Sinsajeon • 신사전

Sinsajeon (신사전) is a restaurant in Garosugil (가로수길) area that specializes in Korean pancakes (jeon) and Korean rice wine (makgeolli). The place first gained its popularity on social media for their now infamous honey makgeolli—which is essentially makgeolli served with raw honeycomb—that went viral the first time it was introduced to the online sphere. Since then, the place has gained popularity among the locals as well as international travelers who wanted to try the viral drink as well as the assortment of Korean pancakes they offer on their menu.

Do you know that there’s a Korean tradition where Koreans usually eat savory pancakes (jeon) and drink rice wine (makgeolli) on rainy days? It is said that the reason for it was because the sound of frying pancakes in oil is very similar to the sound of the pitter-patter of rain. And during rainy days, you usually want to eat something comforting. That something is savory pancakes for most Koreans. The makgeolli part is just something sweet and refreshing that pairs well with the savory and oil-rich pancakes, making it a good combination to eat on a rainy day.

Funny enough, my first visit to Sinsajeon was during a rainy day, making it the perfect setting to experience this Korean tradition. It was raining since morning that day and by the time me and my two friends made our way to the restaurant for dinner, it didn’t seem that the rain was going to letup anytime soon. When we reached the restaurant around 6 pm, it was still pouring and the restaurant was full with people lining up in front of it. And so we joined the line and waited in the rain for our turn.

35 minutes later, cold from standing in the rain with our jackets half soaked from the raindrops that were falling from people’s umbrellas around us, it’s finally our turn. We entered the restaurant and was greeted by the voices of people talking over each other, some even half shouting. The main dining area was loud but fortunately we were led to the back area of the restaurant where we got seated in one of the more private booths with curtain partitions. This area seemed to be for larger groups as we were seated on a long table that could accommodate 8 people. And the area was definitely quieter, something that the three of us were thankful for. We placed our order using the tablet order system on the table (and if you’re wondering, they do have the English option so ordering for non-Koreans shouldn’t be a problem) and our food started to come out about 10 minutes later. 

Before everything else, first came the banchan and the dipping sauces. Everything is nicely seasoned and pretty good.

Honeycomb (벌집꿀) ₩4,000/piece* | 8/10

*Must be ordered with the Makgeolli

Since Sinsajeon is well-known for their honeycomb makgeolli, of course we had to try it. We ordered one piece of honeycomb to split between the three of us since none of us is a fan of super sweet stuff. Plus the size of each piece looked quite big so unless you really, really like honeycomb, ordering one piece per person might be a bit much. The staff actually came to our table with a tray of honeycombs and cut one piece into three smaller pieces before placing them into our glasses. 

Sinsa Makgeolli (신사 막걸리) ₩10,000/bottle | 9/10

For their Sinsa Makgeolli, I actually quite enjoyed it. Smooth, not too strong. And the honeycomb did add a little extra sweetness to the drink which made it a perfect dessert drink for me. 

Grandma’s Kimchi Jjigae with Pork (외할머니김치찌개) ₩33,000 | 8/10

Kimchi Stew, Pork, Tofu, Mushroom

The kimchi jjigae was comforting and delicious, hitting that right combination of savory, sour and a little bit of spiciness for me. The pork meat was a little bit too tough for me though. It was served in one big slice and we cut it into smaller pieces after it was cooked, but the texture was still hard to chew. So 8/10 for the stew, but maybe 6/10 for the pork meat. But it’s still a good dish to order if you want something soupy and comforting.

Combination Jeon (Regular) 모듬전 (소) ₩28,000 | 9/10

Two Varieties of Mushrooms, Pumpkin, Shrimp, Tofu, Korean Style Meatballs, Sesame Leaves with Minced Pork, Chili Peppers with Minced Pork, Frozen Pollack, and Kimchi. Fried with custom batter and egg wash.

Overall, a very solid assortment of Korean pancakes and every single one of them is executed nicely. I also like the variety that they have in the portion from vegetables, fish to meat. Definitely enjoyed the pancakes. 

Also, fun fact, some of my Korean friends told me that they usually eat savory Korean pancakes at home with their family or during family gatherings on major traditional holidays like Chuseok or Seollal. It’s something they usually cook at home and not necessarily something that they would eat out at a restaurant for. And maybe that’s why I don’t see a lot of restaurant specializing in Korean pancakes (at least from my research). For the restaurants that I did find, they are usually located in a more tourist heavy area like Garosugil or Hongdae, which makes sense because tourists are more likely to look for Korean pancakes restaurant to try.

