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This out-of-the-way Korean grilled meat house was voted one of the top 10 restaurants in Asia by The Asian Wall Street Journal in 2003. Start with the succulent beef sashimi—yes, strips of chilled, raw beef—or the yukhoe, slivers of iced raw beef served with garlic and pear. Then move on to the grilled cow, marinated or not. Korean beef (hanwoo) is tender and beautifully marbled, and here they know exactly how it should be prepared: char-grilled at the table.
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The Mapo Chumulreok is an aboveaverage char-grilled meat restaurant in Mapo, Seoul’s premier district for this type of cuisine. Check out the chumulreok, a kind of meat kneaded by hand (the [name] of this comes from the sound: ‘chumu-chumu’). The sirloin is also recommended. You can eat here, if you want, in traditional Korean style, sitting on the floor.
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Pulhyanggi offers a range of hanjeongsik (table d’hôte) meals, some styled on royal cuisine, others based on vegetarian mountain temple cooking. It’s all best washed down with rural booze. Private rooms are available and there are traditional music performances in the evenings. There’s also a branch at the base of Mount Namsan Tower.
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This famed establishment is run by a former Buddhist monk, so it offers set menus featuring the vegetarian cuisine of the priesthood, including herbs, roots, fermented bean soups and fried tofu. Try a bowl of nong ju—farmers’ rice beer—for your drink. There are also traditional dance performances in the evenings—if you’re seated close to the stage you may be pulled up for a quick spin.
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Set in a converted home in Insa-dong, this is a true gourmet Korean restaurant, so it may not suit beginners to the cuisine. It serves the traditional hanjeongsik from the southern Jeolla provinces, generally considered the finest grub on the peninsula. The pajeon (savoury vegetable pancakes) are great, as are the bitter, medicinal herb and root dishes.
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