Nokum Space — Restaurant in Seoul

A re-posting of my MangoPlate review from 2022-11-22: "The interior decor and outdoor terrace were nice, but... Otherwise a mostly unpleasant experience. Upon arrival, there was an extremely loud live concert in a corner of the restaurant. My large group could not have any sort of conversation. There was a large selection of wine, but what would be the point of wine if we couldn’t share and enjoy it together while talking? I chose not to reward the restaurant with free money that way. We had seen that there was an outdoor terrace upstairs, with many open tables, and asked to be moved there. While they were polite, the restaurant had to 'verify' that nobody would be sitting there before moving us. They sat us at the terrace, and nobody else sat there the rest of the night. The free appetizers of slices of potato, sweet potato, and squash were decent, but did not seem restaurant quality, and seemed just above beginner level. The main dishes varied between bland and decently tasty. In addition, one member of my group was a child who didn’t like spicy food, but the restaurant forgot to 'de-spice' his dish, forcing them to prepare it again. This restaurant needs to learn that vegan and vegetarian cooking can be so much more than rehashed dishes with vegetables and fake meat. It was notably better than a vegetarian restaurant I went to in Perú almost 20 years ago, which basically put unimproved vegetables on a plate and thought it was something worth going out for. But it was out of the league of something like Seattle’s Café Flora or Korean temple food, which both embrace and elevate vegetarian cooking. For a place with such a nice interior and somewhat high prices, it definitely needs to step...

Nokum Space is a fully vegan restaurant and bar. Occasionally, they host musical performances there as well (check their Instagram for updates).

The food menu is a mix of Western comfort food (burgers, pasta, risotto) and Asian food (curry, sweet & sour, rice bowl). For drinks, they offer some colorful cocktail creations beside regular beverages.

Overall, I enjoyed what I had here - just note that they add their own twist to classic dishes. I was most happy about the fact that they make even the ketchup sauce themselves, which was delicious!

The restaurant is located on the 4th floor of a large building. The blue door is the entrance to a rather spacious restaurant with two floors and an outdoor terrace. On the upper floor, the interior is decorated in Western-style with furniture, chandeliers and curtains that create a new-vintage look. Downstairs, where bar and stage are, is a...

비보의 음악감독님이 운영하신다는 비건 식당. 말은 식당이지만 사실 식당보다는 바 운영에 좀 더 치중된 느낌이기는 해요. 입구가 있는 층과 훨씬 더 넓은 그 아랫층 복층을 사용하는 독특한 구조인데 윗층은 밝은 유럽풍 레스토랑이지만 아랫층은 어둑어둑한 그야말로 칵테일 바 분위기거든요. 4층의 아랫층이니 분명 3층이고 원래는 창도 있었을텐데 순간 지하로 내려왔다고 착각했을 정도예요. 윗층은 그나마 테이블이 딱 두석 뿐이라 빠른 선점을 못하면 못 앉으니까 유념하세요.

음식은 생각보다 더 맛있어요. 가지 덮밥과 카레를 먹었고 특히 가지덮밥이 예상보다 맛있었어요. 첫 입에 살짝 짜다는 느낌이 들긴 하지만 가지와 함께 먹는 전체적 밸런스로 따지면 과하다는 정도까진 아니랄까. 이거 먹자고 일부러 여기까지 찾아갈 건 아니고 평범의 영역에 살짝 걸쳐있는 맛있음이라 근처에 사시거나 직장이 인근이면 방문해 볼 만 해요. 전 채식주의자가 아니어서인지 비건음식이라고 요란스럽게 '비건!!! 풀!!!!!' 이렇게 강하게 주장하는 건강식 느낌이 아니고 일상적인 음식 느낌인 이곳 메뉴들이 편안하고 즐겁게 받아들여졌어요.

직원분도 친절하셔서 아랫층 분위기에 약간 놀란 것 빼고는 즐겁게 식사했어요. 아랫층 분위기가 별로였다기보다는... 분명 근사했지만 저희는 소탈하고 화사한 점심식사를 생각하고 방문했던 거라.

비슷한 맥락에서 역시 이 가게의 미덕은 식당쪽보다는 바에 있지 않을까 싶은 것이... 주류 리스트가 심상치 않더군요! 위스키부터 브랜디, 데킬라 등등 엄청 다양한 주류를 보유하고 있어요. 알콜러버님께 추천할만한 가게 같아요. 거기다 비건이기까지 하시면 더욱 추천이죠.

추가로 입구는 '식당 입구가 맞나?' 싶은 파란색 대문이에요....