Jinsadaek, Seoul

Jinsadaek is a traditional Korean restaurant tucked away in a back alley of busy Myeongdong. It is owned by the same group as the Rakkojae inn where we stayed for two nights. As we were impressed by the breakfast at Rakkojae, we decided to give Jinsadaek a try. The restaurant was styled like a hanok (traditional Korean house) which meant Paul and I had to sit on the floor for 90 minutes. We elected the 13 course Sa Jeongsik menu - the cheapest course at KRW38,000 per person (about US$38).


1st course - abalone porridge

The course started with a little abalone porridge, corn silk tea as well as some cold "white" kimchi which Paul liked as he can't eat the spicy stuff. We loved the abalone porridge which was thick but had a subtle taste of savory abalone.

White kimchi

The next course was Korean sweet potato vermicelli stir-fried with various vegetables which is called japchae.

Japchae

We will then served slices of cold rare beef with shreds of scallion tossed with chilli and garlic slices. I guess you wrap the scallion and garlic with the strip of beef. I loved this dish as I'm a huge scallion and garlic fan. Paul - not so much.

Cold slices of beef (minimally cooked) with garlic and scallions

Fresh sashimi was the next course. In Korea, sashimi is usually eaten with dabs of spicy gochujang and wrapped in perilla leaves as opposed to soy sauce and wasabi.

Hoe (Korean sashimi)

Our next course was a simple steamed shrimp with vegetables - satisfyingly simple. Unfortunately, we only got one each!

Steamed shrimp

























The next course was three different types of pajeon - Korean pancake with zucchini, oyster and potato fillings respectively. These were delectable little bites dipped in the soy sauce.

Pajeon sampler

By now, the table was groaning with all the dishes and there was still more to come! The next dish was a good version of beef bulgogi.

Beef bulgogi

Past mid-way point - we had reached the seasonal soup course. This was a lukewarm seaweed soup. Not unpleasant in taste but a bit slimy in texture. It was different.

Seaweed soup

 

The next dish was the steamed belly pork served with slices of seaweed to wrap the pork in.



Steamed pork with seaweed wraps

The next course was one of the reasons I wanted to eat here. Raw crabs marinated in soy sauce - called ganjang gejang. I had heard about this delicacy in Korea and wanted to try it. Here was my chance.

Looking delicious!

The taste was interesting - subtle taste of crab meat but marinated in soy sauce with scallions and sesame seeds. I would certainly eat it again but must say cooked crab still beats raw crab. By this time, we were getting full but there was also grilled tile fish to enjoy. This was followed by rice and a side dish of whelks with zucchini which was good. There was also a soybean paste stew which was fabulous with rice. Alas, I was too stuffed at this stage to truly enjoy the last few dishes of the course menu.

Chilli zucchini and whelks salad

All in all, I really enjoyed this 'degustation' menu of traditional Korean foods. It was priced very reasonably and we tried a variety of dishes although nothing stood out particularly. Throughout the evening, we were also treated to a rather jarring gayageum performance but that simply added to the charm.

Looks better than it sounds

We had an early dinner reservation but by the time we left, the restaurant was bustling and turning walk-ins away. It seemed like an ideal place to take visitors from out-of-town for business but there also seemed to be locals dining there. Since we were staying at their sister property Rakkojae, we even got a 10% discount!

Having a grand time!