Geuncheo Sikdang: Best Asian Food near Korea Univ.
I'm finally introducing this place. As you might know from my blog, I currently live near Korea University (KU). A university neighborhood should be affordable, but it also needs to keep up with the trends. You'd expect a mix of cheap eats, trendy spots with great food, and long-standing traditional restaurants. Areas like Sharosu-gil near Seoul National University, Sinchon near Yonsei and Ewha, or Hongdae—where the commercial district is even more famous than the university itself—are great environments for diverse restaurants and businesses to thrive.
But that's not the case for KU. It feels like a battlefield of cheap restaurants, packed with nothing but tonkatsu (pork cutlet) joints. To an outsider, it makes you wonder if the students here are just completely behind the trends. I could go on about stories from my friends who graduated from KU, but I'll stop here. Anyway, finding a truly delicious restaurant near KU is like plucking a star from the sky.
Amidst all this, there is one genuinely great spot: a Southeast Asian restaurant called "Geuncheo Sikdang" (which literally translates to "Nearby Restaurant").
As you can see from the menu, it's hard to label it strictly a "Thai restaurant" or a "Vietnamese restaurant" because they've brought together famous dishes from all over the region. I actually avoided it at first because of that, but not anymore. They've adapted the regional dishes perfectly to suit Korean palates.
Today, I ordered Com Suon (Vietnamese grilled pork rice), Pad Thai, and a coconut chicken cutlet.
When it first opened, there weren't many people, but now it's become quite famous in the neighborhood—to the point where you have to wait in line for lunch. You can also order delivery through the Yogiyo app, but since I live so close, I haven't tried that yet. Other than the cramped seating, I haven't really found any downsides. I hope it gets even more famous and becomes a nationally recognized restaurant right in our neighborhood. For now, excluding Korean BBQ joints, it's the number one dining spot near Korea University.
+ Things I ate on later visits