If you are looking for a specialized Korean pancake restaurant or maybe a place to drink makgeolli with good anju (안주) (food to be eaten with alcohol), Sinsajeon (신사전) is definitely the place to go. Plus they open late so you can even go here for the second round of your dinner. 

 

Sinsajeon • 신사전

Address: 서울 강남구 도산대로11길 18 신사전
Telephone: 0507-1337-9993
Hours: Everyday 10:30 am—01:00 am

Instagram: @sinsajeon_official
Naver Map

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Solsot Cheongdam • 솔솥 청담점

Solsot Cheongdam (솔솥 청담점) is a chain restaurant that is specialized in “Sotbap” (솥밥) (or“pot rice” in Korean), a Korean traditional dish where short-grain rice is cooked with various ingredients in a heavy pot placed directly on a stove or over an open flame. The dish has been gaining popularity (or at least I’ve seen more and more clips online of restaurants serving Sotbap) in the past couple of years and in my opinion is one of the food trends that’s pretty popular in Korea in recent times (not recent recent, but pretty recent). I still remember a couple of years ago when it started with one or two restaurants that went viral because of their Sotbap menu. But these days, you can find multiple restaurants that have similar concepts in different places in the country. Solsot is one of the bigger franchise in this category with 77 locations all over South Korea. 

I went to the Cheongdam location (솔솥 청담점) on a Friday for lunch with a friend of mine. We arrived at 11:30 am, right before the lunch rush started and managed to get a table right away. The restaurant is not too big with about 24 seatings available around the room. The tables are for mostly for 4 people, but there are about four tables that accommodate party of two. And good thing we came a little early because minutes later, the restaurant was full with people and there’s even a line forming outside. So yes, the place is definitely pretty popular and you might have to wait for a table if you come during lunch or dinner rush. 

The menu here is pretty straight forward with accompanying pictures so you don’t have to guess what you’re getting. Each Sotbap set comes with sides of salad, soup, banchan, dipping sauce and a Yakult drink. 

How To Eat

First, mixed everything inside the pot. Add the sauce too according to your preference and liking. After everything is mixed together, scoop the rice out and place them on the empty plate they gave with your set. If you want to enjoy the Nurungji (or scorched rice), leave the crispy rice that’s sticking to the pot and then pour the hot tea/broth that they gave you inside the white sake bottle shaped container into the pot and put the lid back on top. You can eat this at the end of your meal after you finish your Sotbap.

Overall Comment

One thing I have to say about the flavors, if you’re imagining Sotbap to have a bold flavors (as in South East Asian standard for bold flavors and strong seasonings for example), you might be disappointed when eating it. In general, I think when talking about what considered comfort food in Korea, most of the dishes are very mildly seasoned, especially if you’re comparing it to the flavors one usually finds in South East Asian cooking. Even my Korean friends have told me that SEA foods are generally stronger in seasonings and saltier compared to Korean food (not all, but majority of it). So for the locals, the flavors and seasonings might already hit their level of comfort, but if you are from South East Asia or prefer a strongly seasoned dishes like those found in the SEA countries, Sotbap could taste a tad under seasoned for your taste buds. Just a heads up.

Abalone Sotbap (전복솥밥) ₩18,000 | 8/10

The abalone is fresh and chewy, not tough at all. This Sotbap tastes very earthy especially with the addition of the sesame seeds. For the Abalone Sotbap, it does come with a pack of seaweed sheet on the side. And they recommend you to wrap the rice with the seaweed, dip it into the sauce and eat it in one bite. Eating it this way does add a layer of complexity to the Sotbap and enhance that sea flavor in your bite.

Steak Sotbap (스테이크솥밥) ₩18,000 | 8/10

The steak is nice and tender with pretty generous portion. The egg yolk added an extra creaminess to the Sotbap which I enjoyed. The sauce for the Steak Sotbap is a bit saltier than the Abalone Sotbap’s sauce so I would recommend you to pour it little by little first and taste it in case pouring everything in all together is too salty for you. 

All and all, my friend and I enjoyed our meal. We were pretty stuffed by the end of our lunch (we didn’t even finish all of our rice, just the proteins cause the portion is actually bigger than we thought) and the Sotbap felt like a very healthy meal. If you’re looking for something warm, comforting and nutritious for your body, I think Sotbap is the way to go.

