Seowonjuk — Restaurant in Seoul

This place is seriously overrated. Food: I cannot believe how can the porridge is considered delicious. The abalone slices were really rubbery and porridge was bland. I looked around me, the whole restaurant was filled with tourists, I guess it's tourist food. I had to order Issac Toast which was nearby as the porridge was really disappointing and I did not finish eating it.

Chaotic environment. Though I sensed the staff tried their very best to maintain "law and order" in the restaurant and managing the queue. However, some tourists were simply thick skin and atrocious. An old mother queued for 3 pax, while table was ready, daughter came with her 2 crying toddlers (already crying before entering the restaurant). One refused to walk down the steep staircase and the daughter told her mum she couldn't bring her kid down. And she stepped on my feet. I was angry and felt what the hack she meant by "she cannot bring her kid down from the stairs". The staff wondered how come there were 4 diners instead of 3 as she was told. The staff tried their best to accomodate and they were eventually seated down. However, shortly after 2 adults joined them at the restaurant, they walked into the restaurant skipping the queue. Now the staff was even more lost. I mean we were queueing and this group kept adding people like its their own restaurant? Anyway the 2 additional people left cause they did mot have seats for them but of course kicking some fuss. And guess what? I was assigned to sit next to them?! As they had seated long before us, they were still not ordering and standing around at the table. Even our porridge came before theirs. While seated next to them, all I heard was they complaining why the other 2 adults didn't join them. I couldn't stand it anymore. I scolded them. Then throughout the meal they kept quiet. Also, the daughter cried during the entire meal, causing a ruckus.

The whole environment was like a war zone and the self entitled tourists and their crying children made the whole dining experience too stressful and unpleasant. The staff tried their best, I could see them, but I guess they had to be firm at times dealing with...

Why 4 stars and not 5?

The line is not too long. We had about a 20 min wait. The line starts from the top of the stairs and leads out, so if it looks very long, you can check how many are ahead of you based off that.

Coming in, you will be sat down with others. 1 dish must be ordered per person, unfortunately. Everyone here comes for the premium abalone dish (24k won). This is a hefty price for about 1-2 abalones and congee. Then you must order more depending on how many people you have. We came as a group of 2 people.

After you order, they come with the receipt and ask you to pay in cash straight away. If you say you don’t have cash, then you will pay at the end.

The side dishes arrive and by themselves they taste fine but paired with the congee, the polluc or red one (middle one) was too salty. This makes the subtle flavour of the congee taste bland and requires more salt and pepper than necessary.

To enjoy the congee, I would recommend to avoid the side dish in the centre altogether. First, break the egg yolk and mix the congee. Taste the congee and add salt and pepper to suit your tastebuds.

Overall, I’d recommend others to not come here. Their restaurant revolves around taking advantage of their popularity, overcharging for their dishes, and customers flowing in and out quickly. There’s nothing wrong with their tactics but it feels like there’s a lack of soul here. As a customer that is just my...

It's very conveniently located, just directly outside Myeongdong station. However the entrance of the restaurant it quite small you might have missed it just like me and actually did a turn left into the small lane. Was there on a weekday afternoon for lunch and the place was quite packed. I went in but was given a seat immediately. If you are here for the first time, there is only 1 item that is a "must try" in the menu, and this is the item that you will see in almost every table, which is the premium abalone porridge. I ordered that, as well as the ginseng juice. Quite used to drinking ginseng juice in South Korea although I don't think you can get any juice from ginseng but it tastes more like ginseng powder with milk. Didn't take long for the abalone porridge to be served. The presentation looks very standard as what you see in many of the pictures and the abalone is very nicely arranged on the porridge with an egg yolk in the middle. Taste wise, I expected it to be more flavourful but unfortunately it wasn't. There wasn't much taste in the porridge but the combination of the abalone and the porridge went well together. I thought the green in the porridge was because of seaweed but didn't bring out any taste. I would say the dish was quite normal but was definitely value for money with the premium ingredients inside the...