#471 강남면옥 / Gangnammyeonok @ 명동/ Myeongdong, 서울 / Seoul
It has been a long time since this space was updated and I am so excited to be blogging about Korea once again since it has been 4 years since I last went there and this time I went there with my BFF once again for about 9 days. Vivian did not feel very well during our Korea trip this spring so she kept craving for soup dishes for practically all our meals. I wanted to bring her to 미성옥 to have seolleongtang initially but since I have forgotten on the directions to get there, we ended up at this building and decided to just have dinner at the Korean restaurant in the 5th floor.
강남면옥 / Gangnammyeonok
서울특별시 중구 명동1가 48-2 미래빌딩 5층 / 5th floor of the Mirae-building, 8, Myeongdong-7 gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
02-3789-7117
I was upset that the seolleongtang dish was not served there so we decided to just order the 고기 왕만두 / Meat Dumpling and 갈비탕 / Galbitang (Short Rib Soup) as depicted in the third and forth picture respectively. Although the server was shocked that we only ordered a main dish and side dish for the both of us, she still served us well whenever we need it. We were surprised that for such simple and little food ordered, the taste can be so gratifying! The dumpling is huge and filling and I already felt quite full after consuming two of it! My BFF and I could not finish all six of it. I usually dislike consuming food with huge bones such as the pig trotters because it is so hard to bite the meat off but it is so easy to tear off the meat from the short rib of the galbitang! How I consume the dish is to take each slice of the complementary side dishes for its spiciness and crunchiness, a tiny bit of rice for its sweetness, meat from the short rib for its tenderness and put the entire spoon of mixed dishes into the soup for its nourishing flavor! Oh boy, that mouthful totally warms your heart and stomach on a cooling Spring day.
The meat dumpling costs 7,000 won, while the galbitang costs 10,000 won. Although the Korean food in Korea is definitely cheaper than the Korean food in Singapore, I just wonder how do Koreans spend so much like that for lunch on a daily basis? On a different note, Vivian recognized a poster filled with 서준 / Seojun from 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다 / The Return of Superman when we have made payment and exited the restaurant. The poster portrayed Seojun consuming the Braised Short Ribs in an appetizing way. It is no wonder all the customers surrounding us were eating that dish and it looks really good. What a pity! We hope to try it during our next visit to Seoul.
Rating of 고기 왕만두 / Meat Dumpling: 3.5/5★
Ratings of 갈비탕 / Galbitang: 4/5★
Opens daily from 11am to 10pm
Ambiance: 7/10
Service: 6.5/10
Food (taste & appearance): 7.5/10
Value: 7/10
Total: 7/10★
Vivian and I really could not believe that we chanced upon this highly raved restaurant by accident but did not try their superstar dish (pun intended). There will definitely be a revisit to this restaurant so stay tuned for updates!
