10-Course Vegan Meal at Baru

While there aren't too many vegan restaurants in Korea, Baru Gongyang--also known as "Balwoo"--is a heaven for vegetarians of Seoul. Baru offers various courses of temple cuisine, ranging from 10 to 17 dishes. Check out the menu here: page 1, page 2/3 and page 4.

My friend and I ordered the 10-dish course Paramita (10 바라밀상). It was more than enough food.

Three Colored Pancakes with Seasonal Vegetables (삼색전 = Samsaek Jeon).

Three Combinations Dumpling, Tofu with salt-pickled herbs and rice wrapped with wild herbs (계정혜삼합 = Gye-jeonghye Samhap).

Mushrooms and Vegetables with Korean chili paste sauce (버섯강정 = Buseot-Gangjeong).

Rainbow of banchan (sidedishes).

Soup made of Temple's Homemade Bean Paste with seasonal veggies.

Rice Porridge topped off with Sliced Dried Jujube.

Wild "deodeok" root mixed with seasonal vegetables and pine nut dressing (더덕샐러드 = Deodeok Salad).

Rice of Cirsium Setidens (곤드레밥 = Gondeurae Bap).

Assorted Wild Veggies and Fruit Chips. Comes with either shikhye or sujeonggwa.

Perilla Seeds Soup with tofu and wild greens topping (들깨탕 = Deul Kkae Tang).

Important things to know:

• Reservations are highly recommended as there is limited space.
• Baru serves lunch until 3pm and open again for dinner at 6pm.
• Everyone sharing a table must order the same course.

Located on the 5th floor of Temple Stay Information Center, across the street from the Jogyesa Temple.

Baru Gongyang
Phone: 02-2031-2081
Address (in English): 5층 71 Gyeonji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-170 110-170
Address (In Korean): 서울시 종로구 견지동 71번지 템플스테

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Colorful Korean Feast at Yeonji Restaurant

Entrance to Yeonji Korean Restaurant.

In a neighborhood detached from the busier part of the Yongin city sits unassuming restaurants. Exteriors appear bare and camouflage into surrounding snowy mountains. Yeonji Korean Restaurant is one of these eateries. 

Yeonji offers set courses. The lunch course is ₩15,000 per person and is more than enough food. You get porridge, jellyfish, salad, pancake, japchae, fish, banchan and more (see below for all photos). For an extra ₩3,000 order Course A to add on bossam (steamed pork) and fried octopus. The pricier courses offer additional dishes, however I recommend you grow another stomach first!

Only a small handful of many banchan.

The courses are served one to two dishes at a time as opposed to your whole meal placed on the table at once. Because of this serving system, you end up finishing the beginning dishes clean and become full in the first half of your dining experience. When the waitresses didn't come for awhile, my food buddy and I thought we finally reached the end of our meal. Then came the rainbow of sidedishes, stew, stone bowl of rice and other goodies.

Looks like kelp noodles, but it's actually a Cold Jellyfish Salad (해파리냉채). Spicy due to the hint of wasabi.

I've noticed many Korean restaurants have a tendency of serving iceberg salads. It's quite sad as this lettuce contains little nutrition. However better to eat iceberg lettuce than a triple fried hot dog. At least the iceberg salad at Yeonji is embellished with a pinch of sprouts.

Perilla leaves are an acquired taste. However the Perilla Seed Salad (들깨샐러드) can be enjoyed by many customers. Only a hint of perilla leaves. Not overpowering at all.

The mild to medium spicy Seasoned Raw Fish (회무침).

Many rice cakes I encounter have a tough and chewy texture. Yeonji's Rice Cake Japchae (떡잡채) has a delightful softness.

The Fried Octopus (낙지볶음) with perilla leaf salad. If the octopus is too spicy, district your taste buds with the herby perilla.

The crispy yet bland Mung Bean Pancake (녹두전).

The oh-so-juicy Beef Patties. One of my top favorites from Yeonji Restaurant.

Banchan, banchan, banchan... Never enough banchan. Anchovy and kimchi on the top, eggplant and spinach on the bottom.

They don't serve too many slices of Bossam (보쌈), but what they give you is enough considering all the other dishes to consume! The garlic chips are a fun concept, though I'd prefer crunching on them while watching a movie rather than pair it with my bossam.

There was also the Seasonal Soup (계절탕), which was made of rice cakes and mushrooms. At the end of the colorful feast, our waitress brought us maesil tea. It's typical to drink a dessert drink at the end of a hansik meal.

Interior shot of Yeonji.

Walking by Yeonji on the main road.

Yeonji
Address: 경기도 용인시 수지구 신봉동 608-7
Phone: 031-896-5678

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Hanbok Photoshoot at Unhyeongung Palace

On my way to Insadong I spontaneously decided to visit the Unhyeongung Palace (운현궁). Little did I expect to end up having a hanbok photoshoot. For only 3,3000 won in fact. That's approximately $3 USD.

After paying the hanbok wearing fee, you walk into a room filled with Korean decorations. To the right is where the colorful hanbok costumes are. The ladies choose a jeogori (the blouse jacket) and chima (long skirt). Men wear a jeogori and baji (pants). Traditional hats are also available.

Once you wear your hanbok, it's time for portraits around the palace. You'll feel like a princess. Or a prince, if you're a dude. Being a chilly winter day there weren't many visitors. Thus I was lucky to score what must've been a 30-minute photo session.

Sometimes I wish everyone wore their country's traditional attire on a daily basis. However Western clothes do have their functionality. Perhaps the romance of wearing hanbok would diminish if worn everyday?

You know the concrete block Professor Oh is standing on (above)? King Gojong used to step on it to get on and off his horse.

It was on my bucket list to wear a hanbok and pose in front of a wooden door. One dream realized, a thousand more to go!

When you wear a dress, you must twirl. That's when it feels most alive :)

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