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.
