It's past the days when people got sick because they didn't have enough to eat, and it's an age where people got sick because they ate too much.
In particular, meat consumption in Korea has increased about 4 times over the past 30 years, and the incidence of adult diseases has increased steeply in proportion to that. As a result, more and more people are choosing a vegetarian diet for health reasons other than religious beliefs these days. However, if you're worried that a vegetable-only meal without a side dish of meat or ham will get boring, check out the social media flavor appraisal team today.
Here are some vegetarian restaurants that break popular prejudice and are armed with a variety of flavors.
1. âOsekai Hyang,â a vegetarian restaurant that even foreign vegetarians love
Osegae Hyang, located in Insa-dong, is a favorite vegetarian restaurant for foreigners, as there are at least 2 teams of foreign customers when visiting a restaurant. They offer traditional Korean food such as miso stew, burdock root soup, and gondre river miso bibimbap, as well as hearty dishes such as noodles such as stir-fried udon, jajangmyeon, and rice noodles, sweet and sour pork made from soy meat, and shiitake mushroom rolls. For vegetarians who seek authentic temple food, some menus are designed to choose not to include otsinchae (green onions, garlic, appetites, chives, onions).
â²Shikigami Tommy Porter's review: I enjoyed the vegetarian champon and plum sweet and sour vegetables.
â²Business hours: 12:00 ~ 20:30 â²Location: 59 Gwanhoon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul â²Price range: Plum soup (15,000 won), Conkatsu set meal (11,000 won)
2. âCafe Sloby,â a place where you dream of a slow but better life
Cafe Sloby started ambitiously with the goal of creating a space for people who dream of a âslightly slower but better lifeâ from âThe Life of a Busy City Person.â It is more famous for making a new diet centered around vegetables every day and serving customers with sincerity. Even though they are busy running a restaurant, they are even serializing webtoons on blogs and portals. A meal made with fresh and safe ingredients from direct farmers all over the country is even better because you can eat it with confidence. Recently, they have been making various vegetarian bento boxes and serving them to customers, such as vegetarian confectionary bento boxes and organic grilled tofu bento boxes.
â²Shikigami Bomi Kim's review: One of the few places in Hongdae where you can drink makgeolli with a clean atmosphere and clean food! The song is good and the food is delicious! The lights are dim at night, so I think it would be a great place for a blind date. A few tables nearby are on blind dates;)
â²Business hours: 11:30 ~ 21:00 â²Location: 163-9 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul â²Price range: Occasional meal (8,000 won)
3. Vegan cafe âCoexistenceâ operated by an animal protection organization
The vegan cafe Coexistence, located in Dapsimri, is a cafe directly managed by the animal protection organization âCare.â
All of the menus here are vegan and do not use fish, milk, or dairy products, and all proceeds are used as animal protection funds. The âtriple burger,â which contains three sauces and three patties, is the most popular, and the patties and sauces are made and used directly at the store. Patties are made by mixing more than 10 ingredients, including brown rice, lentils, chickpeas, onions, garlic, and mushrooms. In addition to meals, you can also enjoy sweets such as cookies, cakes, and ice cream made with vegetarian ingredients, so be sure to check them out.
â²Shikigami Coffee Coffee Room's review: I thought it would lose flavor because it was vegan, but that's not true! It's even tastier!
â²Business hours: 11:00-21:00 â²Location: 267-2, Dapsimni-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul
â²Price range: Premium triple burger (8,500 won), hash brown burger (3,500 won)
4. Clean and healthy temple food, âAseungjiâ
For Koreans, when they think of a vegetarian diet, what immediately comes to mind is monk and temple food. Located in Singil-dong, Aseungji is a temple food specialty store that only serves lunch. The name of the store, Aseungji, comes from the Buddhist term Asenggi (Aseungji), which means an endless number of times that cannot be expressed in numbers, and it is said that the name came from the hope that the blessings and wisdom of the people visiting this place would be endless. Like temple food, it does not use irritating spices (green onions, garlic, hazelnuts, chives, onions) or chemical seasonings called otsinchae. It's only open for lunch (12:00 to 15:00), so it's best to make a reservation as far in advance as possible.
â²Shikigami Bohemian Review: This is a temple food specialty store. You must make a reservation to go to a place that only serves lunch before you can eat it.
Course meals are offered, and a buffet is also available.
â²Business hours: 12:00 ~ 15:00 â²Location: 223-17 Singil-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul â²Price range: 20,000 won per person
5. Vegetarian desserts are also sweet and delicious! âZero Plan,â a place to break prejudice
Sweet desserts always include animal ingredients such as milk, butter, and eggs. But what if there is bread made without milk or butter? There is a place that completely breaks the prejudice that it's boring and that something is missing. Zero Plan is located right in Sadang-dong. Zero Plan offers vegetarian desserts made without animal ingredients under the theme of âa place where the body and mind can rest.â You can enjoy a variety of desserts such as cakes, tarts, brownies, and pies. If your body and mind are tired of high-calorie desserts, why not take a moment to relax here?
â²Shikigami Infinite Vegetarian's review: It was hard to enjoy sweet desserts while being a vegetarian, but I found a place like a ray of light!
â²Business hours: 11:00-21:00 â²Location: 93 Sadang-ro 16ga-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul
â²Price range: 20,000 won to 30,000 won for cakes (based on one box)