Mandarin fish rolls with mustard leaf kimchi at Samsin Garosu-gil

Samsin Garosu-gil

📍46 Gangnam-daero156-gil, 2F & 3F, Gangnam-gu, Seoul📍 ⏰Sunday–Thursday 11:00–23:00⏰ ⏰Friday, Saturday 11:00–24:00⏰ ✔️Break time 16:00–17:00 ✔️Group seating available, reservations, wifi, separate men's/women's restrooms, high chairs, waiting area✔️

A new Chinese restaurant in Garosu-gil, Sinsa Station

I heard a new Chinese restaurant had just opened in Garosu-gil near Sinsa Station, so I hurried over.

A Chinese course starting in the ₩20,000s?? How could I not go after seeing that on the sign, haha.

You can check the menu from outside too, so you can roughly decide before walking in.

The 2nd- and 3rd-floor room layout and mood

Samsin Garosu-gil operates on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and the moment you step in, a flashy golden dragon light greets you.(?)

There's a room-style dining space on the 2nd floor, and a few more room spaces on the 3rd floor too, so it seemed great for group gatherings and company dinners.

We had reserved, and our table was right at the top of the stairs on the 3rd floor. The interior is done in colors that evoke dragons and jade, so I got a real high-end Chinese restaurant feeling 🐲

Even though we visited around 6pm, the tables were already nearly full, and that door over there that looks like it's made of rice paper was a room too — people kept going in, maybe for a company dinner. How does everyone find new restaurants so fast?

Samsin Garosu-gil's menu and prices

Samsin Garosu-gil has courses starting in the ₩20,000s, and a wide range of soups and appetizers too.

For dim sum:

• Handmade xiaolongbao ₩8,000
• Handmade shrimp har gow ₩9,000
• Handmade chive dumplings ₩9,000
• Truffle sujeonggyo ₩10,000
• Wedding shaomai ₩10,000
• Kimchi xiaolongbao ₩9,000
• Juicy pot xiaolongbao ₩9,000

Noodles:

• Taean potato jajangmyeon ₩10,000
• Yuni gochu ganjjajangmyeon ₩12,000
• Galbi-jjim jajangmyeon ₩25,000
• East coast seafood jjamppong ₩13,000
• Imperial samseon jjamppong ₩18,000

Rice:

• Hot stone Chinese bibimbap ₩13,000
• Tendon kimchi fried rice ₩18,000
• Mapo omelette rice ₩15,000
• Samsin japtangbap ₩25,000

There's also dessert like nurungji (scorched rice) rice gelato sandwich ₩12,000, sinseollo Korean-Chinese-Japanese bingsu ₩18,000, and Samsin table cake ₩14,000.◡̈

Wedding shaomai and handmade shrimp har gow

The handmade shrimp har gow and wedding shaomai came out first, and they seemed to throw in a Sokcho snow crab soup as a service item.

This is the wedding shaomai. It's a dumpling shaped like a lucky pouch, filled with shrimp, meat, and truffle.

Maybe because it's called wedding shaomai, even the color is a gorgeous pink, isn't it? The dumpling wrapper was really chewy and the juices inside were delicious too. Just be careful, the juice is hot!

This is the handmade shrimp har gow. Since I already know the taste... looking at the photo makes me want it again.

Personally, I felt the handmade shrimp har gow was more filling in the mouth than the wedding shaomai, and the shrimp meat was tastier too. The dumpling wrapper was chewy here as well, of course.

Crispy mustard leaf kimchi menbosha: how to eat it best

And then the dish I was most curious about — crispy mustard leaf kimchi menbosha (deep-fried shrimp toast), ₩19,000 [4pcs]

The server recommended trying it a few different ways, saying you can either dip the menbosha in the mustard leaf kimchi or stuff the kimchi inside it — so I opened up a menbosha and put kimchi inside.

It's packed with shrimp so it almost feels like eating a shrimp burger, and since menbosha is a fried dish it can get greasy — but the Jeolla-do mustard leaf kimchi comes stir-fried style, so pairing it in cut the richness nicely. My friend and I tried both methods and found it's better to eat the kimchi on the side rather than inside. There's also a ketchup-like sauce, so I'd recommend trying it however suits your taste.

The yuni gochu ganjjajangmyeon was spicy

Yuni gochu ganjjajangmyeon ₩12,000. This is Samsin's signature ganjjajang, made by adding a spicy Korean touch to traditional Chinese chunjang black bean sauce. It didn't look spicy at all?? But the moment I took a bite, the spiciness hit right away. Thanks to that, I was able to eat everything without it feeling greasy, all the way through.

Restrooms and wifi

Restrooms✅

The restrooms are inside the 3rd floor, separated by men's/women's, and were clean and pleasant to use as expected.

There's wifi too.👍

Final thoughts and parking

This was my first visit to Samsin Garosu-gil, and every dish we ordered was delicious, plus the prices were more appealing than I'd expect for Garosu-gil, and the staff were so kind that I enjoyed the meal from the moment we walked in until we left — my friend and I kept talking about it long after. If you're looking for a spot for group gatherings or company dinners, or just a great Chinese restaurant, I recommend Samsin Garosu-gil. I'll definitely be back.𖤐 𖤐 𖤐 𖤐

Parking at Samsin Garosu-gil is available via paid valet service.