Firstly the Korean name of this restaurant is 포도나무집 which translates as Grape Vine House and but they list there English name as Gallery Pub. A little confusing but it is the same place. Also it isn’t a pub in the true western sense and is more in a traditional tea house or Korean house style. It has a warm and homely feel, and the owners are both super nice and friendly even during a busy midweek lunch period. Here is a summary of what you can expect:
Exterior & Interior
The Food @ Gallery Pub (포도나무집)
We visited on a weekday lunch time and choose a sample set menu of two which included a number of different dishes as well as the standard Korean side dishes. All of the dishes are humble and traditionally Korean. It’s all also kept simple and so focusing on taste. The presentation is good and once again simple and traditional. You also get a pot of hot x tea which on a cold winters day is a welcome addition. Here are some photos of the food which we enjoyed at Gallery Pub had:
The Makkoli (Makgeolli)
As this is Insadong Makkoli (Makgeolli) is the drink of choice and the menu has a long list of different options from the mid priced to the more luxury brands. We went for one called 금정산성 막걸리 or Geumjongsansong Makkoli as the description said it had a traditional flavor, which seemed to match both the location and the meal. It was very nice but a little bitter for our liking when eating a meal. It would be good one to take hiking for example.
You also get to use these interesting Makkoli cups which are sloped so the sediment drains to one side of the cup. An inventive and Perfect way to drink Makkoli also if and when we find them on sale we will point a link here.
Conclusion & Links
In the end everything cost just short of ₩30,000 for 2 people, this was a lunch special price and therefore evening and weekend maybe more expensive. Overall the location is nice, the restaurant is small but homely and the food is fairly priced and enjoyable. With 100s of restaurants in Seoul many in this tiny area it is often a tough decision on where to eat, however this place is a nice and relaxing option and if you’re in the area is well worth giving a try as it’s not very expensive or confusing.
Here are a few links:
- Gallery Pub (포도나무집) Home Page (Korean)
- Naver Listing Page (Korean)
- Naver Blog Review from 3Cheongmanim (Korean)
Location
Their phone number is: 02-722-8880 and address is 서울특별시 종로구 관훈동 118-32.
In Closing
As always if you have any questions, comments or feedback in general please feel free to comment below or even email. Thank you.
Tim Modern Seoul tim@modernseoul.org
Oysters
Modern Seoul 