Hongsi Hanjeongsik — Restaurant in Gyeongju-si

This restaurant is a must if you are visiting Gyeongju! Hongsi is fantastic. It’s a little traditional looking old hanok sort of out of the way, with an overgrown charming garden out front. Inside is a warm and inviting space with old wood and low table dining in the Korean style. The food here is really incredible! Like others have recommended..get the full spread of banchan and share it. There were two courses served to me, each with about 10-12 banchan (little dishes). I couldn’t believe how much food was included! And the dishes are all very unique, many quite traditional, and prepared with care and skill. The owner explained each dish to me as it was served. There were at least 4 chigae type soups/stews. The 된장찌개 (fermented soybean stew) was maybe the best I’ve had in a restaurant ever! There were several unique seasonal Korean vegetable banchan that were seasoned so delicately and tasted amazing. The food and the atmosphere at this restaurant is just so cozy and wonderful. The tea that was served at the finish of the meal was 쌍화탕 (Ssanghwa-tang). A very delicious and traditional tea with medicinal benefits. A unique tea that normally isn’t served at a restaurant and I’ve only had in old tea houses in the past. Finally...the price for all of this is almost unbelievable!! Around $12 if you don’t order a main dish along with it. So much amazing food. I highly...

This meal was truly fantastic, I wish it would be granted a Michelin star one day. The servers had the kindest souls and were so genuine and helpful, the space’s design is beautiful and clean and homey with lovely potted plants all over, the low seating really helps with the traditional meal setting, the guest and ambience is also very respectful and family-oriented, and of course the platings were delicious. My partner and I got the traditional meal set and it was just fantastic. We were perfectly filled but not overly stuffed, we were given so many lovely and unique banchan as well as classics. It was absolutely satisfying heart warming foods, it really filled us with warmth and love through the precision of the meals they procured. It is hard to choose which dish was the best, for me it was the sea snail vegetable dish, but there was also a great palate cleanser vegetable dish and many spicy and non-spicy banchan as well. Can’t wait...

We came here because we wanted to have a traditional Korean food experience. The location is very nice and well preserved. The atmosphere is also great: you are in this old style mansion, in a garden, out of the city center, you need to take off shoes, sit on the ground and it feels you are in a old style Korean home hosted by some locals.

The negative part starts with the food: we opted for the traditional menu, which includes a high number of dishes served in multiples small plates. So the quantity is large. But Unfortunately the taste was very poor. Sometimes is seemed the food was not even freshly cooked (e.g. the fish and the bulgogi meat). Not sure if it is due to the fact that we (as European) are not used to this kind of taste, but honestly out of more than 20 type of food I did not liked anything. I would...