Myeongdong is chock full of restaurants and eateries, especially those catering to tourists.

On our trip to Korea in 2022 right after the pandemic, we realised that our favourite MiGaBon and Sinseon Seolleongtang had closed. (Do note, however, that the latter has since reopened in 2023!) Hence, we had no choice but to make do with this restaurant near our hotel.

The restaurant’s name is not immediately obvious, but it is Myeongdong Mudeungsan Jeongyuk Sikdang.

As you can tell from the prominently featured menu, its signature dish is K-BBQ and in particular, marinated grilled ribs.

We weren’t up for a BBQ during lunch hours, but we did see a sign advertising their special lunch sets.

Prices were very reasonable and the dishes looked tasty enough, so we thought we could give this place a shot.

To our pleasant surprise, although the restaurant is situated right smack in a tourist hotspot, majority of the patrons were actually locals!

There were many office workers (presumably from the banks nearby) who ordered the lunch sets. They seemed to be regulars who were familiar with the staff and menu as well.

We ordered the beef galbi soup (galbitang), bibimbap, and beef brisket soybean paste stew.

Their banchan (side dishes) were quite the interesting mix of cocktail sausages, mushrooms etc. Though I would have preferred the more common ones like potato, beansprouts, burdock etc.!

The galbi soup was very tasty and filled with a generous serving of beef slices, onions, and glass noodles. The soup stock was the right amount of flavourful – not too sweet and not too salty.

Paired with a bowl of rice, this was a very hearty dish to eat especially during the colder seasons.

Their bibimbap also looked quite decent, although I must admit that it definitely pales in comparison to all the other ones we’ve had in Jeonju. I don’t think this quite hits the spot and barely makes the cut as an ‘ok’ bibimbap.

I would certainly not recommend ordering this at Myeongdong Mudeungsan Jeongyuk Sikdang.

The only good part about their bibimbap is that you get to decide and control how much gochujang you want in it.

Some people aren’t too good with spicy food while others can’t wait to douse their whole pot with chilli pepper, so I thought this was a pretty nice gesture by the restaurant!

Overall we were quite happy with the lunch experience at Myeongdong Mudeungsan Jeongyuk Sikdang. The food was pretty affordable and also quite palatable.

That being said, I wouldn’t classify this restaurant as a ‘must-try’ in Myeongdong or Seoul. It’s a ‘good-to-eat-at’ if you’re running out of meal options in Myeongdong and just want to make sure you don’t eat something really bad.

---

DIRECTIONS

Address: 27, Myeongdong 8-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

Related Posts:

• Myeongdong Kyoja: overrated Michelin Guide restaurant
• Tosokchon Samgyetang: best ginseng chicken soup in Korea!
• Grandmother’s Recipe