Balwoo Gongyang

A great joint to visit in Seoul. Great for vegetarians. Each table is set in separate room with great privacy. The ambience is quiet and peaceful. Highly recommended.

This is the most authentic vegetarian restaurant in Korea. Each and every piece is touched with sincerity. It was very delicious^^

The food at this restaurant was excellent. Even something as plain as a tomato salad with sesame seeds was surprisingly flavorful, owing to them using good ingredients to begin with. Other dishes were innovative and aesthetically pleasing. However, after visiting the restaurant on four occasions and ordering the cheapest option on the menu (lunch for 30.000 KRW, dinner for 45.000 KRW), each time we left still feeling somewhat hungry after a multi-course meal... The interior is neat and simple and guests are seated inside individual rooms to enjoy food in a quiet, private atmosphere. After all, this location is certainly suitable for eating out on a special occasion. Perhaps one of the more expensive course menus will be more filling...?

Having seen some of the negative reviews, I was hesistant. However this resto was on my buckets list for 5 years, popped up in a recent article and I decided I must try it. I wanted to know what Buddhist food tasted like. (The resto is on the top floor of a building dedicated to buddhist causes.) Without a reservation, I walked in and they seated me in a room by myself. I choose the middle of the 3 lunches at the price of 45,000. The first dishes that came out were ok. The smallest like an amuse bouche size was interesting. Pat juk is never my favourite and yes is a bit bland. But I still appreciated it’s traditional and pure taste. Next 3 dishes stepped it up. I was surprised I enjoyed their version of chapchae noodles. The spicy mushroom dish was tasty and while I usually refrain from fried foods, I devoured the pan fried wrap of veggies. Next highlights for me was trying their natural version of sweetened radish danmooji, and the pan fried korean cabbage leaf. Utterly delicious! I loved the homemade mushroom mandoo dumpling and the chewy fried mushrooms! How could they come up with a mushroom that was fun to eat! The texture was lovely to chew. I was not a fan of their bibimnaengmyun spicy noodle. It was too sweet for me. Last dishes came out and I was shocked. They made a vegan version of meeyuk seaweed soup that had umami and tasted delicious. I couldn’t stop eating. I loved their grain rice as well. I admit, I am not a fan of vegan kimchi and while this is probably the best vegan kimchi I have tasted, it still didn’t make the mark for me. I need that salted shrimp and garlic boost from regular kimchi. The meal finished with a small dessert and tea. I was happily satiated. I would definitely come here again. But to others, I would give a caution. This is Buddhist temple food, and they do not use many ingredients like garlic, meat, fish, etc. So come here to explore this unique and delicate taste and keep this in mind as you review it. It’s a lot of food and I packed whatever I could not finish in my stainless steel takeaway box and ended up eating it for dinner. Also make reservations - I just happened to get lucky!

We had high expectation of the place but we’re a little disappointed with the service. The service timing was too rush to fully enjoy the flavours of the food. Halfway through our meal, we were told that they close at 2.50pm and we have 20mins left for our entree 2 and desserts, so they will be served together. When the last two courses were served, we were told that they close in 10mins, hinting that we got to finish everything in 10mins. While they did explain to us during the booking, the time allocated for each serving is way too rush for people to enjoy the food. It doesn’t feel like fine dining towards the end, but military style dining were you just chuck food down your throats. That was rather disappointing. A couple commented that the time was too rushed and the staff explained that they did explain and share about the time during the booking process. However, we felt that it is not about the timing. We paid KRW70,000 to enjoy food, not to swallow food. This time may be more suitable for the cheaper menus with less dishes. We expected this place to be much better since it once had Michelin star.

Amazing flavors snd textures. I particularly liked the mushrooms with chili. They made me reconsider mushrooms. The set dinner was a special experience trying temple food. The teas were flavorful as well, particularly the pine tea.

I had a great experience in this restaurant. If you looking for excitement or spectacle show case of Korean cuisine, this is not for you. There are many Korean restaurants have a much tastier foods with half of that price. This restaurant said this is the place to learn to appreciate the food and nature we can afford(something like that) and they recommend even eating less is the better(what!?) I guess an eating is important part of training buddism in Korea so you can expect what you can get here! I was happy to be in this restaurant and I feel I experienced something more than just good food…

What a tourist trap and total rip off! All the dishes are mass produced, tasted bland (I know it’s temple food but I can sense that this is not whole heartedly made.) Service is robotic and speedy. It feels like canteen food served in a private room. It’s ridiculous that the meal costs 65,000 won per person.