Local places · 11820 stories
Restaurants in Korea, told firsthand by local bloggers — with photos and Google Maps.
Jeju Healing Dwaeji is a black pork BBQ restaurant on Maljil-ro in Seogwipo, Jeju. Visited at sunset, the writer ordered the black pork assorted set (neck, belly, skirt meat) plus a blue crab doenjang stew, and found the aged meat juicy with no gamey smell. With ocean-view seats and a large parking lot, it's especially good for family trips with kids.
Bonaricetta is an Italian restaurant serving wood-fired pizza and pasta in Mohyeon-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi. The Bufala Margherita wood-fired pizza (₩22,000) and shrimp aglio e olio pasta (₩20,500) were on the menu, and the brick interior offers window seats and group tables for a quiet meal. The pizza brought us in, but the garlicky pasta was what stuck in memory.
Modam Urban is a Korean restaurant on L3 of IFC Mall in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. For weekend lunch with a friend, the writer ordered the smoky bassak bulgogi and the barley cream risotto topped with chicken, each ₩29,900, plus six free appetizers including mung bean porridge and perilla oil capellini. Wide tables and a separate private room make it work for everything from casual catch-ups to family gatherings.
Hyoeunok Gyeongju Branch is a beef bone and beef rib hot pot restaurant in the Bomun Tourist Complex food street in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk. On a Saturday afternoon we walked straight in with a Naver reservation and ordered the signature Ppyeoberest not spicy, working through a course of hot pot, knife-cut noodles, and gondre porridge. Our family of three, including our kid, left completely full with a dish you can really only find in Gyeongju.
Kkomak Hansang Gijang Main Branch is a Korean restaurant near Osiryeon and Haedong Yonggungsa in Gijang, Busan, serving dried corvina and cockle dishes. Visiting for a late weekday lunch with mom, the writer ordered the ₩27,000 dried corvina set, which came with a hefty fillet, spicy cockle salad, cockle jang, beef pancake, pollack pancake, and a seaweed soup with a whole fish fillet inside. With underground parking and roomy seating, it's an easy spot to bring parents.
Chagane Ssam Bap is a wrap-rice (ssam bap) restaurant in Namdong, Incheon, near Exit 2 of Yesulhoegwan Station and Gachon University Gil Hospital. Ordering the pork ssam bap set for two brought a full spread: grilled pork on a hot plate, one bowl of ureong (mud snail) ssamjang each, seaweed soup, namul, kimchi pancake, japchae, and about nine kinds of self-serve wrap vegetables. With its own parking lot right next to the restaurant, it's a solid, homestyle Korean meal for a night you're craving comfort food.
Oneungi Shabu Baeksuk is a Korean restaurant specializing in neungi mushroom baeksuk (whole chicken soup) and samgyetang in Eumbong-myeon, Asan. Celebrating a friend's new job, the writer ordered the neungi nurungji dak baeksuk (65,000 won) and found the meat so tender the bones fell off on their own, with a thick, deep broth. With a 20-person party room complete with a monitor, it's also a great spot for hosting elders' family gatherings.
Bomseol Main Branch is a Korean set-meal restaurant on Oesammi-ro in Osan, Gyeonggi. During a weekday lunch break, the writer ordered the weekday-only deulbap table (₩13,000), which came with salad, japchae, fried dishes, hot stone-pot rice, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew), and a weekday service side of braised pollock, plus unlimited self-serve barley rice for mixing your own bibimbap. Verdict: a hearty, well-plated weekday lunch worth the detour.
Eulji Baektan Ppyeogui is a grilled bone and bone soup restaurant 10 seconds on foot from Euljiro 3-ga Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. A lunchtime visit brought grilled bones (small) at ₩39,000 with extra rice, ordered at spice level 2, and the meat was tender enough to scrape off with a spoon. The 2nd floor seats around 20 people for group bookings, making it a solid pick for year-end office dinners.
Donstar Charcoal Grill is a Korean BBQ restaurant in Gwangjin, Seoul, about 50 meters from Jayang Station, handy after a walk at Ttukseom Resort on the Hangang River. Whole skirt steak and pre-seared pork belly are grilled tableside by staff, with a side of doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) on the house. It's a solid pick for a group meal or work dinner where nobody has to worry about grilling.
Nuri Maeul Gamjatang Itaewon Branch is a 24-hour, no-off-day gamjatang (pork bone soup) and bone stew restaurant on the 2nd floor right by Itaewon Station Exit 4. Two people shared the medium soy-braised bone stew (간장뼈찜) at regular spice level, plus the pork bone soup broth that comes with it and self-serve fried rice to finish. The glass noodles, sujebi (hand-torn dough) and rice cakes are generous even without add-ons, making it a good pick for anyone who wants bone stew without the heat.
Katsu Kitchen Premium Jeonpo Main Branch is a Japanese-style tonkatsu restaurant near Exit 2 of Jeonpo Station in Busanjin, Busan. A regular since last year ordered the special loin katsu again, refilled the myeongi namul (wild garlic leaves), green onion kimchi and beef radish soup several times, and ate at a window counter seat while gazing out at the greenery. With bright pink meat that's tender, not chewy, this is the writer's top pick for katsu in Jeonpo.
