5-Styles Korean Restaurants That Must Visit in Bangkok

Turning Passion Into Careers

Editor’s Picks: 5-STYLES KOREAN RESTAURANTS MUST VISIT IN BANGKOK

1JOHA KOREAN RESTAURANT

By Natnicha Nuntaworaphan

Korean cuisine has continued to gain worldwide popularity, including in Thailand. It is evident from the numerous Korean restaurants increased around Bangkok. With the Korean wave, we are exposed ever more to K-dramas and Mukbang, an online eating broadcast. That makes us crave and want to try after watching our favorite Korean heartthrob devour delectable Korean dishes.

Here, we have rounded up a list of 5 different styles of Korean restaurants around Bangkok for you to fix the craving for Korean foods without having to fly to Korea.

Joha Korean Restaurant has always been at the top of my list when I have an appetite for Korean dishes. Located in the neighborhood of Ari, Joha isa cozy, home-style Korean restaurant with the flavors of Busan style. The chefs are directly from South Korea, Cho Kunhee, and his brother Cho Joonhee.

The interior decoration is Korean modern and cozy, with colors of green and red in the dark shade. They decorate with red neon light to make it modern and bold. The kitchen is semi-open styles for chefs to perform their culinary skills to the customers.

To start off, the waiter started serving 3 different types of banchan – Korean side dishes, which are kimchi, marinated beansprouts, and seasoned spinach.

Photo by BKKmenu Moving on to the main dishes, one of Joha’s musttry dishes is BBQ Pork (B290). It is grilled pork belly serve on a hot stone, sprinkled on top with grilled garlic, thyme, and rosemary to add Pungent to the dish.

Also not to be missed is Kimchi fried-rice with cheese (B295). The homemade kimchi stir-fried

Photo by BKKmenu with rice and bacon served on a skillet surrounded by a ring of melted cheese. The spicy and sour taste of well-fermented kimchi goes well with the melting cheese.

Another highlight dish is Sundubu-jigae (B240). The spicy stew is made with soft tofu base and you can add toppings on your choices, including pork, beef, and dumplings. The stew was rich and brimming with ingredients served in Korean tradition stone bowl. I ordered with pork as the fatty pork goes best with this soup, making it more flavorful. It’s a warm, spicy, and savory with bits of aromatic kimchi.

Photo by BKKmenu The taste of all the dishes I ordered was flavorful. For me, the chefs seasoned the dishes to be strong-flavored for Thai locals. The taste was stronger than other Korean restaurants that I have tried. It however preserved Korean authentic recipes and ingredients.

The cozy and home-style vibe puts Joha up in the list for a Korean restaurant to bring groups of friends and family to.

The restaurant does not take reservations by phone, you have to walk-in only. If you want to go to Joha for dinner, make sure to arrive no later than 6pm, otherwise there are very long queues that wait up to 20 minutes.

JOHA Korean Restaurant, 111/1 7 Phahonyothin Rd. Open daily from 11.30am – 10.30pm Visit Facebook: JOHA Korean Restaurant

Jinseng is a Korean BBQ Restaurant has been served the authentic taste of Korean cuisine more than 10 years. Walking in to the lobby of Manhattan Hotel, Jinseng located on the first floor of the hotel. The seating is in semi-private walled off cubicles around the traditional barbecue.

There are two pricing options for the buffet: B359 and B399. The prices are unlimited servings of all types of meat. Their meat selection has a wide variety of marinated and non-marinated cuts, including pork belly, pork shoulder, pork loin. If you want some hot soup to sip, you can choose the 399baht options, with 3 choices of soup: Kimchi-Jjigae, Sundubu-Jjigae, and Doenjang-Jjigae.

I choosed the 399-baht options. It excludes the drinks, but they offered refill green tea with 60 baht. Jinseng spoils its customers with 10 different traditional sides that range from classic kimchi to dried seaweed. There are 3 different sauces to pair with the barbecued meat—Gochujung (sweet and spicy Korean sauce), soybean paste, and sesame oil dipping sauce.

