Gwanghwamun Gukbap — Restaurant in Seoul

Summary 4/5: Good food, not so good service. Come early and prepare to queue. Free banchan and drinking water.

Food 4/5: This restaurant is famous for their Dwaeji Gukbap (Pork and rice soup), the pork slices are thin and tender, really nice to eat. The banchan were appetizing. It is not surprising that this restaurant is receiving the Michelin Bib Gourmand Award year after year.

The restaurant: Located in a open air parking, the restaurant is very popular among the locals. It opens for dinner at 5:30pm but the queue already started when we arrived at 4:55pm. By 5:20pm, there were at least 10 groups of customers waiting in line.

The service 2/5: Although the staff were well prepared and ready for crowd at opening, but the staff who served us could not understand English. So they sent another staff member to take our order. But we waited for about 20 minutes and still were not served with any food, while other customers came after us already enjoying their food, we had to remind them a few times about our order. It would be great if they can include English words in the menu and teach the service staff some basic English for...

First of all, Please let me preface by saying that the service that we received were quite pleasant and friendly, and the lady that served us made a lot of effort to communicate with us. So the service was great.

The Food, the main original purpose we were there for the Gukbap. I'm certain that highly likely I may not understand the dish. even with lots of peppers and the salty fermented shrimp (Saeu-jeot)... it's still quite bland and nothing special about it. Perhaps it's the feeling of winter comfort food that locals can feel that I may not understand. Again, it's just an opinion of mine.

on the other hand, The sweet and spicy Braised Ribs I'd have it again, delicious sweetness and very tender ! Definitely Underrated in comparison with the other items...

Casual Korean dining at its finest form. This place is run by famous Italian chef CI Park, yes he’s Italian chef but running this Korean restaurant. The menu is relatively simple and casual. Most of them are daily dining menu for many people. The difference is they are close to the finest form of each of them. They might look too casual but I’m always stunned when I have a piece or spoonful of the soup. They are very sophisticated and deep. The place is always crowded but the staffs are friendly and autonomous. Price tag is relatively high but acceptable. Portions are small but I’m happy since I could try one more dish every single time. Might be tricky to find it - almost hidden from the main street. Highly...