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Restaurants, cafés and salons across Korea — every story by a blogger who actually went, linked to Google Maps.

Changwon, GyeongnamRestaurants

Yongho-dong pork belly restaurant in Changwon: dinner for 3, Godansu

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.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Gwangmyeong, GyeonggiRestaurants

Gwangmyeong Station jjukkumi restaurant at spice level 1: Jeongipum

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.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Gwangsan, GwangjuHair & beauty salons

Suwan, Gwangju hair salon: kids' curly hair volume perm at Bomnal Hair

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.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Yongsan, SeoulBars

Ankimo bomb salt gimbap at a Samgakji bar for dates: Hatpiendo

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).

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Gangnam, SeoulCafés

Apgujeong dining bar brunch: beef risotto at Mild High Club

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.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Gangneung, GangwonRestaurants

Gangneung noodle restaurant with eel buckwheat gimbap: Gossi's

Gossi's Donghae Makguksu & Sundubu Kalguksu Main Branch is a makguksu (cold buckwheat noodle), sundubu kalguksu and buckwheat gimbap restaurant on Changhae-ro, right in front of Gangmun Beach in Gangneung. Visiting with a baby and parents, the writer ordered the two-person set with boiled pork (perilla oil makguksu and chilled broth makguksu), a large bowl of spicy bibim makguksu and eel buckwheat gimbap, and found plenty of baby chairs plus a self-serve side dish corner. Gossi's is an easy Gangneung lunch that works for every age at the table.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Suwon, GyeonggiShopping

Banchan shop in Gwanggyo, Suwon: ₩22,500 homemade sides at Gukaechan

Gukaechan Banchan Gwanggyo Main Store is a homemade banchan (Korean side dish) shop on Centraltown-ro in Gwanggyo, Suwon. Seasoned vegetables, stir-fries and dressed salads plus kimchi, fish, meat dishes and soups and stews are individually packaged in a refrigerated showcase with prices labelled, so you pick your own; this visit's fish cake stir-fry, seaweed stem stir-fry and zucchini stir-fry came to 22,500 won. Gukaechan works whether you need only a few side dishes or a full soup-and-banchan spread for the week.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Suwon, GyeonggiBars

Suwon bar with window seats for mala pork belly stir-fry: Ryu-eun

Ryu-eun is a Korean bar and kitchen on Sinpung-ro 23beon-gil in Haenggung-dong, Suwon, with indoor seating on the ground floor and outdoor and floor-to-ceiling window seats upstairs. On a boyfriend's birthday-week date, the order at Ryu-eun was usamgyeop mala sukju bokkeum (stir-fried beef belly and mung bean sprouts in mala sauce, with glass noodles added) at 23,000 won, yurinki (crispy fried chicken with tangy sauce) at 19,000 won, Spam rice at 2,000 won, and a lemon squash at 10,000 won. The mala dish was solid enough that a drinks-and-snacks stop turned into a full dinner.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Dong-gu, DaeguRestaurants

Eggplant doenjang rice bowl at Hyangtaek, a Daegu set-meal restaurant

Hyangtaek (향택 본점) is a one-person Korean set-meal restaurant in an alley by Dongdaegu Station Exit 2, across from Shinsegae Department Store in Dong-gu, Daegu. The writer ordered samchi gondeurebap (grilled mackerel over gondeure herb rice) and gaji doenjang deopbap (eggplant doenjang rice bowl), ate each plain first, then stirred in a little of the special sauce and kelp vinegar to get a second flavor from the same bowl. With gopchang gim (thick roasted seaweed) wrapped around bibim jeotgal (seasoned salted seafood), Hyangtaek makes a tidy, filling meal for one.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Gyeongsan, GyeongbukRestaurants

Gyeongsan set-meal restaurant with kids' pork cutlet: Bapeul Jitda

Bapeul Jitda Gyeongsan Main Branch is a fusion Korean set-meal (hanjeongsik) restaurant on Samseonghyeon-ro in Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, where each full table is named after a season. One autumn table and one winter table plus an added kids' pork cutlet brought out salad, fried eggplant, chilled pork, steamed abalone, geuu-jang barley rice, beef brisket mushroom hot pot, hijiki bibimbap and live abalone porridge in order. With a dedicated car park, baby chairs and baby tableware, Bapeul Jitda made an easy choice for a family gathering with young children.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Seo-gu, DaejeonRestaurants

Korean BBQ with a big kids' room in Daejeon: Hanmaeum Jeongyuk Sikdang

Hanmaeum Jeongyuk Sikdang Doan Branch is a Korean BBQ restaurant with a kids' play room by the Mokwon University intersection in Seo-gu, Daejeon. On a weekday evening reservation with a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old, the order was the whole pig 1kg set (pork belly, five-layer belly, pork neck, pork jowl and pork shoulder blade) with unlimited refills of doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), while the kids ran between the trampoline and slide in the large play room. Because a CCTV feed of the play room runs in the dining hall, parents can finish a meal in peace — the reason this family keeps coming back to Hanmaeum Jeongyuk Sikdang.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored
Sokcho, GangwonRestaurants

Sokcho tofu alley brunch, three sundubu bowls compared: Jinsol

Jinsol Halmeoni Sundubu is a Korean restaurant in the Haksapyeong tofu alley in Sokcho, Gangwon, serving tofu made from domestic soybeans. On the last day of a two-day Sokcho trip, after checking out of the guesthouse, we ordered Chodang sundubu (plain soft tofu stew), spicy sundubu and hwangtae haejangguk (dried pollack hangover soup) all at once to compare, and the haejangguk with its plump pollack and the deeply spicy sundubu were the standouts. A comforting late-morning meal to settle the stomach at the end of a Sokcho trip.

Written Sep 14, 2026Sponsored