 

Solsot Cheongdam • 솔솥 청담점

Address: 서울 강남구 도산대로53길 16
Telephone: 0507-1334-6806
Hours: Everyday 11:30-21:00 (Last Order 20:30)

Instagram: @solsot_official

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Pro Soy Crab Sinsa • 프로간장게장 신사본점

Pro Soy Crab Sinsa (프로간장게장 신사본점) is one of the most famous crab and seafood restaurants in Seoul that’s well-known for their Ganjang-Gejang 간장게장 (soy sauce marinated crabs). They use premium grade blue crabs that are caught fresh from the west sea of Korea and marinated them with their own special sauce made from fresh ingredients. Since the opening of this first flagship location in 1980, Pro Soy Crab is considered one of the pioneer of marinated crabs restaurants in Seoul.

If you have watched your fair share of Korean variety shows and K-dramas, you probably have seen a Ganjang-Gejang eating scenes on your screen before. And I bet most of you are probably curious if those soy sauce marinated crabs are really as good as how these Korean idols, actors and actresses who are eating them made them look like to be. At least in my case, me and my friends were definitely really curious, especially since every single one of them always boast on how good, expensive and special Ganjang-Gejang is. And that is how me and my friend found ourselves going to one of the most famous Ganjang-Gejang restaurants in Seoul to try these crabs for ourselves.

Pro Soy Crab Sinsa (프로간장게장 신사본점) is located 153 meters from Sinsa Station (신사역), a short 2-minute walk from Exit 4 and close to the famous Garosugil (가로수길). The restaurant occupies 5 floors of a tall building and accommodates about 320 seats for visiting patrons. My friend and I went for a visit on a Wednesday for lunch. As soon as we stepped into the restaurant, we were quickly seated at one of the empty booths and were given the menu book to look through while one of the staff placed six different banchans and two bowls of seaweed soup on the table. After we placed our order, all the food came up pretty quick so the service was really swift at this restaurant.

Sliced Live Octopus 산낙지 ₩30,000 | 8.5/10

Sliced Live Octopus with Sesame Oil and Salt

The octopus was fresh and seasoned nicely. It wasn’t fishy and the texture was soft and chewy. I also really like the fragrant sesame dipping oil that was served with it. If you haven’t had this before, the moving octopus pieces might look scary. But honestly, after you put it in your mouth and start chewing, you’ll get over the sensation of the pieces sucking and sticking to your tongue pretty fast. Just make sure you dip the octopus in the sesame oil and chew thoroughly. If you haven’t had this before and want to try a good one, I’d recommend this place to try since this is one of the better sliced live octopus that I’ve had in Seoul. 

Soy Sauce Marinated Blue Crabs 간장게장 ₩78,000 | 8/10

2 Female Crabs (Medium Size)

Their famous Ganjang-Gejang (Soy Sauce Marinated Blue Crabs) was actually pretty good. The crabs were definitely fresh with a good amount of meat and roe in them. They were also marinated and seasoned well with the salty soy sauce flavor being up front and prominent in every single bite. You’ll definitely have to eat the crab meat with rice and/or banchans to balanced out the flavor if you don’t want it to taste too salty. Also worth noting, if you are not a big fan of seafood or sensitive to the fishy or briny taste of seafood, this might not be your cup of tea. There was a good amount of fishiness and brininess that I tasted when eating the crabs so if you’re really sensitive, you might not like this dish. 

Sweet and Spicy Marinated Blue Crabs 양념게장 ₩82,000 | 9/10

2 Female Crabs (Medium Size)

For their Yangnyeom-Gejang (Sweet and Spicy Marinated Blue Crabs), I actually like this more than I like the Ganjang-Gejang. The yangnyeom sauce was seasoned really well. It’s a bit spicy for me who has a low tolerance of spicy food, but the spice level was still manageable when I ate it with rice. I also think since the flavor of the yangnyeom sauce is a bit punchier than the ganjang sauce, it did a better job at masking that fishy taste from the crab meat. I actually didn’t really taste the fishiness at all on this one. So my recommendation is for you who’s more sensitive to that fishy seafood taste, definitely try the Yangnyeom-Gejang instead. I think you’ll enjoy it more than the Ganjang-Gejang.

Crab Roe Bibimbap 게알비빔밥 ₩25,000 | 8.5/10

Bibimbap made with steamed rice, fresh crab meat, crab roe, egg yolk, seaweed seasoning, sesame, sesame oil

We also ordered the Crab Roe Bibimbap to eat with the crabs and this was also pretty good. The bibimbap itself isn’t strongly seasoned. You mix the crab roe, egg yolk, seaweed and the rice together and you’ll get a creamy bowl of rice that’s actually a perfect pair for the stronger flavored marinated crab meat. Eating them together in a bite certainly cut the saltiness and spiciness from the marination sauce and gave a more balanced flavors. Wrap it in the seaweed sheet if you want to add a little crunch to your bite.

