I am not sure if I’ve ever said this on my blog before. but I am sure I’ve told my friends over and over again that.. I’ve never had any decent steak here and I personally do not recommend chain restaurants like TGIF for steak because they’re… not worth it.

but thanks to my friend who works nearby Anguk, my faith in Korean steaks is restored. =3.

Meet Market is a quaint little one story building along Bukchon-ro. this restaurant was modified from a Hanok and certain Hanok architecture remains in the restaurant so I thought it was really unique! there was a glass roof in the middle too so the lightings in the afternoon’s purrrrrfect.

the sophisticated designs to the beautiful lightings in the restaurant, this restaurant is the absolute perfect place for a date.

I was told that this place costs a bomb during dinner and the price is reduced to half (or more than half!) during lunch. steak and pasta prices varies from 15,000won to 20,000won during lunch time. pretty reasonable for steak prices I’d say since steaks in Korea normally costs more than 30,000won. I heard it’s around 40-50,000won at Outback!

the restaurant wasn’t big and I was told that it may be full at times but because we went there near Seollal (Korean New Year), the restaurant was only filled halfway.

of course, the chef’s a Cordon Bleu chef. since I’m a cheapskate (teehee.) I’ve only been to 2 Cordon Bleu chef’s restaurants (at least the ones I know of) and I loved them both!

we were served a lovely salad with a unique white and yellow coloured cheese. the modified balsamic sauce was amazing though a little sour but it was toned down by the aromatic bacon. 9/10 points for the salad!!!

they seem to use only high quality meat in Meet Market and that’s.. my dream fridge. with all the items in it of course!

this was the love at first sip pumpkin soup. I only wished there were more. if I wasn’t dining in public I guess I’d lick everything! never had I thought that pumpkin soup can taste this nice since my past experiences with it (popular in Korea I guess hahaha) was good but not excellent. it had a strong flour taste to it but this one was made absolutely to perfection. I feel like returning to the shop just for this yummy soup!

the camera lens was a little weird and this was the ONLY clear picture of me in the restaurant T_T. totally candid too.

look at how happy I was!!! that pumpkin soup was really something!

the friend who brought us there recommended the New York-Strip. it looks good and apparently it’s normally good but there was no difference between medium rare and medium. or should I say, it tasted like absolute well-done. or super-done. it’s quite a disappointment to be honest. BUT I was told that they normally taste amazing and it was just that day when we went there. the staffs did ask us about the quality of the meal but my friends opted to stay quiet about it. =S.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I had my favourite Rib-eye steak! I ordered medium rare and yeap, I got the perfect medium rare and it tasted.. perfect. although I wasn’t very fond of the idea of.. having my steak with rice and beans.. but it turned out to be a pretty not bad combinations. can’t run away from the Korean way of having steak since I am having it in Korea anyways.

this is not very related but we did a market research in my MIS class and we found out that many Koreans complain whenever the chef try to make their steak American. they’d ask for pickle, rice and some vegetable sides like salad. basically, many actually hated the fact of a steak with salt and maybe mashed potatoes or chips and they wanted steak with sauce, pickles and vege. so what the consumer wants, restaurants deliver.

I was happily nomming away while my friends had to chew on the super-done steak. and I feel a little bad for them but.. I guess I was lucky? =D.

I also adore the rice sprinkles. I do not know what they were but they were so savory. loved it! I hated the pickle out of everything though. the dipping sauce was great too but the pickle was.. I don’t know why Koreans even like it. I prefer the cucumber pickle but I still think it’s weird how Koreans eat pickles whenever they eat western food. or Chinese food lol. I was told that they eat it to tone down the heavy taste of western food but oh well…

have a bite? =D.

MEET MARKET
lunch: 1130-1630
dinner: 1730-2200
address: 서울 종로구 재동 84-14
number: 02-763-0604
directions: from Anguk station exit 2, walk straight for perhaps 1 minute and you will see the restaurant on your right!