The Korea Times

Wikipedia list sheds light on Korea's historic restaurants

Korea's restaurant scene is known for its breakneck restaurant turnover speed, with restaurants closing after only a few years, to be replaced with new ones boasting "Since 2025" that don't stand much chance of lasting any longer. But the country's eatery history has a much longer living history than most people might think. The oldest known restaurant is accepted to be Imun Seolnongtang, which the Seoul Metropolitan Government pegs as having started serving ox bone soup in 1904. The second-oldest, Busan Anmyeonok, opened in 1905 in Pyongyang, then moved to Busan in 1953 and then Daegu in 1969. About 20 more restaurants are known to have been founded during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation, or right before it began or after liberation. All this information has been made available through the online free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, thanks to an anonymous editor who listed 30 of the oldest known restaurants and wrote individual entries for each. The creator of these pages, who hides behind the username Seefooddiet, claims to be a Korean American male who grew up in Korea but now lives in the U

Mar 3, 2025By Jon Dunbar

Wikipedia list sheds light on Korea's historic restaurants

Global Community

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Enjoy Gyedong Pizza, but don't bother the locals

You know all those signs around central Seoul's Bukchon Hanok Village telling you to be quiet so you don't disturb the local residents? They used to be for my benefit, as I lived in Gye-dong in the area for a few years last decade. I didn't live in a hanok, just a regular four-story apartment building, but it was on a major alley, Gyedong-gil. Sometimes, it was a little chaotic, but it didn't bother me because the crowds would typically disperse a little after 5 p.m. At that point, I'd have all the area's cafes, bars and restaurants mostly to myself.

Mar 3, 2025By Jon Dunbar

[RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK] Enjoy Gyedong Pizza, but don't bother the locals

Global Community

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Wich Craft's Patty Melt put a spell on me

I know I'm not a great food reviewer. For one thing, in order to properly review a restaurant, one really should visit multiple times and try multiple menu items.

Feb 24, 2025By Jon Dunbar

[RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK] Wich Craft's Patty Melt put a spell on me

Global Community

Musical showcase explores toxic relationships

A new musical concert, titled "When an Empath Meets a Narcissist," explores the many questions in relationships and how we deal with them, asking if we do these things purposefully, whether we can change or if we are always stuck in these patterns of behavior and thinking.

Feb 19, 2025By Jon Dunbar

Musical showcase explores toxic relationships

Sports

ANALYSIS Korea brings home ice hockey bronze amid questionable calls at 2025 Winter Asiad

Ice hockey in South Korea has, for many years, been in the shadow of the country’s strong performances in other winter sports, notably speed skating and figure skating. This month’s Asian Winter Games, perhaps the biggest stage for the country’s winter athletes since the 2018 Olympics, was an opportunity for Korea to show how much it has improved in the sport of ice hockey.

Feb 18, 2025By Jon Dunbar

[ANALYSIS] Korea brings home ice hockey bronze amid questionable calls at 2025 Winter Asiad

Global Community

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Is Bonny's Pizza really worth that wait?

Huge lineups out front might make a restaurant look popular, but they also tend to antagonize nearby residents. Is the food really that good, or are all the customers just acting like lemmings?

Feb 18, 2025By Jon Dunbar

[RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK] Is Bonny's Pizza really worth that wait?

Global Community

Skunk Itaewon hosts DIY fashion pop-up

An American artist named Kylee is officially launching her upcycled fashion brand Eyeronxc this weekend in a collaborative pop-up with her friend Tejin's brand, Flirty, at Skunk on the Sunset, the punk headquarters of central Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood.

Feb 17, 2025By Jon Dunbar

Global Community

HBC's Hair of the Dog to close as lease hits 10 years

It's been almost 10 years, and one of the iconic bars of central Seoul's multicultural Haebangchon (HBC) neighborhood is about to close. Hair of the Dog's (HOTD) owner, who is known as MJ to her foreign customers, explained that the law had protected her business for the first 10 years, but now that those legal protections were ending, the landlord wanted her out.

Feb 16, 2025By Jon Dunbar