station. In early autumn the writer took their parents, and the three of them shared the 2-person set (₩79,000), an extra whole eel (₩40,000) and spicy eel soup (maekom sulguk, ₩16,000). They went before the dinner rush, so staff grilled the eel for them. Cheonsangae Jangeoga passes on both taste and friendliness as a restorative meal out with parents.

Written Oct 5, 2026Sponsored

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