Local places · 25049 stories
Restaurants, cafés and salons across Korea — every story by a blogger who actually went, linked to Google Maps.
Degree Gojan Branch is a white-facade bakery café on the Gwangdeok-daero main road by 25-Hour Plaza in Gojan-dong, Ansan. The order covered a cream latte (₩6,500), watermelon juice ttaengmoban (₩6,500), cream croissant (₩5,300), and pain au chocolat noisette (₩6,300), pairing flaky pastries with a thick, velvety cream drink. With its low tables, Degree Gojan Branch suits conversation and dates more than solo laptop work.
Mellows is a soft serve ice cream dessert café in Seongsu 1-ga, Seongdong, Seoul, within walking distance of Ttukseom Station. Mellows builds all 8 flavors on a Sangha Farm milk ice cream base, and this visit was matcha topped with Jeju matcha sauce and crunch plus the signature mango, eaten at a big-window indoor seat rather than the terrace. The matcha's bitterness stays gentle and the mango is generous with real fruit, so Mellows is a good pick if you want a nutty-sweet pairing.
Cafe Dunchi is a water sports center and café inside Namdaecheon Park in Yangyang, Gangwon. On a return trip three years later, the electric boat that bad weather had cancelled last time finally ran — a 30-minute ride at 10am on a Friday — followed by honey bread and cream bread at a window seat on the second floor. For anyone looking for something to do in Yangyang with kids, Cafe Dunchi covers both the play and the coffee.
Julseoneun Banjeom Gangnae is a neighborhood Chinese restaurant on Wolgok-gil in Gangnae-myeon, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, with fusion dishes alongside the classics. This visit's order was lemon tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) at 13,900 won, pork loin ganjajang (black bean noodles) at 9,000 won and stir-fried cream jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) at 12,000 won, and the cream jjamppong came out smooth and more sweet than rich. If you like the soft flavor of cream pasta, the cream jjamppong at Julseoneun Banjeom is the one to order.
Hanchon Seolleongtang Bucheon Kkachiul Station Branch is a seolleongtang (ox bone soup) restaurant on the 2nd floor at 37 Kkachi-ro 74beon-gil, Ojeong-gu, Bucheon. The meal was a basic seolleongtang with a small order of kimchi mandu (3 dumplings), rice stirred into the clean, mild broth, and the hall at Hanchon Seolleongtang is wide enough to take reservations for 30 to 40 people, so solo diners, families and large groups all fit. A dependable pick in Bucheon's Ojeong-gu when a warm bowl of soup is what you want.
Nokji Magok Main Branch is a beef and lamb grill restaurant on the first floor of Building B, Queens Park Nine, by Balsan Station in Gangseo, Seoul. A couple booked a table for two and ordered the dry-aged raw short rib for two, mentaeran pa bap (pollock roe and scallion rice) and fresh buckwheat mak-guksu noodles, and because they arrived before 3pm the mentaeran pa bap came free. Staff grill the meat from start to finish and the sauces and garnishes cover plenty of combinations, making Nokji Magok an easy recommendation for a Magok date-night Korean BBQ dinner.
Dangke Donkatsu is a Japanese tonkatsu restaurant in Nowon, Seoul, 697m from Exit 4 of Taereung Station. Arriving right at 5pm, when the daily break time ends, meant walking in with no wait, and the meal was Tokyo rosu katsu (pork loin cutlet) at 22,000 won and cheese tonkatsu at 14,000 won with whole-lemon and strawberry highballs at 8,000 won each. Between the generously melted cheese katsu, the rosu katsu sizzling in butter on a hot plate, and highballs that taste like real fruit, Dangke Donkatsu is worth a second visit.
Godansu Changwon Yongho Branch is an aged pork belly restaurant in a basement off Garosu-gil in Yongho-dong, Changwon. A 7pm dinner of three servings of pork belly, soft tofu doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) and a bowl of rice came to 51,000 won, and staff grilled each side of the meat before moving it to a mini brazier at the table. With six house-made sauces including kelp salt and salted hairtail gut sauce, plus steamed egg, Godansu suits both work dinners and treating guests.
Jeongipum Jjukkumi Gwangmyeong 1st Branch is a griddle-cooked jjukkumi (stir-fried baby octopus) restaurant on the 1st floor of AK Plaza at Gwangmyeong Station in Gyeonggi. On a third visit in the year and a half since moving to Gwangmyeong, the writer ordered the loaded black pork flower belly at spice level 1 (the mildest, about as hot as Shin Ramyeon) and finished with flying fish roe fried rice. Tables at Jeongipum Jjukkumi fill up by noon on weekends, so a Naver reservation is essential — an easy recommendation for a family meal out.
Bomnal Hair (봄날헤어) Suwan Branch is a long-running neighborhood hair salon in the Suwan district of Jangdeok-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. A curly-haired elementary schooler had a volume perm and a 7cm layered cut with designer Seojeong, finishing with volume on top and C-curls underneath, and the hair that used to bend out was finally under control. The child asked to come back to Bomnal Hair on her own, which says enough.
Hatpiendo is a casual izakaya on the second floor of a building at the start of Yongridan-gil in Yongsan, Seoul, one to two minutes on foot from Samgakji Station Exit 3. Seated side by side at Hatpiendo's bar table, we ordered the ankimo (monkfish liver) bomb salt gimbap and the abalone innard pasta with Kirin draft beer and a Suntory highball, and the ankimo portion was so generous that the two of us were already full from that one dish. Hatpiendo suits a Samgakji date built around a drink and an unusual anju (drinking snack).
Mild High Club Apgujeong Branch is a brunch café and dining bar a 5-minute walk from Apgujeong Rodeo Station in Gangnam, Seoul. Arriving right at the 11 AM opening, two people ordered the seasonal salad (17,000 won), beef risotto (24,000 won) and two iced Americanos for a total of 51,000 won. The open-plan room feels airy, and showing up at 11 AM is the surest way to sit at Mild High Club without a wait.