For the soup, I ordered Doenjang-Jjigae, a soybean paste soup. They served in a hot stone bowl with the ingredients of veggies, tofu, and golden mushrooms. The stew was rich, savoury, and slightly nutty from the soybean.

The waiter will serve all types of meat at the first time. She will put your meat on the grill for you and remain standing at your table, turning the meat for you while you were eating.

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Photo by Jinseng

JINSENG KOREAN RESTAURANT

The marinated meats are seasoned just enough to pack a punch of flavor, without being too heavy taste. The non-marinated meats go very well with veggies, kimchi and Gochujung sauce.

It is buffet with 90 minutes, enough for you to fill up your stomach. The service was impeccable. You can always order meats and side dishes from the waiters. They will refill yours generously.

If you want to enjoy scrumptious and affordable Korean cuisine in a relaxed setting, then Jinseng is what you’ve been looking for.

JinSeng Korean Restaurant,

1st floor Manhattan Hotel, Sukhumvit 15 Open daily from 11.30am – 11pm. Visit Facebook: Jinseng Korean Restaurant

CHOONG MAN CHICKEN3

With the popularity of Korean food over the past years, Korean Fried Chicken has been slowly taking over Thailand. We can see many restaurants serving deep fried chicken popping up everywhere in Bangkok.

Choongman Chicken is a chain restaurant with more than 200 locations in Korea. Choongman currently has 13 locations in Bangkok.

The one I visited is the first branch at Korean Town. It is a short five-minute walk from Asok BTS station and Sukhumvit MRT station. The restaurant is located on the second and third floor of Sukhumvit Plaza.

The restaurant is roomy and spacious. The inside area looked warm with the light and wooden table. It is a self-service restaurant, where I need to pay and pick up my orders at a cashier counter.

Starting with the signature dish, Snow Onions (B280) is a fried boneless chicken topped with sliced raw onions in a white creamy sauce. The chicken is deep fried with the crispness. The taste of the sauce is quite sweet with mayonnaise-based dressing.

Another must-try menu is Tikkudak-style chicken (B260) as

Photo by Wongnai it is Choongman’s specialty. Tikkudak-style chicken is fried then baked in a charcoal grill, making it more crisp with smoky flavor. I ordered it with soy-garlic sauce flavor. The sauce adds sweet and savory taste to the dish.

It’s hard to resist the crisp, juicy, and flavorful of Korean fried chicken. With the affordable price and mouth-watering crispy chicken, Choongman Chicken is definitely worth trying. Also, remember to bring along two or more friends as the portions are hearty and generous.

Choongman Chicken

Korean Town (Sukhumvit Plaza) Open daily from 11am – 6am. Visit Facebook: Choongman Chicken Thailand

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SU RA KAN

Su Ra Kan, an authentic Korean restaurant, offers a variety of traditional Korean food. The restaurant has long been established in Thailand and is owned by Korean chefs.

The restaurant is located at SV City building, Rama III. The building seemed a bit old with a darkened hallway. However, when I arrived at the first floor where the restaurant was located, it looked different from the outside. The restaurant is roomy and spacious with a lot of customers in the evening.

The decorations of the restaurant look very traditional. The customers may opt to dine in the traditional way, which is sitting on the floor with cushions instead of chairs. rean dumplings. The fillings are well-balanced with the ratio of meat and vegetables. It has a slightly spicy flavor from the pepper.

The main dish that I ordered is Samgyeopsal (B250), grilled pork belly. You can choose to grill by yourself or the waiter cooked it for you. I choose the latter. It was served on the hot plate with grilled garlic. The thick and fatty slices of pork belly are not marinated. The flavor is quite savory from the fat meat.

The next main dish is Dolsot-bibimbap (B220), a traditional Korean rice mixed with beef and vegetables. The food was served in a hot stone bowl. It could still hear the sizzling sound when the waiter set it on the table. All of the ingredients need to be mixed together with Gochujang sauce. The vegetables were stir-fried very well with the savory taste from beef. The added Gochujang was perfect as it was neither spicy nor sweet.

