It’s been a while since I updated my Korea travel blog – partly due to my other life commitments, and partly because COVID struck and travel became uncertain. However, now that leisure travel is slowly gaining traction and Korea has opened its doors once again to international travellers, I’m happy to continue sharing information about my travels in Korea once again!
NOTE: I visited this restaurant back in 2019 so some things may have changed. However I’ve done a quick check online and this restaurant is still in operation!
Most people know that bibimbap is a must-eat in Jeonju, the birthplace of bibimbap, but it’s difficult to decide exactly where to spend your calories on when so many restaurants in the city offer bibimbap that look delicious.
Luckily for us, our Airbnb hosts had lots of good recommendations and Hasukyeong Gamasot Bibimbap was one of them, so we knew that we had to give this a shot.
From the store front alone, you can tell that this is a super popular restaurant that has been frequently featured in the media. Although I tend to be skeptical of paid advertising, I find that restaurants in Korea that received extensive media coverage do tend to be pretty good.
We went early to beat the dinner crowd (hence the lack of a queue) and it was a good decision on our part, because the restaurant quickly became crowded as dinnertime approached.
While I’m always impressed by the banchan (side dishes) dished out in Korea, I found out that cities like Jeonju and Gyeongju really go the extra mile:
Do you see the red pepper paste… I distinctly remembered that it was so spicy that all of us were desperate for water and we finished the whole bottle of water in mere seconds! It was honestly a challenge for those who have zero to low tolerance for spicy food, but if you’re addicted to spicy food, this will be highly addictive for you.
If you’re wondering why there’s a separate cast iron gamasot, that was exactly what we had in mind too when we were served this. As it turns out, you can put the rice into the gamasot to get this crispy burnt rice, and then pour tea (I believe it’s barley tea) into the gamasot to make a special “dessert” of sorts!
While I wouldn’t really call it a proper dessert, the combination of burnt rice and tea was surprisingly flavourful and made for a very nice contrast to the spicy chilli pepper that was a little too much for me to handle.
If you’re exploring Jeonju for the first time and have no idea where you should get your fill of authentic bibimbap, or want to have a taste of something a bit different from the usual offerings at other restaurants, Hasukyeong Gamasot Bibimbap is the place to go.
Unfortunately I did not take a photo of the menu and the prices while I was there, but pre-COVID prices raanged between 10,000 to 20,000 won, which I felt was worth the price, considering the extensive banchan set and the “dessert”.
DIRECTIONS
Address: 78-1, Jungang-dong 3(sam)-ga, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, Korea
전라북도 전주시 완산구 전라감영5길 19-3
THEVYPEFFECT 
One thought on “Hasukyeong Gamasot Bibimbap”