Myeongdong Kyoja Main Restaurant — Restaurant in Seoul

Myeongdong Kyoja, a restaurant awarded multiple years with a Bib Gourmand. We came here after having heard raving reviews from friends who came to Korea a few months prior. The food itself can only be described as extremely underwhelming, but the service and efficiency of this establishment was something to marvel at.

We arrived around 7PM on a Monday and was met with a small line of another three or four parties in front of us. Despite the first floor being closed, we were met with nearly zero wait and led up three flights of stairs to the third floor and seated immediately.

We each ordered a order of the dumplings and noodle soup, as well as a side of the soup dumplings. Service was extremely quick with food coming within 10 minutes of ordering.

Now, I'll be first to admit that perhaps I'm just not a fan of this particular style of noodles, but in my opinion, noodles themselves were extremely mediocre, perhaps even bordering on bad. Style of noodles were more of a softer noodles, without really any crunch/resistance (not sure if this is the intended texture or whether our bowl was just overcooked). Broth was also extremely underwhelming, somewhere right in the middle of being clean/refreshing broth and being rich (i.e. a bit bland, but not in a good way). Dumplings were definitely overcooked and basically disintegrated upon touch.

Dumplings we ordered on the side were honestly nothing special, don't actually think they were soupy at all, so might have just been wrapped in a style of a soup dumpling.

Price was actually extremely reasonable, especially compared to some of the other food that we had in Korea. But to give credit where its due, this establishment was definitely optimized to the inch. There was barely any room between each table and was just enough space to not be an uncomfortable squeeze, while not wasting any space at all. Tables were also turning around at breakneck speeds during the half an hour that we were here.

Although not quite my taste, given its extremely reasonable price, I would honestly recommend this restaurant just to see how efficiently they...

"If you love this food so much, then why don't you marry it?" my friend asked as I finished slurping on my 15th serving of noodles. "Gladly," I replied. Simply give me a time, a place, and a million dollars so I can treat this food to the best wedding of all time.

Imagine yourself waking up after the best sleep in your life in an island home, sun rising over the ocean in the view outside your window, with the sweet smell of your significant other cooking spicy noodles, ramen, and dumplings for you to enjoy for the rest of your life. This is how it feels to experience Myeongdong Kyoja Main Restaurant, an establishment so refined that you will want it to accompany you at all times.

I'm not sure what Michelin was thinking giving this restaurant only one of their pitiful stars. Hell, give them 100 stars. My reviews are the only thing that matters because I know infinitely more about cuisine than those uptight elitists over at Michelin who know nothing about the real essence of food. In my opinion, Michelin has lost all of their credibility after not giving Kyochon Fried Chicken in Hongdae a well deserving star. I decree that this restaurant be the new benchmark for all food made in this entire world, and if I can't have food like this, then I don't want it.

I'm not sure how much food I ate at Myeongdong Kyoja Main Restaurant. All I know is, as the clock struck 3 in the morning, the church bells rang and I awoke by myself in the restaurant, my face slumped in the last bowl of noodles I was guzzling. Being the first one in and the last one out of the establishment was an extraordinary accomplishment, to say the least. Needless to say, I became a favorite customer, and all of the waiters now address me as "kokkili" which I'm not sure what it means but it can't be anything other than "champion customer".

Did I drop almost 1,000,000 won on my food? Yes. Did I gain an ungodly amount of weight? Indeed I did. Was it worth it?

Need I...

Not an off the charts horrific experience as everything seemed pretty standard, so actually even more of a condemnation. If there were something unusual in the food or service, a poor rating could be understood and therefore recoverable. But not so in this case.

The entire process at this restaurant chain is about maximizing customer throughput which is fine as long as food quality is maintained and service is sufficient.

From the get go, the waiter was passably tolerable but borderline rude, barely making eye contact and just concealing his disdain for either us, his customers, or his job or probably both. As service jobs go though, there isn't much easier since utensils and water are self service and zero knowledge of the limited menu is needed as 95% of the customers coming in know the restaurant.

As mentioned above, it is a very small menu with two main items: the kalguksu and the mandu. Our table ordered four kalguksu and two mandu. For transparency, this was my third visit and I have more than enjoyed both dishes on both previous occasions. And this time, the mandu was fine as expected. The kalguksu however, was severely disappointing. The soup was just unabashedly off - very bland and a touch more greasy than usual. I didn't need the extra sauce/seasoning either of my previous times but even asking for and adding generous amounts this time did not remotely redeem how simply bad the taste of the soup was. And it was not just my bowl as each of my companions had the same complaint. Needless to say, this was...