Samwon Garden Seoul : Large Restaurant With a Wide Menu

During our lunch at Samwon Garden Seoul we ate Korean BBQ with high-quality Hanwoo beef, soy sauce marinated crab, Korean beef bulgogi, cold buckwheat noodle and soybean paste stew with rice. The drink of the day was solsongju (솔송주), a Korean traditional liquor.

Lunch at an Impressive Restaurant in Gangnam, Seoul

Samwon Garden Seoul 삼원가든 is a large restaurant in Gangnam that has a history dating back to 1976. It is also conveniently located within walking distance of the popular shopping area of Seongsu. The traditional wing of Samwon Garden Seoul stands in front of the driveway. This looks like a classic Korean house.

To the right of the old building is a huge, modern complex. The name of the restaurant is displayed in English at the top of this building. But the height of the building and small font meant that we could only ascertain we had reached the right place when we actually went inside. It is best to use the Korean name of the restaurant for navigation as it is displayed very prominently both on the old as well as the new building.

Our lunch took place in the modern building where dining is spread over three levels. It was not a full house during our lunch on a weekday but the place was sufficiently bustling. This is the biggest restaurant in Seoul that we have seen. It is probably a good place to hold big events like weddings or major corporate events.

Outside the building there are outdoor furniture and an ornate koi pond with fountains and even a wooden decorative water wheel.

Samwon Garden Seoul Restaurant Menu (A La Carte)

The restaurant menu at Samwon Garden Seoul covers a range of well known Korean food categories such as Korean beef, seafood, noodles and rice dishes. It was obvious that BBQ Korean beef gets the spotlight in this restaurant but we were glad to see the breadth of dishes available as well as the range of budgets that are accommodated. The most expensive Korean beef for BBQ costs KRW70,000 (approx S$65) per 100g. More affordable items are also available such as the KRW24,000 Spicy Short Rib Soup and KRW 22,000 Hot Stone Pot Bibimbap. Here are some pictures of the Korean beef menu.

Samwon Garden Seoul Lunch Set Menu (Weekday)

What was most attractive to us was the Set Lunch menu (available on weekdays only) with three variants costing KRW48,000 or KRW50,000 each. Since there were two of us, we were able to try four types of Korean food that we have heard of but have never or seldom tried. All we needed to complete the meal was an a la carte order of Korean BBQ to have a very diverse Korean lunch in Seoul.

Korean Traditional Liquor

To accompany the Korean food we selected a Korean traditional liquor from the beverage list.

We selected one of the more affordable options – a small bottle (375ml) of s솔송주 Solsongju (KRW19,000). It was an easy going light rice wine with a mild herbal scent. It had an alcohol content of 13% (similar to wine).

Lunch at Samwon Garden Seoul Restaurant

Our lunch started in the usual Korean way – the arrival of some side dishes. These were better (in terms of freshness, taste and presentation) than many of the side dishes we have tried at other restaurants.

Korean beef or Hanwoo was a dish that we had to try at Samwon Garden Seoul. We decided on a Korean Beef Ribeye (KRW95,000 for 130g). This was rather expensive – more than the total price of our two set lunches. This was the item to be served next.

The raw ingredients – the meat and the vegetables were presented and they looked perfect. The vegetables in particular had different colours and textures. Each leaf was flawless. We used these to eat with the beef after it was cooked.

The stove was set up by our server who placed the nicely heated up (glowing without smoke) charcoal in place. She also did the cooking, apportioned and served the meat to us. This is a picture of my half of the meat. The Korean beef was cooked to medium and had a soft texture. Its flavour was nice but not as distinctive as I imagined it to be. This was sufficient for us to tick the box to experience premium Korean BBQ in Seoul.

Lunch at Samwon Garden Lunch Set 1

Our first lunch set was the Soy Sauce Marinated Crab and Soybean Paste Stew combination. Marinated crab is one of the most interesting Korean dishes we had never tried so this was an automatic choice when we saw it on the menu. There was one whole crab, cut up into parts. Gloves were provided and the soft crabmeat was easily squeezed out (like toothpaste). The taste was light with a concentrated crab flavour. Thankfully no fishy flavours or smell. It was a good introduction to marinated crab.

The second part of the meal was soybean paste stew with steamed rice. This was not as exciting as the crab but falls in the comfort food category. The stew was strongly flavoured and quite spicy. But like a good curry, it was prefect with rice.

Korean Set Lunch 2

Set Lunch two was a Korean Beef Bulgogi (200g) and Cold Buckwheat Noodle combination. Beef bulgogi is made with thinly-sliced meat marinated in soy sauce and other ingredients.

The beef was cooked by our server on the stove at the table. The bbq grill was replaced by a flat grill for this purpose. The beef was cooked and infused with the flavour of the vegetables. The sauce was slightly sweet.

The bulgogi was not bad but the better part of this set meal was the cold noodles. This is another dish we have often seen in K dramas but never tried. It had a light refreshing flavour and provided contrast to the other dishes that were rather heavily flavoured.

This is a picture of our table at Samwon Garden Seoul. The variety of food we could get at one meal for two persons was satisfying.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 4
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 

삼원가든 Samwon Garden Seoul
835, Eonju-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Tel 02.548.3030

Opening Hours
Weekday lunch 11:30 – 14:30 (last order 14:00)
Weekday dinner 17:30 – 21:30 (last order 20:45)

Weekend and holiday lunch 11:00 – 14:30 (last order 14:00)
Weekend and holiday dinner 17:00 – 21:00 (last order 20:30)

Menu

Website