There are times when I want to offer choices of Korean food and alcohol rather than making a decision for a guest (treating a visitor to a Korean barbecue can’t always be the solution). A refined yet casual enough interior with professional service, separate rooms and Western style seats would be a plus. If you ever think like I do, Min’s Kitchen located near Dosan Park is a good place to try.
Looking at the menu here, one can’t help but notice how extensive it is (first timers often take a while to decide). Lots of à la carte items, categorized as salad, beef, pork, chicken, seafood, soup and noodle dishes among others, are available while several tasting menus showcase some of their fusion creations. The lunch set B, a 7 course meal priced at 39,000 won for example, starts with the delicate, mustardy Cold Bean Sprout Salad topped with beef, abalone, shrimps and mushrooms, and includes a couple of other appetizers such as the savory acorn jelly. It then moves onto the main dish, with a choice between the pork galbi dish with pickled vegetables and the Korean style beef steak with sticky chapssal rice and perilla leaves. The marinade is on a rather sweeter side, but the meats in both dishes are cooked to perfection, and the balance with the vegetables is quite pleasurable. Of course, as a Korean restaurant, it doesn’t skip a rice dish and presents a delicately plated soy sauce shrimp bibimbap, which was actually the relatively humble winner of the course for me. The course is then finished with green tea ice cream and coffee. Each of the dishes is plated in handcrafted ceramics which also fuse the traditional and modern aesthetics.
As for the drink menu, Min’s Kitchen is quite known for its extensive wine selection (about 80 types). But if you’re in for a more traditional (and upscale) choice, the restaurant also has a good selection of fine Korean liquors including the Moonbae Sool (Alc. 40%) which has strong notes of pear and Hwayo (Alc. 25%), the most well-known soju in the premium soju market in Korea.
Owned by chef Kim Min-ji who is also an author of a number of cookbooks, Min’s Kitchen overall is a refined yet casual enough place with attentive service (I was surprised how quickly each of the courses came out). I can’t say I've missed the dishes since then, but as someone who gets several unexpected visitors from overseas, it’s always nice to have one of these kinds on my list.