Are you a BTS Army? Are you heading to Seoul soon? Do you love delicious Korean food? If your answers to these 3 questions are a solid yes, then you must plan a trip down to Yoojung Sikdang! Yoojung Sikdang was featured on Rookie King when the Bangtan boys revealed on the show that it was their go-to restaurant during their pre-debut, trainee days. I had no idea what to expect at Yoojung Sikdang other than "Korean food", but according to the boys, Yoojung Sikdang serves food that tastes like their mothers' cooking, and so I decided to have faith in the boys and just go for it!
Address: Yoojung Sikdang, Dosan-daero 28-gil, Nonhyeon 1(il)-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (click for google map link)
The nearest station is Sinsa Station, and although it is no where near the station itself, I would say it is still a walkable distance. We did take awhile to find the restaurant, but I think the key thing to take note of is that this restaurant is located at a really quiet area with not much shops surrounding it. So if you find yourself at a really, really quiet area... You're probably on the right track.
From the outside, I could already see the walls plastered with photos, posters, and banners of the boys. Entering the restaurant was like entering a whole new BTS world.
Ordering the food was a little bit of a struggle even though an English menu was available. We didn't really understood what the menu was describing, moreover when we tried to order the first dish on the menu which was called something like "veggie wrap rice", she told us that we had to order 2 servings of that which made us really confused since we wanted to order the bibimbap too. This is just based on my experience, but after we couldn't decide on what to order (because she basically insisted that we have to order 2 servings of the first dish), she simply walked off and ignored us for awhile. I'm not sure if she was pissed at us but in the end, we decided to order what she suggested which was 2 servings of the "veggie wrap rice" plus one bibimbap.
We went during lunch time (~2PM on a Sunday) and it was pretty packed as the restaurant is actually kinda small, but there were no troubles getting a table. Most of the customers were fans, but there were also locals who just popped in not knowing that this is actually a popular spot for BTS fans. A group of locals sat next to us too and I overheard them saying that they are surprised at how many foreigners are in the restaurant! We also chatted with them a little during our meal.
The food arrived and it was obviously way too much for the two of us. A family of 4 who sat next to us literally had the same order, but we had no complains! The food was one of the best we ever had in Korea and wiped everything out (hehe). In case you're just as confused as us, 2 servings of "veggie wrap rice" is actually a set of that massive pan of pork, soondubu (tofu stew), 2 bowls of rice, and some fresh veggie leaves. We kinda understood why she insisted on that 2 servings after finding out that "veggie wrap rice" was a set. I'm probably the worse blogger ever because I forgot how much this costs, but if I'm not mistaken, it's around 10,000won - 12,000won per serving.
The bibimbap is my favourite! I'm not sure what the pork dish was seasoned in, but the bibimbap had the same flavour and pork in it, as well as a mixture of seaweed and lettuce. Yes, unlike the traditional bibimbap where you'll find carrots, radish, beansprouts, basically all the veggies I don't eat, this one only has seaweed and lettuce! Again, I don't remember the exact price but I'm pretty sure it was about 9,000won - 10,000won.
Dump your bowl of rice in it and mix it up! Fun fact, there is a nickname for this bibimbap and it's called "Bangtan"! So don't be surprised when you hear the staff shouting "방탄 하나!" ("Bangtan hana" which means 1 serving of "Bangtan").
My boyfriend wasn't that keen on visiting Yoojung Sikdang since to him, it just sounds like a gimicky restaurant to scam die-hard BTS fans. But his opinion completely changed as like I said, this was hands down one of the best meals we had in Korea. If we'll ever go back to Seoul again one day, Yoojung Sikdang will definitely be in my itinerary, not because of BTS, but because of the delicious food. Even if you're not a fan of BTS, I highly recommend you to visit this restaurant for some awesome Korean food!
Labels: BTS, food, korea, lifestyle, review, seoul, travel
Love Korean fashion but hate shipping fees? Well then here are the 5 Korean fashion brands you must check out while in Seoul! Majority of these fashion brands are not only unavailable here in Singapore, but their flagship stores are also worth visiting even if you're not buying any clothes (yknw,
Instagram?).
2 years ago, I wrote a blog post on the
10 best places to shop at in Seoul and that blog post still stays very relevant as of today so if you're interested in that, feel free to read that once you're done with this post!
1. Chuu 츄 | click here for online store
Chuu is a Korean brand that offers not only clothing and accessories, but even stationery, phone cases, and plush toys! Fashion wise, they offer a huge variety of different styles - basic, cutesy, formal, you name it. One of my favourite is definitely their pajamas range but sadly I didn't get any because I already own the BT21 pajamas so any more would be too much. Another one of my favourite from Chuu is of course, the infamous -5kg jeans! They actually have a +5cm jeans collection but I haven't tried that yet though I know yeah I probably need them...
