Sanchon — Restaurant in Seoul

Are you a vegetarian, or just a reasonably minded person who enjoys eating delicious vegetables and perhaps sitting on the floor and watching people dance? Then this is a good spot for you. If you honestly can't imagine dining out without the smoky tendrils of crispy carnivorous delights wafting through your psyche - then please make other plans.

Through a maze of alleys you'll find a glass sliding door, which, upon entering opens up into a beautiful temple-like restaurant. You'll be asked to leave your shoes at the door - Don't complain, just comply. When we visited there was just one other table of business men, who had clearly brought a single visiting (non-Korean) colleague for something more traditional. Like fools, they sat at a regular table. We opted for the low slung, floor sitting style and were pleased to find that it was heated, and offered an excellent view of the place.

The menu is pre fixe, so don't be shocked when they start to bring you things straight away, but don't forget to ask for beer, soju or makgeolli (if you so, desire). We really enjoyed the selection of dishes, and felt totally satiated by the amount of food provided. The flavours ran the gamut of spicy, sweet and salty - and each come to you displayed in tiny wooden bowls or plated to the extreme on a giant platter. We hadn't had temple food before - and it was excellent in its simplicity. Though its on the high end for dinner out in Seoul - it also comes with entertainment. Oh, the entertainment.

Seemingly a family business, all of the millennial age folks who work there, donned traditional costumes around our third course and regaled us (and the business men) with at least six different dances. Both individually and as a group. Having never seen this type of thing before, we were pretty excited to get the chance to check it out. The business men seemed bored - but they looked boring, so there's that. I won't spoil the experience any more suffice to say, be prepared to spend a few hours on this tranquil...

I am a solo traveler. Allergic to seafood and who doesn’t eat meats but chicken and fish. I learned if I wanted a decent meal I should try Temple Food. Which I did in Jeju and had a wonderful experience, so I decided to give it a try in Seoul. When I got to the door, I was excited to see someone who looked like a monk. Quickly turned off by his rudeness. Waited for a while and was then rushed to the most back of the place, which I figured might be bc was most convenient to seat a solo visitor. Then a lady came to bring appetizers, and was plainly rude. Then a young man, who was non-Korean, brought other dishes and made me feel better. But the man who ushered me to the table, the two ladies serving and cleaning around, and the monk at the reception made me feel awful. Some Italians were seated close to me and I noticed how different they were treated. Even teased with them. At that point I wondered if it was the fact I was a solo dinner (I understand there os a lot of food, but maybe they can have alternatives for those who DO NOT have someone to dine with)… I wondered if it was my color (brown, Indian looking), I have read there is some sort of racism against those. I wondered how a place that respects animal life could treat a human so poorly, just because of my condition (solo? brown?). I almost bursted into tears but decided to write this review from my table instead. I gave them 3 stars bc the place is quite special and the food as well. If you are not in a condition similar to mine, you might even have a good time. In Jeju, I went with both conditions and they love and respect and guidance I received made me decide to try this again. But I won’t even bring my family here. The quality of humans working in this place does not even align with...

One of the most memorable food experiences of my life. We wandered in and were incredibly excited that it was all vegetarian as a lot of Korean food proved otherwise. The mood, the quirky decor and the sitting on the floor was all fun.The ordering process / menu wasn't quite clear to us and before we knew, somehow it we were in the middle of a huge, expensive, several course meal. Dishes kept coming out, in all kinds of containers. We weren't sure what we were eating for the majority of the dishes, even though we kept referencing the menu. It was difficult to identify what was what. Everything was vegetarian, so we tried it all. It was a full texture and taste experience. Lots of giggles and "you firsts" exchanged. Nothing was particularly tasty or even really enjoyable, but it was legitimately fun nonetheless. The pine needle drink was actually quite good and incredibly unusual. Definitely one of the most unusual and expensive vegetarian meals of my life. Left with very mixed feelings. Though it felt kind of like we over paid considerably for food that was not very good or even pleasant, it was more about the experience. A strange review to leave, but it was a strange experience. One that I'm still processing. I suppose if you know going in that it is both expensive and not very tasty, but it's incredibly interesting, then I recommend the experience. I would not return however. The artwork on display...