Disclaimer: I do not claim this is 100% guaranteed halal
since they do not have any halal label but I decided to say it’s halal in terms
of type of meat and the presence/absence of alcohol in the food. You may ask
the staff before making order. Make sure you know simple conversation to
survive eating at Korean restaurant. What’s important is you must not feel
heavy-heart while eating. If you do not feel confident of its halal status,
please do not eat
If you happened to be around Insadong and you’re looking for
lunch, I suggest you to go to this restaurant. I noticed that restaurants in
Seoul are small and compact but love the way they managed to put things in
order so that many people can come in at one time. After freezing outside, once
you enter the restaurant, you’ll feel the warmth of this restaurant because the
floor is heated and sitting on the floor is much better than sitting on the chair.
Once you take your seat, the waiter will serve you hot tea. Perfect
to warm up your cold body upon waiting for your food. I ordered mackerel set
which comes with a LOT of banchan (side dishes). If you want to order,
make sure to remind the waiter to exclude meat in the meal. They will actually
be alarmed if you looked like a Muslim, I mean by wearing hijab, they have
received a lot of Muslim customers so they will always exclude meat for every
meal ordered. Make sure to tell them you can’t drink soju too (or any kind of
alcoholic beverages) in case the staff changes etc.
I want to highlight that this is the best mackerel I have
ever eaten in my life; it melts in your mouth after a couple of chewing. The banchan are all good, but yeah the
one in JBSD is incomparable though. I
still have the heart for the perilla leaves banchan.
How to order? Ok, first of all after you choose your seat,
browse through the menu. The signature dish here is Chilgabsan Jeongshik 칠갑산 정식 which means Chilgabsan full course meal. You can just pointed at the picture on the
menu book, and say: yogi juseyo (여기 주세요) which means please give me this. However, the original
menu comes with meat. To order meal without meat, say ‘Gogi na noh ji masaeyo' (고기를 놓지마세요)’ which means please do not put meat. Don’t forget to say kamsamida (감사합니다) with smiling eyes after the staff have taken your
order.
Building rapport with the restaurant is the key to get a cheaper price
or lots more of banchan lol.
After you have done eating, go straight to
the counter located at the front door to pay the bills. Don’t bother the staff
to go to your table for payment.
How to get there? Get off at Anguk Station (by subway) and walk towards Insadong through Exit 6. You will pass by Ssamziegil building and please look for the pharmacy (it's written in hangul as 수도약국) which is not far from Ssamziegil. Look up for this sign: Insadong-10 gil (blue color sign). Then you have to turn left and walk through the road about 10 meters and walk through the small alley at your right until you see this:
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| The sign I draw a circle is Chilgabsan. If you find this then you have come to the right place |
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| Ssamziegil |
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| Mackerel Set |
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| Hot tea |
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| OMG salivating |
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| Small & compact but comfy |
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| 끝! |
