Yangchulbuk Restaurant is a casual eatery specializing in Korean-style beef intestine barbecue. Its branch located in Seongnae-dong is owned by the parents of Park Shin-hye, a talented K-star who has been the lead in several K-dramas, including The Heirs, Doctor Crush, and Pinocchio. Portraits of the K-star and figurines of her beloved puppies are displayed inside the restaurant. Ingredients are sourced daily from local meat suppliers and side dishes (banchan), including the mukbap (chilled acorn jelly rice soup) are made in-house every day. In her free time Park Shin-hye is known to enjoy dining at the restaurant with her colleagues.  

Internationally renowned as a Michelin three-star chef, Pierre Gagnaire opened his Seoul restaurant, Pierre Gagnaire à Seoul, on October 1, 2008. This is his fourth restaurant following those restaurants in Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. In fact, he was once ranked first among the 100 top chefs in the world. It offers French cuisine featuring innovative and diverse preparation methods with an added artistic touch.        

Opened in 1981, this diminutive restaurant has been attracting customers with its mouthwatering ramyeon noodles for more than 20 years. The restaurant’s unique ramyeon recipe includes an ultra-spicy broth with lots of red pepper seasoning, chewy noodles, egg, and bean sprouts. Even Koreans, who are used to eating spicy kimchi, sometimes shed tears while eating this fare. Besides the food, the ambience is fun, with interesting messages written by customers attached to the ceiling and the walls. The restaurant has created its own jargon that is recognized only by regular customers: ramyeon is called ppal-gye-tteok (spicy red soup with egg and rice cake), and yellow pickled radish is called pineapple, to name a few of the coined terms. The menu board lists the price of ramyeon as W30,000 confusing first-time visitors. But don’t panic: an extra zero (0) was just added for fun! TIP: (1) Take some souvenir pictures using the walls and the ceiling as a background (2) Try putting some cold rice in your ramyeon for an interesting, less spicy taste.

Special Noodles from Japan! Inaniwa Yosuke Inaniwa Yosuke, located near Seoul City Hall, is Korea's branch of a restaurant named Sato Yosuke in Japan that has been specializing in udon for the past 350 years. As one of the top three must-eat udon in Japan, inaniwa udon featured at these restaurants is characterized by thin, flat noodles that have a chewy texture. Their signature menus are seiro udon and wagyu udon. Seiro udon is served cold with two different types of sauce to dip your noodles in: the tsuyu sauce and the sesame miso sauce. Each sauce has its own unique flavor that will stimulate your tastebuds. On the other hand, wagyu udon is served in a hot soup. The chewy noodles topped with meat served in a bowl of hot soup are enough for a hearty meal.  The recommended side menu to go along with the noodles is shrimp cream croquette. The smooth cream and shrimp filling covered with a crispy crust is as popular as the restaurant's prized udon. The restaurant also sells inaniwa udon noodles and their special sauces separately for inaniwa udon at home or as an excellent gift. ☞ Address: 6, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul ☞ Operating hours: 11:00-23:00 (Closed on Sundays) ☞ Menu and price: Seiro Soy Sauce and Sesame Miso Tsuyu Udon 9,000 won / Wagyu Udon 15,000 won / Shrimp Cream Croquette 8,000 won (Prices based on lunch. Prices may vary for dinner) ☞ Website: www.food-biz.or.kr/inaniwa (Korean only)        

When Dolgorae Sundubu first opened in 1982, it sold sundubu (soft tofu stew) at a mere 600won, which was cheaper than the average price of jajangmyeon (considered one of the most inexpensive meals available at that time). The low price and great taste soon attracted a large number of customers and the restaurant has enjoyed great popularity ever since. The restaurant's success lies in its fresh, soft tofu and its Jeolla-style pickled seafood and soybean paste (hand-made fresh each morning). The soft tofu stew seems to perfectly complement kimchi (Korea’s most popular side dish) and has become a restaurant specialty.  

Bulgogi is a Korean word referring to all types of grilled meat. During the 1950s, grilled meat used to be called ‘Seolyameok’ or ‘neobiani’. When introduced to Japan, Bulgogi became known as Yakiniku. Depending on the recipe, both salted or seasoned meat are considered Bulgogi. Bulgogi Brothers is a new Korean food concept restaurant where high quality Bulgogi is served amongst a stylish interior with chic jazz music and sophisticated lighting without the annoyance of smoke. The restaurant offers a wide selection from their menu including different types of local bulgogi dishes (e.g. Gwangyang-style and Eonyang-style), grilled Hanu (Korean-bred beef), cold noodles, bibimbap, and stews. Recently, the restaurant has introduced 13 different kinds of traditional liquor leading the efforts to promote quality Korean traditional liquors to a wider audience.

Serving a varied menu featuring grilled beef, haejangguk (a spicy soup), and shabu shabu, Saebyeokjip is open 24 hours and is often crowded with people. The ddarogukbap (a kind of soup made with meat, coagulated ox blood, and bean sprouts) tastes great and is the recommended remedy for curing a hangover. An order of yukhoe bibimbap (white rice topped with garnished raw beef) includes a bowl of seonjitguk (soup made with coagulated ox blood). The shabu shabu is quite satisfactory for the price, so it is popular. The restaurant is packed in the morning, with people sobering up, and in the evening, with people who come for the grilled meat.  

Osegyehyang is a vegetarian restaurant location in Insadong, a street known for its traditional culture and crafts. It serves various dishes that cater to the needs of vegetarian customers.

K-star Yoo Yeon-seok, who has starred in K-dramas Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim, K-show We Kid, and musical Hedwig, is the owner of this three-story venue. Complete with floor to ceiling windows, the bar on the 7th floor offers panoramic views of the Itaewon area, while the cozy rooftop seating on the 8th floor is perfect for date nights. The 6th floor features a beautiful banquet room which has hosted various trendy K-stars’ private parties. Reservations are required for special events.