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Evelyn Chen

Seoul is a city where Michelin-star restaurants and age-old culinary traditions exist side by side.
Comfort food here is more than just nourishment – it embodies the warmth of home and memories of childhood, and pays tribute to Korea’s rich heritage.
For South Korea’s leading chefs, humble staples shape their approach to contemporary cuisine. From noodles to nourishing broths, these dishes lay the foundation for the country’s culinary identity.
Six chefs from Seoul and beyond lift the lid on the comfort foods closest to their hearts and the best places to enjoy them. You may be surprised to read that there is not a barbecue or bibimbap in sight.

1. Kang Mingoo, Mingles (Seoul)
“Kalguksu [knife-cut noodles in a starchy soup] and jeon [pan-fried fritters] are my favourite comfort foods,” says Mingoo Kang, chef-owner of three-Michelin-star Mingles.
Every Sunday morning as a child, Kang would go with his father and younger brother to a particular sauna followed by Hansung Kalguksu (4 Eonju-ro 148-gil, 2F, Gangnam district, Seoul), a kalguksu restaurant in the same building.
“I always looked forward to Sundays because I could enjoy a hot, delicious bowl of kalguksu after the sauna,” he says.

At home, his mother would make kalguksu with a clear, light anchovy broth.
“Back then, I preferred kalguksu with meat, but as I grew older, I started craving the version with anchovies and seafood,” he says.
Kalguksu became popular in Korea during the 1960s and ’70s when the government encouraged the consumption of flour-based dishes to reduce reliance on rice.
The dish was easy to make: wheat dough was rolled out and cut into ribbons with a knife. It was also deeply satisfying. Over time, variations featuring different broths emerged – beef, chicken, anchovy, dried seafood and clam – always accompanied by kimchi.
“The types and styles of kimchi vary greatly from house to house and restaurant to restaurant,” Kang says.
Kalguksu restaurants often serve jeon as well, and Kang’s favourite kinds are codfish jeon and squash jeon. Both are coated in flour and egg then pan-fried until golden brown.
2. Son Jong-won, Eatanic Garden and L’Amant Secret (Seoul)

“I lived overseas from a young age, and whenever I returned to Korea on vacation, the first place I went with my parents was a soup restaurant,” says Son Jong-won, head chef of the one-Michelin-star restaurants Eatanic Garden and L’Amant Secret.
The traditional Korean word for soup is guk; it usually refers to broth served with a bowl of rice. It is said that a typical Korean meal is not complete without bap (rice), guk (soup) and banchan (side dishes).
Son says it is easy to find restaurants dedicated to guk in Korea, and that soups are deeply rooted in the country’s food culture. “I also really enjoy eating soup with rice,” he adds.

One spot Son frequents is Bokdoni (22 Teheran-ro 37-gil, Gangnam district, Seoul), a restaurant in a building across from Eatanic Garden that specialises in sundaeguk (pork bone broth with blood sausage).
“The hot soup, made with pork bones, comes with sundae [blood sausage], pig’s ears and other cuts, eaten with salted shrimp, wild sesame seed powder and plenty of buchu [Korean chives] mixed in with rice,” he says.
“I generally avoid spicy or heavily seasoned foods. But when I feel down or tired, I find this soup especially comforting,” he adds.
3. Sun Kim, Restaurant Meta (Singapore)

Growing up, Sun Kim of two-Michelin-star Meta in Singapore relished haemultang, a spicy seafood hotpot featuring savoury, briny broth made from fish bones and dried seafood. It is traditionally served with fresh seafood, chilli powder, garlic, bean sprouts and minari (water dropwort).
Sun says that, as the dish was “not cheap”, his family would eat it on the days his father got paid. It remains the chef’s favourite comfort food.
At Meta, Sun serves an elevated take on haemultang as part of his tasting menu.
Sun says he has been going to DongHae Haemultang (Yangcheon district, 993 3, 1F, Seoul) since he was 15 years old, and recommends the agujjim – steamed monkfish tossed with chilli sauce, bean sprouts, minari and an array of seafood.

4. Junghyun Park of Atoboy, Atomix and Naro (New York)
“I have always loved Pyongyang naengmyeon [buckwheat noodles in cold soup] since my time in Korea,” says Junghyun “JP” Park, chef-owner of Atoboy, Naro and two-Michelin-star Atomix, all in New York.
Park is from Seoul but moved to New York to work as chef de cuisine of Jungsik, Jungsik Yim’s three-Michelin-star restaurant in the city’s Tribeca neighbourhood, before going on to open his own projects.
Pyongyang naengmyeon originates from the North Korean capital and features a mixture of beef broth and dongchimi (radish water kimchi) topped with thin slices of boiled meat.

