Quiet-room Italian meal in Gyeongju: Midam Kitchen

If you’re looking for a good restaurant in Gyeongju’s Hwangnidan-gil, how about Midam Kitchen, a nice spot for a quiet meal away from the busy streets?

I visited Midam Kitchen in Gyeongju’s Hwangnidan-gil. Hwangnidan-gil is a must-stop on a Gyeongju trip because it has so many pretty cafés and great restaurants~ But since it is always so crowded and bustling, I find myself looking for somewhere a little quieter and more relaxed when it comes time to eat.

A hanok setting just off Hwangnidan-gil

Midam Kitchen sits in a slightly quieter part of Hwangnidan-gil, so it was perfect for stepping away from the hectic atmosphere for a meal!

The building makes use of the distinctive hanok (traditional Korean house) eaves of Hwangnidan-gil while adding a modern touch, and its exterior alone had an atmosphere that felt uniquely Gyeongju~

After walking through the yard with its green lawn and entering the restaurant, I found several small room-like spaces inside.

They seemed like spaces that may once have been individual rooms. With the dining area divided up this way, it felt like you could eat more comfortably without paying too much attention to guests at other tables.

There really are not as many places as you might think where you can have a quiet meal in bustling Hwangnidan-gil.

That was something I really liked about the atmosphere at Midam Kitchen.

We settled at a table by the window, where the sunlight streamed in.

Each table had a table-ordering system, so we could take our time looking through the menu and order easily.

We ordered the beef brisket oil pasta for ₩15,900, the arugula tomato pizza for ₩18,900, and a Coke Zero.

After a short wait, our food arrived.

Oil pasta loaded with beef brisket

I started with the beef brisket oil pasta.

It was topped with such a generous amount of thin-sliced beef brisket.

There was so much beef brisket piled on top that I could barely see the noodles underneath at first~ It was a dish that got my appetite going right from the look of it.

When I twirled the beef brisket and noodles together for a bite, the fragrant olive oil gently infused with garlic and the mild heat of peperoncino came together beautifully. Although it was an oil pasta, it did not feel greasy at all; it was like aglio e olio with a lovely savory depth.

Aglio e olio is already my favorite kind of pasta, and the fragrant olive oil with peperoncino was exactly to my taste!

And with savory beef brisket on top too, how could it not be delicious? Haha.

Above all, there was a really generous amount of beef brisket.

Even though I had beef brisket with every bite of pasta, there was still some left at the end. It is a menu item that anyone who likes beef brisket would be pleased with.

Tomato pizza with arugula and ricotta

Next was the arugula tomato pizza.

The pizza was generously topped with fresh arugula, and the abundance of green caught my eye right away.

On my first bite, the fresh aroma and flavor distinctive to arugula paired so well with the tanginess of the tomato pizza~

With the little pieces of ricotta cheese and bacon on top, it also had a rich, lightly salty flavor.

The combination of tomato, arugula, and ricotta cheese worked better than I expected.

It was also a nice pairing with the oil pasta.

When you want a quiet meal

Gyeongju’s Hwangnidan-gil has plenty to see, along with lots of good restaurants and cafés, but that also means there are lots of people, so mealtimes can sometimes feel a little hectic.

What I liked about Midam Kitchen was being able to enjoy the hanok atmosphere of Hwangnidan-gil while having a meal in a slightly quieter setting! In particular, the space was divided into small room-like sections, so it felt somewhat separated from the other tables.

If you are exploring Hwangnidan-gil on a trip to Gyeongju and want pasta or pizza somewhere quiet, Midam Kitchen could be worth a stop. It was a place we liked very much because we wanted a relaxed meal while taking in the atmosphere of Gyeongju 😊

Midam Kitchen information

• Address: 33 Cheomseong-ro 49beon-gil, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongbuk, South Korea
• Hours: 10:30–21:00 (last order 20:30)
• Regularly closed every Wednesday