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Cafés, restaurants and places in Gangwon, written by bloggers who went there.
QooQoo Chuncheon Branch is an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet on the basement floor of the CGV building in Chuncheon, Gangwon. On a weekend visit, QooQoo kept refilling sushi and seafood alongside hot dishes, waffles and marble ice cream, with weekend and holiday entry at 32,900 won. It is an easy choice for a family meal or a larger group in Chuncheon.
Moana Burger is a handmade burger restaurant on Nanseolheon-ro in Gangneung, Gangwon, where medium-sized dogs are welcome indoors. The writer stopped by as the first course of a Gangneung trip with her parents and her medium-sized dog Hyosoon, ordering the Moana Burger with fries for 13,000 won and a Budweiser draft beer. Separate dog parking seats mean even large dogs can come along, and the burger quality at Moana Burger was well above the price.
Cafe Neorae is a large Seoraksan-view café on Wonam Haksapyeong-gil in Sokcho, Gangwon, using floors 2 through 4. Stopping in after a meal, the writer took a floor-to-ceiling window seat, ordered drinks and bakery items, and found the separate bread-warming station handy. For a relaxed view café to break up a Sokcho trip, Cafe Neorae is a solid pick.
Jeongseong Katsu Chuncheon Toegye Branch is a tonkatsu (pork cutlet) restaurant on Toegye-ro 93beon-gil in Chuncheon, Gangwon. The truffle mixed katsu set brings pork loin, fillet and cheese katsu with curry, while the pork jowl set comes with a whole piece of jowl fried in one go, and a review event adds free shrimp tempura. The frying at Jeongseong Katsu is good enough to eat without any sauce, making it a solid value tonkatsu spot in Chuncheon.
Sokcho Topgol Makguksu Main Branch is a perilla oil makguksu (buckwheat noodle) restaurant near Sokcho Beach and Sokcho-i in Sokcho, Gangwon. On a rainy one-night trip to Sokcho, the writer ordered deulmemak, pollack salad makguksu and potato pancake for lunch, and the owner personally showed how the perilla seeds are roasted and pressed into oil. Even her husband, who rarely gives praise, agreed it was the real thing.
Gossi's Donghae Makguksu & Sundubu Kalguksu Main Branch is a makguksu (buckwheat noodle) restaurant right across from Gangmun Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon, with floor-to-ceiling ocean-view windows. The writer had a brunch-hangover-cure combo of a two-person set — water makguksu, spicy makguksu and boiled pork — plus an added flying fish roe buckwheat gimbap, which turned out to be the best gimbap of her life. The third floor allows dogs, so she's already planning a return trip with her pup.
Baegya Coffee is a large three-story ocean-view bakery café on the coastal road near Gyeongpo Beach and Sageunjin Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon. On the balcony, a fall breeze accompanied a Valrhona cacao muffin, chocolate marble bread, and a cheese fig bread with coffee while looking out at the horizon. With unpretentious bakery prices and the guaranteed payoff of the sea view, this is worth becoming a new regular spot.
Jeong Eunsuk Chodang Sundubu is a chodang sundubu (tofu) restaurant on Nanseolheon-ro in Gangneung, run by a certified Korean master chef. Four people shared the ₩25,000-per-person Chodang deluxe table (sundubu jjigae + tofu samhap + seasoned pollock), and the stew's broth, made deep by a whole snow crab, plus a boiled pork dish better than some specialty pork places, made the meal stand out. With its own parking lot, it's a great pick for a group trip through Gangneung by car.
QooQoo Chuncheon Branch is a sushi buffet on basement level 1 of the CGV building in Chuncheon, Gangwon. The renewed, calm dining room covers everything from sushi to marble ice cream, and tables beside the kids' playroom made a family meal easy. With such a wide menu range, QooQoo Chuncheon Branch suits a group with different tastes.
Cafe Neorae is a large mountain-view bakery café in Haksapyeong Kongkkot Village in Sokcho, Gangwon, with Ulsanbawi Rock filling the windows. After days of ocean views, the writer came for a mountain view and took a window seat with Neorae Pudding (bean-curd crunchy), Earl Grey Flower, and a chocolate croissant as the clouds lifted off the ridge. Close to Sokcho IC on the Donghae Expressway, Cafe Neorae makes an easy last stop before the drive back to Seoul.
Sokcho Topgol Makguksu Main Branch is a Korean noodle restaurant in Sokcho, Gangwon, a one-minute walk from the Sokcho Beach public parking lot, specializing in perilla oil buckwheat makguksu (deulmemak). Ordering deulmemak at 13,000 won alongside plain buckwheat makguksu at 10,000 won made it easy to compare the nutty, mild bowl against the seasoned one, and a solo portion of suyuk (boiled pork) at 17,000 won plus buckwheat king mandu at 10,000 won turned it into a filling meal. Deulmemak suits anyone who likes nutty flavors, while buckwheat makguksu is the better pick for a more classic bowl.
Gossi's Donghae Makguksu & Sundubu Kalguksu Main Branch is a restaurant right across from Gangmun Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon, spread across three floors of its own building. On a Saturday lunch, a window seat on the second floor with a full ocean view was the setting for bibim makguksu (spicy buckwheat noodles), spicy sundubu kalguksu, perilla sundubu, and cheese pork loin roll cutlet, ordered via tablet with a self-serve side dish bar. It's a solid spot for filling up on noodles and rice while watching the waves.
