With the new KTX (high-speed train) to Gangneung, my mom and I decided to take a trip there. The first thing we did after arriving and renting a car was look for a place to eat. Surprisingly, my mom searched online and found the place I'm writing about today: Terrace J. Glancing at other blogs, the prices were higher than other places, so I was worried if our family—who usually have small appetites—could finish everything. But since we didn't really have any other options, I just thought, "Whatever," and drove the rental car over.
Because of our train arrival time, we got there for a late lunch at 2:30 PM. Maybe because it was the off-season, we didn't need a reservation. (It seems they no longer accept reservations for groups under 10 anyway.) However, a local taxi driver told us that the number of visitors to Gangneung has tripled since the KTX opened, so this might become a place where you have to wait even during the off-season. One thing to note is that, like in Seoul, they have a break time in the middle of the day, so it's best to avoid visiting then.
The exterior doesn't quite look like a fancy hotel restaurant, but it doesn't look like a typical neighborhood diner either.The entrance crossing over an artificial pond.Maybe because it's cold, there isn't a single fish. There was even a thin layer of ice, so maybe they moved them somewhere safe.I thought it was just regular bamboo, but my mom told me that black bamboo is a famous variety called 'Ojuk'.As soon as we walked in, my stomach hurt so I headed straight to the restroom, and it was very clean.Personally, I think this is the prettiest space in the restaurant.The windows were a bit dirty, probably because it had just rained, but it gives you that exact feeling of eating sashimi while looking out at the ocean.
I'm not sure if they are actually a family or just call each other "Mom" and "Dad," but you can feel a strong bond among the staff. I could be wrong, but it seems like a family-run restaurant. In my experience, family-run places usually just use an old building as-is or don't care about the interior at all, but this place is a bit special.
First of all, their website looks very high-end, like they spent a good amount of money on it. I even thought it was a hotel-grade restaurant when I first saw the website. Pushing aside my doubts, when you arrive, the building is so pretty you'd think an architect designed it. From crossing the small artificial pond at the entrance, to the unusual bathroom sink, to the restaurant that appears as you walk up the winding stairs. It's not your typical tourist trap restaurant that relies solely on the view. This is the first time I've been to a family-run restaurant with such high-quality interior design.
They gave us more of these dishes when we asked.I pouted a bit calling it abalone porridge without the abalone, but the seaweed soup was good. It wasn't that fishy seaweed soup full of "ocean smell" that I usually hate.Grilled gintaro (red rockfish). I didn't know what it was, but it's great traveling with my mom, the master "Chef Kim," because she knows all the ingredients. For reference, gintaro doesn't have a fishy smell, so it's great for grilling.The one spread out on the left is halibut, the bunched up one on the left is flounder, and the two rows on the right are rockfish. Even though I'm not a big fan of sashimi, it had this strange charm that kept me reaching for more. I expected them to just chop it up roughly, but it was impressive how they sliced it thin enough to see the plate through it.Today's highlight, domestic snow crab, which we waited a long time for since steaming takes a while. The reason it's missing a leg is because my mom quickly snatched one before I could take a picture...It was perfectly prepped to eat, and the meat was so firm and delicious. They say snow crabs lose weight from stress if kept too long. That's why it's a classic dish you have to eat locally, and it was definitely much meatier than in Seoul. I figured they'd lose all their meat traveling from Russia to either Seoul or Gangneung anyway, but with such plump legs right in front of me, I couldn't argue.The maeuntang (spicy fish stew) was the second best thing after the snow crab. My family and I have something we look out for when choosing a sashimi place. We think if a place serves too many side dishes (skidashi), they probably aren't very good. It's hard to do everything well. This place perfectly fit our standards, serving only a few pieces of kimchi as side dishes. And living up to our expectations, an absolutely incredible spicy fish stew came out. While we were waiting for our food, an elderly man at the table in front of us got completely drunk and had to be helped out by his kids, and after tasting this stew, I understood why. If we didn't have a car, it's the kind of rich, savory stew that would easily make you down a bottle of soju.
Sitting by the window with a clear view of the ocean, we ordered the snow crab set. They said the domestic ones weigh less and are a bit cheaper, while the Russian ones are meatier and more expensive. (The price per kilo is the same, but the Russian crabs are heavier, so they cost more.) Even though we ordered the domestic one, the bill came out to 180,000 KRW (for the course meal), which is a bit steep for two people, but after eating it, I thought, "Yeah, it's worth that much." I debated whether to label it a "hard to recommend due to price" restaurant, but since snow crab is an expensive ingredient to begin with, I figured it would be similar anywhere else. If you're going to spend a lot of money on snow crab anyway, it makes sense to recommend this place where they cook it well. (If you just get the snow crab, it's 100,000 KRW per kilo. For more details, check their website.)
They must have remodeled recently. It's pretty impressive that even a small restaurant like this is trying to use a branding strategy.
