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Read guide →Korean cuisine (hansik) is built around balance — fermented sides (banchan), a steaming bowl of rice, and a main dish that changes with the season. Meals are served all at once rather than in courses, and sharing dishes at the table is the norm. The depth of flavor comes from slow-fermented pastes like doenjang (soybean) and gochujang (chili), which form the backbone of soups, stews, and marinades across the country.
Seocho-gu — home to Seoul's arts corridor, the Supreme Court, and upscale residential areas — has a refined dining culture to match its address. Garosugil in Seocho is particularly known for its café-lined tree canopy street. Restaurants here tend toward the polished and premium, often with outdoor terraces and wine lists to match.
It is a great place to go for a second round of drinks. However, since the sashimi is basically just mixed sashimi, it is difficult to try a variety of different types. The taste is average, but the staff are friendly and the seaweed soup is delicious.
A seafood restaurant with great value. Reservations required. No private rooms available.
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This place is quite popular as a second-round destination. While the interior isn't particularly spacious, there's still plenty of seating, and the chaotic atmosphere, reminiscent of a pojangmacha (traditional Korean food stall), adds to its charm. The prices aren't exorbitant, but the food is delicious and made with fresh ingredients. The raw fish soup is quite generous, with plenty of seafood and octopus and sea cucumber. Despite being a raw fish soup, it feels like there's not much raw fish in it. The raw octopus was clean and quite good, the price was reasonable, and the portions were generous. The staff is surprisingly prompt and responsive, and ordering drinks and other menu items doesn't take long, which is a plus. The roe soup was quite filling, and the broth was delicious. There were a lot of people eating at the tables right in front of me, but I didn't like it because of the excessive smoking.
