14 December 2013

This cute little restaurant called ‘밥’ (said ‘bap’, it means rice) was hidden in one of the alleyways opposite the National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul.  It is an old Korean house, with traditional low ceilings, sliding doors and floor seating, which was turned into a little eatery.

You leave your shoes at the door, duck through the entrance and sit down on the floor in front of the low tables.  The menu is simple and consists of Kimchi Jikae (spicy kimchi soup), fish kimchi jikae (with small fish in the soup) and other very traditional Korean dishes (considered as ‘light lunches’).  If you can’t read Korean, the menu on the wall might be difficult to decipher without any pictures available.  As in any traditional Korean restaurant, a bowl of steamed rice and a range of side dishes (Banchan) are usually included.

We walked across the road from the museum, up the street where there are restaurants, coffee shops and the modern art museum.  The ‘Bap’ restaurant is down one of the little alleyways opposite a Greek art gallery.

Machika jusaeyo “맛있게주세요” – bon appetit!