Seoul’s trendy restaurants are slowly taking over instagram, and one of them where many famous Korean instagrammers frequent is this one; Gyeongju Sikdang, which means Gyeongju restaurant. Gyeongju, being the Kyoto of Korea, or in other words, the ancient city, I was expecting the food here to be as traditional as possible, but it was actually very much improvised!

the contemporary restaurant isn’t the easiest to find as it is located farrrr away from Hongdae station. in fact, this restaurant is actually near Sangsu station.  the exterior is as beautiful as its interior; a beautiful modernized hanok.

the whole restaurant itself is just super instagram friendly. from any angle, anytime of the day! but also because it is such a pretty restaurant, do expect an hour of wait if you were to come here during Friday and Saturday nights.

oh hello! I exercised a whole lot that day so I deserve a heavier dinner heh. they have many reasonably priced lunch menus but for dinner, they only have these big platters of meat which can easily feed 3 people if you order rice.

the platter I got consisted of some veges, mutton ribs, pork belly and pork neck. and it costs 32,000won. the meat was good but nothing spectacular. it goes really well with the dipping sauce though.

with an additional 2,000won, you can get a beanpaste soup too! and that bean paste soup was.. one of the most delicious bean paste soup! it was very clear yet flavourful, just the way I like my bean paste soup to be. I do like heavier flavours but if it’s clear and at the same time flavourful, that’s just perfect!

I really enjoyed their side dishes especially the pickled perilla leaves. trust me, I normally hate it but they made it so well <3.

every piece of meat was cooked finely but it wasn’t the best grade. although I have nothing to complain as they actually serve lamb here! Koreans do not really like lamb I noticed. they rarely serve lamb in restaurants in Korea but I think more and more Koreans enjoy it now!

잘 먹겠습니다!

okay I’m full now. bye!

Gyeongju Sikdang 경주식당 ($-$$)
49-7 Wausan-ro 13-gil, Sangsu-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
11:30AM–3:30PM, 5:30–11PM

Jamie’s Rating:
taste ☆☆☆☆
atmosphere ☆☆☆☆☆
originality ☆☆☆☆
service ☆☆☆☆
hygiene ☆☆☆☆☆
value ☆☆☆