My trips to Korea were mainly visiting family-owned restaurants. I follow a few Korean food shows, and would hunt down the restaurants that appear on the shows. Uh huh, hunt. But when Michelin Guide Seoul was (first) launched in November 2016, it got me curious. It made me want to check out the fine dining scene in Korea. And I was lucky that one of my (ex-)crossfitters (from my Korea trip 2017) was keen too. And thus, we went to Jungsik and La Yeon.

Reservation at Jungsik was made through email with 1.5 months advanced notice. Dinner almost failed to materialise because Jungsik was closed for private event on our 2 preferred dates. But after adjusting our itinerary, we secured our reservation by returning a completed reservation form which included a credit card guarantee.

Jungsik was a short 5 minutes walk from Apgujeong Rodeo metro station. We were greeted by a receptionist who led us to our table at level 2. And with 2 options on the dinner menu, we each ordered the 5-courses, ₩120,000:-

1) Welcome drink, Complimentary (above) – With grapefruit jelly, the staff told us to drink it just like how we would down a shot. Keke.

2) Welcome dish, Complimentary (above) – Introduced as banchan (side dishes), we were told this was Jungsik’s style. And we were served scallop, truffle capellini, snapper with kimchi (to be eaten as a wrap), smoked salmon in a cone, rice ball with oyster, and fried burdock.

3) Appetiser with options of:

  

(A) Gujeolpan ver. 3 (for 2) (above) – Raw tuna. The ‘+2’ on the menu meant the dish was for 2. And so, my friend and I had to choose the same dish for our choice of appetiser. The staff explained gujeolpan meant ‘9 types of food’, and the 9 on our dish being sour cream, sprouts, seaweed, yam, wasabi, kimchi, minced tomato, jelly and tuna. I wouldn’t recommend stacking a bit of everything onto the piece of crispy seaweed. I tried and ended up dirtying the floor when I tried putting my tall ensemble into my mouth. Sob.

(B) Octopus (+ ‎₩10,000 supplement) (above) – Gochujang aioli. So glad my friend was a glutton like me. We decided to order the octopus dish although we had exhausted our appetiser option with the Gujeolpan ver. 3 (item #3A). And as an add-on, this a-la carte order cost us ₩25,000.

4) Rice with options of:

(A) Sea urchin (+ ‎₩10,000 supplement) (above) – Fried millet. We were told to mix the black rice, fried millet, puffed rice and sea urchin together. I liked the crunchy bits within. Just like scorched rice if I ain’t wrong. So good.

(B) Grilled rice (above) – Barley, duck. I really enjoyed this dish. Could taste the strong smoky aroma.

5) Sea with options of:

(A) Ok dom (+ ‎₩10,000 supplement) (above) – Namul. And was told that the red snapper was Jungsik’s signature from Jeju island. Served with vegetables and rice cake.

(B) Black cod (+ ‎₩10,000 supplement) (above) – Classic, dried radish. Cooked by pouring hot water over slowly to keep it tender inside, and placed on a base of acorn jelly and assortment of vegetables which included cucumber and onion.

6) Land with options of:-

(A) Tenderloin (+ ‎₩20,000 supplement) (above) – Deodeok.

(B) Duck 2017 (above) – Aging, brocolini.

7) Pre-dessert (above) – Palate cleanser. Jungsik’s take on Korea’s cinnamon tea. With pear, ginger pudding and cinnamon juice.

8) Sweet with options of:-

(A) Dolhareubang (above) – Green tea mousse. Dolhareubang, the large rock statues symbolic to Jeju Island. Served alongside milk ice cream.

(B) Cheongdam pie (above) – Apple pie. With apricot jam and jasmine ice cream.

(C) Rose of versailles (above) – Blueberry cremeux. Again, another dessert which we ordered as an add-on for ‎₩20,000. Blueberry (used to make the rose), lychee ice cream, rose meringue cookie (as the crown), and blueberry cheese cake.

  

9) Tea/Coffee – And after our meal, we were given the option to go with tea (peppermint, chamomile, mugwort and buckwheat) or coffee. I usually would go with coffee, but decided to try the tea instead.

10) Petit fours – Black sesame biscuit, chocolate cube, and earl grey choux.

My friend and I enjoyed our dinner thoroughly. Got to thank the staff who was attending to our table. My friend and I were trying to take notes of the ingredients and made him repeat himself a few times. But he was so nice and patient. Thumbs up! Could definitely see why Jungsik was awarded 1 Michelin star. Food, tick. Service, tick. Ambience, tick. And as a bonus, my friend and I even got to see a Korean actor!

I definitely recommend Jungsik for upscaled Korean cuisine.