Maple Tree House (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★☆☆

Maple Tree House is one of the rising stars in Seoul when it comes to modern Korean barbecue houses. They have four locations with their Itaewon outpost (near Hamilton Hotel) considered one of the best in the business. But for the convenience of shopping, we opted for their Myeongdong branch.



The restaurant is located in the basement of a small building. Following the staircase down, we arrived at this modernly decorated barbecue house.

A pleasant surprise for us to find that most staff here speaks very good English. That's always a bonus.



As usual, we started with a few nibbles before our meat arrived.



The house specialty is their premium Hanwoo aged striploin. Hanwoo beef has often compared with Kobe beef in terms of wonderful texture and rich flavors. Personally, I still think Kobe beef is a lot better but that's just me.



They won't let you "ruin" this premium cut of Hanwoo beef so they would always cook it for you.



Meet the other must-try here - Jeju black pork belly. The texture again was very good but the proportion of fat was slightly high.




Lastly we ordered their bibimbap and it was wonderful to go with our beef and pork.



It was served with a spicy tofu soup.



Maple Tree House offers very good value for money although their portions are considered slightly smaller than average. But if you don't mind reaching a little deeper into your pocket, I think Hwaroyeon still wins with quality.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ₩₩₩

Address: B1, 8-1 Myeong-dong 1-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Myeongdong
Tel: +82 2711-9700

Website: www.mapletreehouse.co.kr

<More recent review>: 27/9/2015