Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sigmundsmith]

Hi did the search but know luck.

Can anyone tell me a good vegetarian restaurant in Seoul. It doesnt have to be in Itaewon. Price is not a problem - more important is atmosphere, quality.

Cheers

[blurgalurgalurga]

There's an awesome Buddhist restaurant in Insa-Dong. It's called Sangchon
and it's not strictly temple food (they do use spices), but it's really cool. Good place to go on a date or a Saturday night--they do some short dance performances there. An ex-monk runs the place and a bunch of monks and nuns do the cooking.
It's 20 000 a head, last time I went anyway. They give you a LOT of food.
You can google it to find directions--it's down a short pedestrian alleyway off the main Insa-dong drag, and there are signs out on the street, but it's a little bit hidden.
It's been there 20 years or so and has been written up favorably in the NYTimes, albeit about 15 years ago.

[nene]

Sangchon is great for atmosphere and the performances are cool, but the food is nothing special - just a huge assortment of bancheon, and is very expensive (I think I remember 25 - 30k each).

If you're looking for escape-from-Korea, the burrito place Tomatillo feels like a burrito place back home - nothing special, but authentic imitation of imitation Mexican food. Some of the middle eastern places in Itaewon have a nice vibe and are good for veggies. Indian places too.

[Rteacher]

Sanchon is probably the best for atmosphere, and they have - I think every evening - a dinner show featuring traditional Korean drums and dance.

Actually, there are some other pretty upscale vegetarian/vegan restaurants, including a couple more in the Insadong area, but offhand I don't remember the names (probably because it's about 1am and I'm half-asleep...)

The Galbijim site lists a bunch of vegetarian restaurants and directions how to find them ...
http://wiki.galbijim.com/Category:Vegetarian_restaurants_in_Seoul

There are even more listed on this website, but it hasn't been updated in a long time ...
http://www.freewebs.com/vegetariankorea/seoul.htm

[doc_ido]

I think Seoul Veggie Club maintains some lists - they have a blog (but the Facebook group handles most stuff) and their top recommendations were in Eloquence a few months ago.

[Adventurer]

[prideofidaho]

Try the 'vegetarian restaurant' in Insadong run by Supreme Master followers.

It's down the alley to the left of Ssamzie market building (that 4 or 5 level building housing various shops), right at the end of the alley look for a sign that says 'vegetarian restaurant' in English.

The food is good, much better than Sanchon (IMO), and the atmosphere is gorgeous...if not a little kooky.