“While its flavour is subtle, the depth of the broth and its refreshing quality make it enjoyable in any season,” says Park, who especially enjoys it with tender slices of pyeonyuk – thinly sliced beef or pork that has been boiled and pressed.
“The delicate yet rich broth, paired with the nutty, slightly chewy buckwheat noodles, creates a clean and satisfying umami taste that I often crave,” he adds.
After moving to the United States, Park says he found it difficult to find authentic naengmyeon.
Now, every time he visits Korea, it is a dish he never forgets to seek out at Woo Lae Oak (62-29 Changgyeonggung-ro, Jung district, Seoul).
5. Jungsik Yim of Jungsik (New York and Seoul)

“Gomtang [Korean beef bone soup] is not only my favourite but also one of the most beloved dishes among Koreans,” says Jungsik Yim, of three-Michelin-star Jungsik in New York and two-Michelin-star Jungsik in Seoul.
“We love soup-based dishes. Pouring rice into the broth with crispy kimchi – it’s pure heaven,” he adds.
Yim has been eating gomtang since childhood, and this led him to open Gomtang Lab (153 Dosan-daero, Gangnam district, Seoul), a restaurant dedicated to the dish.

“I still remember my mother’s gomtang, simmered all day with Korean beef bones,” he says, adding she no longer makes it because it is labour-intensive.
In Seoul, Yim gets his gomtang fix at Mapo Ok (312 Tojeong-ro, Mapo district, Seoul). “I eat half first, then add red pepper flakes to finish,” he says.
Diners at Mapo Ok can also request spring onion and aged napa cabbage kimchi in addition to the standard selection – four varieties, all complimentary.
6. Dae-chun Kim of Toc Toc and 7th Door (Seoul)

For Dae-chun Kim of Toc Toc and the one-Michelin-star 7th Door, comfort food is food that is “warm, nostalgic and easy to digest” and “brings comfort to our bodies”.
His comfort food of choice is namul – wild Korean vegetables, which were widely eaten in Korea in the past when meat was scarce.
“Our ancestors’ diets were mostly based on wild vegetables, which we could find all over Korea,” he says. “With Korea’s distinct four seasons, there’s an abundance of seasonal vegetables cooked with fermented condiments like doenjang [soybean paste] or ganjang [soy sauce].”
Samnamul, or goatsbeard, is Kim’s favourite of the many varieties of namul.
“There are so many types of namul, some of which don’t even have English names,” he says. “But samnamul is special. I first tasted it on Ulleungdo, a remote island, and was deeply moved by its flavour. I felt this was what our ancestors ate – it was the taste of the Korean peninsula for thousands of years.”
Determined to share this rare vegetable, Kim spent three years sourcing high-quality samnamul and drying it to preserve it.
He features it at his new restaurant Bium (Hakdong-ro 97-gil, 41, Gangnam district, Seoul), which offers 50 vegetable-based dishes.
“I hope more people will enjoy samnamul and other namuls and appreciate the plant-based traditions of our ancestors,” he says.


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Food and Drinks

6 top Korean chefs’ favourite comfort foods and where to eat them in Seoul

Haemultang, a spicy seafood hotpot, is a favourite comfort food of Korean chef Sun Kim, of Michelin-starred Meta in Singapore. Photo: Sun Kim

Mingoo Kang of Mingles, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Seoul, says kalguksu noodles and jeon pan-fried fritters are his favourite comfort foods. Photo: Mingles

Hansung Kalguksu in Gangnam, Seoul, is one of Mingoo Kang’s favourite spots for kalguksu. Photo: Hangsun Kalguksu

Son Jong-won is head of the one-Michelin-star restaurants Eatanic Garden and L’Amant Secret, in Seoul. Photo: Eatanic Garden

Sundaeguk, pork bone broth with blood sausage, is one of Son’s favourite Korean comfort foods. Photo: Son Jong-won

Sun Kim of two-Michelin-star Meta in Singapore. Photo: Restaurant Meta

Sun has been going to DongHae Haemultang in Seoul’s Yangcheon district since he was 15. Photo: Sun Kim

Junghyun “JP” Park of Atomix in New York is a fan of Pyongyang naengmyeon, a cold noodle dish from North Korea. Photo: Atomix

Jungsik Yim has Michelin-star restaurants in Seoul and New York. Photo: Jungsik Yim

Gomtang at Yim’s casual restaurant Gomtang Lab. Photo: Gomtang Lab

Dae-chun Kim of Toc Toc and one-Michelin-star 7th Door in Seoul. Photo: Dae-chun Kim

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A Still from MBC’s reality show I Live Alone featuring NCT member Doyoung at one of his favourite neighbourhood restaurants in Seoul. Photo: MBC

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From noodle soups to spicy seafood hotpots, Korean chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants share their comfort food picks


From noodle soups to spicy seafood hotpots, Korean chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants share their comfort food picks.


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