Overall, would I recommend this place? If you’re looking for a good place to try a good Ganjang-Gejang, Yangnyeom-Gejang or Live Octopus, then yes. I think this place is worth trying, especially if you’re visiting Seoul and you want to try Korean food that is not Korean BBQ or meat. Pro Soy Crab Sinsa (프로간장게장 신사본점) does serve fresh blue crabs that taste good. And judging by the number of photos and signatures of Korean public figures that are hanged on the wall around the restaurants, I believe the locals also love this place. Whether the crabs are really as good as how these Korean idols, actors and actresses who are eating them on screen made them look like to be or not, I’ll let you be the judge of that.

 

Pro Soy Crab Sinsa • 프로간장게장 신사본점

Address: 서울 서초구 강남대로97길 7 지하1.2층, 지상1층(잠원동)
Telephone: 02-543-4126
Hours: Everyday 10:00-23:00

Instagram: @prosoycrab
Menu

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Sura Lotte Shopping Avenue Jakarta

Sura is a Korean BBQ bar that’s specialized in Korean-style Hamburg Steak—or Hambak Steak as the Koreans pronounce it—and the first one of its kind in Jakarta. They opened their first outlet in July 2024 at Lippo Mall Puri and expanded into the second one a month later at Lotte Shopping Avenue.

Korean-style Hamburg Steak itself is nothing new. The dish has been served at multiple different restaurants in Korea for years now. Having said that, I did notice that it was making a comeback last year when I started to see a bunch of new Korean-style Hamburg Steak restaurants opened up around Seoul. Most of them adopted similar concept where they have a restaurant with nice modern interior, bar style seating, open kitchen and offers limited menu focusing on the Hamburg Steak. I’ve been meaning to try one of those restaurants but unfortunately haven’t got a chance to until now. But since Sura basically has the same concept as those restaurants, might as well go see what the Hamburg Steak hype is all about since the brand is brought from Korea to Jakarta. 

I visited the Lotte Shopping Avenue location with a friend for a late lunch. The interior is pretty nice and interesting with plenty of seatings available around the room from the bar seating that’s perfect for solo or duo patrons to the cubicle seatings for bigger parties. We opted for the bar seatings since we also wanted to see how the Hamburg Steak is cooked. 

Currently, they have 2 options for the meat: the Wagyu Hambak Steak that’s made with 100% wagyu beef and the Spicy Chicken Hambak. Every Hambak is slow-cooked to order and is grilled and torched for about 15 to 20 minutes to get that smoky juicy meat. And since they have an open kitchen, you can see all the action from your seat while waiting for your order to be done.

The basic set consist of two patties and are served with free-flow white rice, soup, and omega-3 egg. There are also pickles and five different kind of dippings (Korean Suje Ssamjang, Chinese Secret Spicy Powder Ganfen, Yuzu Mayo Sauce, Himalayan Pink Salt & Garlic Flakes, and Sambal Bawang) provided for your steak. 

Double Wagyu Hambak Steak (148k) | 9/10

I ordered the double Wagyu Hambak Steak and not gonna lie, I was pretty impressed with how juicy and flavorful the steak is without dipping it into anything. The smokiness from the all the grilling and the torching definitely added a new layer of complexity to the flavor of the meat. When I dipped the meat into the egg yolk, the overall flavor definitely tasted creamier. With or without the egg yolk, the meat tasted good. 

Another thing that deserves a special shoutout is their Korean Beef and Daikon Radish Soup. I’m a sucker for a good soup and theirs was so goooood. It’s nicely seasoned and the flavor profile is pretty much the same as the ones I’ve had in Korea. Super comforting, especially if you eat if with the rice (their rice is also really good). My friend and I were saying that we can honestly just eat the soup with the rice because it was that comforting.

For the dipping options, I liked the Himalayan Pink Salt & Garlic Flakes and Chinese Secret Spicy Powder Ganfen the best. The Korean Suje Ssamjang and Yuzu Mayo Sauce were alright. The Sambal Bawang was probably my least favorite because it’s spicy and the flavor profile doesn’t really pair well with the Hambak Steak in my opinion. But I do understand why they have that option since we’re in Indonesia after all. Their pickles were also really good and have that authentic Korean flavors in them.

I also tried the Spicy Chicken Hambak that my friend ordered. It also tasted good and the meat was juicy, but it is on the spicier side for me who can’t really eat spicy food. The flavor profile tasted like Sate Lilit Bali if you ever had one of those.

