Memiljip (Buckwheat House)

Memiljip, 'buckwheat house', is a modern Korean restaurant built around buckwheat, near the Seokchon Lake end of Songridan-gil. It moved from a back alley to a larger room on the main street, and the space mixes warm wood, hanok-inspired details and brass-colored cutlery with a few playful figurines on the shelves. The menu is easy to share. Start with a bowl of makguksu, chilled buckwheat noodles, either the house version in a soy or spicy dressing or the pollock roe version with perilla oil, which is savory rather than salty. Then add a plate or two: the truffle potato pancake is crisp shredded potato topped with a truffle-scented sauce, grana cheese and bacon, served in pizza-style slices, and the sous-vide tenderloin or pork jowl suyuk comes with yuja sauce and fresh kimchi. A warm noodle soup and buckwheat dumplings cover colder days. Portions suit two or three dishes for a pair. Google reviews for the restaurant are mostly from international visitors, and the most common complaint is the wait at peak times.