Chuu's first flagship store is located at Hongdae, and although it requires you to walk a little (maybe a 10 minutes walk?), it is just right opposite the Style Nanda flagship store so you can hop over there after you're done with Chuu. Chuu also just recently opened their new flagship store at Myeongdong and lemme tell ya, you have to visit that outlet. I did upload a separate post for Chuu, so
click here if you're interested to read more about Chuu and their flagship stores!
Don't let the extravagant interior design fool you as their prices are actually very reasonable! I actually bought a total of 5 pairs of jeans from Chuu and you can see them in my Korean Fashion Haul where I've included the name of the jeans as well as the prices. Some of the jeans were pricier (~35,000won) as they were from a different collection, but the basic ones were only 18,000won each! For good quality jeans that has a brand... I'd say it's a steal. Ah yes, I also bought a button down shirt and it was only ~12,000won!
2. Style Nanda 스타일난다 | click here for online store
I'm sure you know Style Nanda, but there are a ton of Style Nanda stores all over Seoul, mainly the flagship store at Hongdae, the Style Nanda Cinema store at Apgujeong, and the Style Nanda Pink Hotel at Myeongdong. So which one's worth visiting? Well for me, my favourite one is the one at Hongdae. Firstly, it's the biggest and therefore has the full collections, and once again, located further from the subway, I find that this one is generally quieter than the other 2 outlets.
This is the only outlet that has a photobooth, and it's FREE! That itself is enough reason for me to visit, to be honest, but there are another reason. Recently, it has opened a new pink pool cafe at the top floor and it's freaking cute. And it smells delicious!!
Sadly, we didn't dine there because we already went to the pink pool cafe at the Myeongdong outlet which was so tiny in comparison. During our visit to the pink pool cafe at Myeongdong, we ordered the Lemon Detox and Iced Americano and both tasted horrible. Just thought I'd mention it.
I thought the prices were pretty reasonable too for a well-known brand like Style Nanda and I love their jewelry! Whilst you're there, make sure you check out the sales section on the second floor (of the Hongdae flagship store) too.
3. Im Vely 임블리 | click here for online store
I discovered Im Vely after I started using their makeup and skincare line, Vely Vely. If you've been following me then you'll know that I love Vely Vely products and have been using their products for over a year now. I follow their founder Im Jihyun on Instagram who is a Korean fashion influencer and so she often posts outfits with clothing and accessories from Im Vely. Apart from female fashion, Im Vely also offers men's wear, and she even has a homeware collection!
The Im Vely flagship store is located near Hapjeong and Sangsu station, but it is also walkable from Hongdae. I suppose it is because it's not located directly at the hot spots, the entire building was kinda empty which was nice and made photo-taking really easy heh. I didn't buy anything in the end because I ran out of money, but the flagship store was so cute it was worth going! It also has a gorgeous cafe on the top floor.
Exit the store, turn right, and you'll be able to find a photobooth there too! The sad thing is, it's not free and I think it was 5,000won.
4. Mixxmix 믹스엑스믹스 | click here for online store
Mixxmix is an affordable Korean brand that offers clothing that are more street-style and casual. Many celebrities and K-idols such as Red Velvet, Song Jihyo, Kim Sejong (Gugudan), etc, were also spotted wearing their clothing!
I don't think I can consider the Mixxmix store as a "flagship" store, but they do have a physical store just opposite the Chuu Myeongdong flagship store. The store had 2 levels and was pretty empty... In a sense that they didn't had a lot of clothing or racks. Despite the affordable prices, I did not purchase anything though because I felt like I don't suit the street-style look but if you're the kind who loves street-style, this brand is worth checking out!
5. Aland 에이랜드 | click here for online store
Aland is another famous store in Korea and thus has countless of outlets... Everywhere. It has an outlet in Hongdae, Apgujeong, and even two outlets in Myeongdong itself. The biggest outlet I've been to so far is the one at Apgujeong where there are a total of 3 levels if I'm not mistaken. They sell clothing and accessories from many different brands so you can find different styles of clothing and apparel in every price range in just one store.
I do feel like most of their clothing are again more street-style and so I've never bought any fashion items from Aland, but whenever I see an Aland store, I step right into it because Aland is also the place where you'll be able to find beauty brands such as Heimish, Cosrx, Klairs, Mizon, Beauty People, and more. Ah and they also have cute gadget accessories and stationery which will make great souvenirs! I didn't take photos of their clothing selection since I always go straight to the beauty section, but you can browse through their online store to check out what they have.
Labels: fashion, korea, korean, lifestyle, seoul, tips, travel
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