December's things to do

Salmon sashimi lovers, here’s one for you. Mibbeudong is famed for its tomato salmon noodles – a refreshing, cold tomato broth packed with vegetables and long strands of salmon sashimi cut lengthways to resemble noodles. If you’re a little less excited over this, another popular item on the menu here is the Mibbeudong itself, a rice moat topped with a tower of mixed sashimi, uni and ikura.

Just a stone's throw away from Majang meat market, Born and Bred is the premium hanwoo boutique restaurant that beefy dreams are made of. The restaurant was founded by Jeong Sang-wong, the son and descendent of a beef purveyor, who created this eatery focused on the highest quality of Korean beef. The establishment carries three different dining concepts in which a butcher lounge is on the first floor, a casual but modern eatery sits on the second, and then finally, a multi-course hanwoo experience can be had on the third floor.  

The name of this tea-café, “Suyeonsanbang” literally translates into “a small home in the forest where literary people used to meet” and the title’s appropriate as it was once home to late Korean author Lee Tae-jun. This hanok home served as the backdrop to several of his short stories and was the main setting his 1943 novel, "HaebangJeonhu" as well. Hidden on the side slope of a hill and tucked behind a rainbow of flowers and a small forest of trees, it’s not hard to imagine how a writer could draw inspiration whilst in this charming hideaway. Talked about on media outlets in Japan, France and the UK, the home consists of several rooms and chairs around the space. The tea collection on the menu is impressive and their ability to take something like medicinal herb ssanghwa-cha and make it delicious, even more so.