Sunday, June 22, 2014

YoSukGoong restaurant

Hello everyone!

So I'm finally back to blogging about our trip in Korea and Taiwan.  This one is the one that was promised in this post like.. almost 2 weeks ago...  haha
but while we were in Gyeong Ju, we visited this restaurant called YoSukGoong, and it was so amazing that I thought it deserved a post of its own.  Tell me if you agree afterwards  ;)


The restaurant was a palace belonging to a princess YoSuk during the Silla era that has been transformed into a restaurant by the Choi family (an uber rich family, apparently).  We decided to go there because we saw it on TV (yes, we are one of those peeps who watch food network, even in foreign countries  =p) and it seems that everyone else was also in agreement about how good the food is there! I mean, look at all of these plaques proclaiming its deliciousness!  They use family recipes, and I believe it's the 13th generation daughter-in-law who is running the restaurant.



Once you walk through the traditional doorway,



you're greeted with this view!




isn't it so beautiful?!
We walked through this little doorway, and was lead to our own little room by our waitress to have our meal! 




It felt like we were coming to have a meal at someone's house (a few thousand years ago, of course) because every room is furnished like it would have been back then.




Anyway, after marveling at our surroundings for a bit, we finally noticed our meal table, which already had so many dishes on it!  We made a reservation, so that's why everything was prepared for us already. If you are planning on visiting, I would highly recommend making a reservation before you go.


Couldn't have asked for better company to enjoy this amazing experience with!



Soon after we sat down and took these photos, the food started coming out, and let me tell you, it did not stop coming out until we were all stuffed!

These were all traditional Korean dishes (of the wealthy) so there were some dishes my cousins and I tried for the first time!  We had to look up what they were on the brochure  haha  

so here we go, the never ending stream of amazing dishes!  definitely no complaints here  =D

some dumplings and Galbi (beef ribs)


jellyfish!  so interesting!

Mushroom soup

not sure what these were, but they were so good!


PaJun, Korean Seafood Pancake:::a fancier version of ours haha


some more amazing pork and beef dishes~


Spicy deliciousness that was this octopus dish


sweet and sour pork-esq dish


mmm avalone



we had a good laugh over this crab salad 


Korean Miso soup!


and this fish that was prepared so amazingly!  each piece of meat was already taken off from the bone, and then reassembled to look like the fish again, so it was so easy to eat!


and the aftermath...  haha


oh, and did we mention our view from our dining table?   not bad, eh?  haha


At this point, I saw our waitress come in with another plate of stuff on it, and I remember saying in dismay, "There's more...?!"   Thankfully, it was just some dessert of tea and watermelon.  Thank goodness because our stomachs were about to burst...


After we had more than our fill, we took a stroll around the restaurant/palace to enjoy the beautiful grounds, but more importantly, to walk off some of the exorbitant amount of food we had just consumed  haha





What I loved the most about eating here was that it was not only about the delicious food, but also about the experience of eating traditional Korean food, in a traditional way, in a traditional place.  It's a great place to bring not only guests from foreign countries, but also for Korean people to visit because let's be honest, no one has that much time to make all those Korean dishes regularly at home, right?  =)

If you're visiting Gyeong Ju, I would highly recommend visiting YoSukGoon for a meal and a stroll!
Thank you for stopping by!
--Janny



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