At the end of our meal, the server asked us if we wanted to try their Sundubu Jjigae, a soup option that’s apparently only available on Sundays. We said yes and we each were served with a bowl of pipping hot red soup. Turned out, it was pretty good as well. Super flavorful with generous toppings inside. But since the flavor of the Sundubu Jjigae is stronger than the Korean Beef and Daikon Radish Soup, I feel like if you eat this with the steak, the soup might overpower the taste of the meat. So my recommendation is if after your meal you’re still hungry, ask for the Sundubu Jjigae (and maybe put an egg in) and just eat it with rice. I think it’s going to be better that way. 

Service was really good during our visit. The server explained the menu clearly and checked in with us periodically to see if we need a refill or anything else. She also gave my pregnant friend a boiled egg since she can’t eat the raw egg so that’s something you can probably ask the staff if your don’t eat raw egg. All and all, it was a really good meal and would definitely come back again to this place.

 

Sura Lotte Shopping Avenue Jakarta (4F)

Address: Kuningan, Jl. Prof. DR. Satrio Kav. 3-5, South Jakarta 12940, Indonesia
Hours: Everyday 10:00 am - 10:00 pm

Instagram: @surafromkorea

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Yukmian Yeonnam • 육미안 연남점

Yukmian Yeonnam (육미안 연남점) is a meat restaurant specialized in grilled beef ribs. Located on the second floor of a building in one of the alleys in Yeonnam-dong (연남동), the restaurant is also well-known for their yukhoe (육회) which uses grade 1++ Hanwoo beef.

I found this restaurant when I was searching Naver for a dinner spot to meet up with my friend at. Honestly, the pictures of the torched meat looked really delicious so I asked my friend to go and try this place with me. It was a weekday when we went for dinner and we immediately got a table as soon as we arrived. The interior of the restaurant is quite different than the usual traditional meat restaurant in Korea. It’s definitely more modern and simpler. There are about 26 seatings around the place and the place is pretty noisy with people talking quite loudly on different tables. 

Yukmian Salad 육미안 샐러드 ₩3,000 | 7/10

Fresh arugula, tomatoes, olives with shredded cheese.

The salad came with the signature beef ribs that we ordered. It’s a pretty straight forward side dish that goes well with the meat. 

Signature Beef Ribs 본갈비 (250g) ₩27,000 | 8.5/10

Yukmian’s signature beef ribs (2 servings minimum).
육미안 대표 '시그니처' 진갈비만을 사용 (2인분 이상 주문 가능).

So we ordered 2 servings of the signature beef ribs since 2 servings are the minimum. They served the thick cuts of meat on the plate, already grilled (or maybe half grilled). Then the server torched the meat again table side to get them to the right level of doneness. The sight of the torched meat was pretty mouthwatering. 

They also gave us this stone plate with wasabi, salt, and mustard on it to dip the meat into. The meat itself was as good as it looked. It’s thick, fresh and juicy and very satisfying. The three dippings were also great but I like the salt the best out of the three.  

Snow Crab Innards Fried Rice 대게내장볶음밥 ₩11,000 | 8/10

Fried rice mixed with snow crab innards.
대게내장으로 범벅된 볶음밥.

To complete our meal, we ordered the Snow Crab Innards Fried Rice to make sure we’re full. The fried rice was rich and tasty and definitely didn’t taste like an ordinary fried rice that I commonly found at other meat restaurants. I think the snow crab innards gave the dish an edge over other fried rice out there. 

Overall, I think this place is pretty good spot to go to if you want to have some meat without having to grill them yourself. There are lots of good reviews about their yukhoe as well which make me curious to try it (maybe for my next visit). Noise level at this place is pretty high so you might have to shout a bit when talking to your companions if you come during their busy hours. I also happened to pass by this place a couple of times after my visit during the weekends and the line was pretty crazy (didn’t know that this spot is that popular). So if you want to avoid the line, I’d recommend you to go on a weekday or maybe make reservation first if you’re going on a weekend. 

 

Yukmian Yeonnam • 육미안 연남점

Address: 서울 마포구 동교로38길 5 2층
Telephone: 02-332-3430
Hours:
Mon-Thrs 12:00-22:00 (Break Time 14:30-16:00. Last Order 21:55)
Friday 12:00-23:00 (Break Time 14:30-16:00. Last Order 22:55)
Saturday 12:00-23:00 (Last Order 22:55)
Sunday 12:00-22:00 (Last Order 21:55)

Instagram: @yookmian_yeonnam

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