Shefali Singh, Delhi

“What could be better in life than fulfilling one of your wish from the bucket list!”

So, in order to complete my bucket list of trying out Korean cuisine, me and my friends made plans to visit a Korean restaurant in February. To search for a suitable dining place, I googled some restaurants in Delhi and we decided to visit the famous Gangnam Restaurant.

This restaurant is located in the streets of Majnu ka Tila near the North campus in Delhi.

When you reach in front of the restaurant, the first thing you will see is a K-Pop Wall (Yeah, I gave it this name), filled with the picture frames of K-Pop idols and K-Dramas. Here, you can click as many photos as you want with the photo of your favorite Idol.

After entering the restaurant, you will get the vibe of a typical Korean restaurant because of its interior and you will feel as if you are in Korea.

Their seating arrangement is very much different from Indian restaurants. They divide their sitting area as per the number of customers, like, for 4 people they have small cabins (where we sat), and for more than 4 people there are two separate sitting areas (where I wanted to sit actually).

I liked the design of their menu card, which is made out of wood.

To relish the Korean cuisine, we ordered tteokbokki, vegetable kimbap, Korean ramyun, and kimchi pancake. For drinks, we ordered Blue Ocean.

We waited for a short while, before our mouth-watering food arrived. Before our main dishes, the staff gave us the 4-5 side dishes where kimchi (김치) is always there while the others keep changing. Let me tell you about them one by one.

Tteokbokki (떡볶이): It is a popular street food in Korea which is made with cylinder-shaped rice cake dipped in spicy gravy. These spicy, slightly sweet and chewy rice cakes are simply addictive. After eating tteokbokki, it became my favorite Korean food. This dish is a must-try at this restaurant.

Kimbap (김밥): It is another famous Korean dish which is made from cooked rice filled with either vegetables or meat (for non-vegetarians) that are rolled in gim (김)-dried nori seaweed sheet and are served in bite-sized slices. It is seasoned with sesame oil and soy sauce. Sesame seeds are also sprinkled on the top. Soy sauce is also given on the side. I’m not sure but it somewhat has a nutty and savory flavor.

Korean Ramyun (라면 – ramyun): I think this is one of the most popular dishes from South Korea that most of you are aware of, especially if you watch K-Dramas. When I tasted, I found the flavor similar to Shin-ramyun. I have made this dish at my home many times, and I like the way it turns out. So it could be one of those expensive dishes which you can easily make at home as well. So I will personally not recommend it, instead, you can try out something else from the menu.

Kimchi pancake (김치전 – kimchi jeon): It is made from simple pancake batter mixed with kimchi which is served with soy sauce.

Overall, I really enjoyed the food and the ambiance of Gangnam Restaurant. After eating here my craving for Korean food has grown bigger. Now, I’m going to explore and try more Korean dishes in the future as well.

If you also have any experience of having Korean food or have any suggestions about the Korean restaurants in your city, feel free to share in the comment section. Thank You!

Picture Credits: Shefali Singh, Delhi