Cycle 17 – Item 170
Post 6,014
24 (Wed) June 2026
Taean Gim Haemul Jjambbong
3.5
at Mutan
(Coex Mall)
-Samseong, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
solo
Our booth at the Seoul International Book Fair is a smashing success. Having sold 544 copies on Day 1 in 2025, we nearly doubled it this year to end the day at 1,034. Already, I’m sensing that we won’t have enough stock to last 5 days.
Mutan is a Korean-Chinese restaurant. Standard fare but upgraded with fancy/pricy ingredients. Head chef is Yoon Jinwon, of Culinary Class Wars fame.
At midday, I roamed around for a quick bite – the eateries at Coex Mall are notoriously overcrowded at all times of the day, even on weekdays, whether snack shops in the food court or full service restaurants – and found myself at Mutan, which was relatively unbusy.
The city of Taean – recently referenced in the context of another restaurant run by a chef featured on Culinary Class Wars (see generally 17.144 Jogae Tang) – is known for seafood, including gim (dried laver), apparently.
The jjambbong was fine. The seaweed was nice, giving the dish more umami, distinctively Korean, though I’m sure that gim from any other source would’ve worked as well. But totally not worth 29,000, despite the size – maybe half the price.
(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)
(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See HANSIK)
(See BOOZE)