Photo by Wongnai To complement the main, I ordered Kimchi-Jjigae (B180), or Kimchi stew. The soup is served in a hot Korean traditional bowl. The soup had a generous portion of kimchi, soft tofu, enoki mushroom, and sliced pork belly.

The restaurant has a variety of menus with affordable prices. Although it is not located in the city center, it is always packed during lunch and dinner hours. Reservation would be recommended.

Su Ra Kan, SV City Rama III Open daily from 10am – 10pm Call 02 682 9736

5SO MAEK

If you watch a Korean drama, you might have seen an episode at least once, in which the protagonist is sitting with a bottle of soju in a pojangmacha. It is a small tent food stall covered by red-striped plastic with see-through plastic windows, selling a variety of popular street foods. opens from 5pm to 11 pm, which is a great place for you to enjoy the night with friends.

The restaurant looked exactly as I have seen in the dramas. There are tents arranged in rows covered with plastic. They also decorate with neon light to add a vibrant and whimsy touch. In the late night, there is live music for customers to enjoy the vibes.

Although it is very crowded in the restaurant, the dishes were served at the table really quick.

So Maek, the first Pojangmacha in Bangkok, offers Korean street foods with a convivial atmosphere that makes you feel like you were in South Korea. So Maek is Korean word that combines Soju, Korean alcoholic beverage, and Maekju, which is beer.

The restaurant is located in the Phayathai area, which can easily get there by BTS sky train. It

Photo by Mangozero

For the side dish, they have kimchi, marinated bean sprouts, and seasoned spinach. I only ordered the kimchi (B25) and seasoned spinach (B25). Unlike the other Korean restaurants, you need to pay for the side dishes and it is not the free refill.

Starting with the famous street food, Tteokbokki (B150) is a soft rice cake with sweet Gochujang sauce. It served fish cake and smoked sausage. The rice cake was chewy with the sweet and spicy taste of the sauce.

Another must-try Korean street food is Kimbap (B120), sliced rice rolls fillings. The fillings inside are egg, pickled radish, carrot, cucumber, and ham. It was wrapped with seaweed complemented with sesame oil. The portion is quite not balanced for me as there is a lot more rice than the fillings. Jjajangmyeon (B150) is also one of the famous Korean cuisines. It is a dark and glossy black soybean sauce with yellow noodles. It also has caramelized onion with pork in the bowl. The sauce was slightly salty but also had a bit of sweetness. The portion is well-balanced with noodles.

Photo by Mangozero

The food overall for me are ordinary taste. It is not outstanding. So Maek however is really a place that you can bring your friends to enjoy dinner. The price is easily affordable with generous dishes.

So Maek, Phayathai Open daily from 5pm – 11pm Visit Facebook: SoMaek

HOW BIG OF A KOREAN FAN ARE YOU?

I love Korean food and I know several Korean dishes. Korean desserts are the best. I am always broke from buying Korean cosmetics since I love them so much. I enjoy listening to K-pop songs. I have been to a concert/fanmeet of my favorite celebrities.

I take a Korean class so that I can converse with my Oppa. I have been to Korea more than twice I have been to the Korean film’s location I have watched many Korean variety shows I binge-watch Korean series until morning I always cry with the character in the series

I always update myself with Korean fashion. I have the plan to study in Korea I read about Korean history in my free time to know more about Korea I have a favorite idol, whom I know all of his/her information

By just seeing their eyes, I can know who is that Korean celebrity My social media timeline (IG, Facebook, Twitter) is filled with Korean news, Korean actors, idols, series, variety shows, etc.

Let’s see what a big fan of Korea you are

13-17 points

Congratulations! You are a real big fan! You have so much passion to learn about Korea, and you did it! You know everything about Korean entertainment, food, and culture.

7-12 points

You are a medium-level Korean fan. You pretty much are interested in Korea, but you still need more passion to know more about Korea. You are almost there ! Keep going !