When popular Japanese restaurant Hikiniku To Come (挽肉と米) (literally means “minced meat and rice”) opened its first Hong Kong branch in IFC mall back in May, I was among those attempting as walk-in customers without luck. Six months later, I still haven't gotten the chance to check out their charcoal-grilled hamburger steaks but hopefully, I would get a similarly exciting experience at Uyeonhwa Ikseon (우연화 익선한식), a Korean restaurant in Seoul serving charcoal-grilled patties made with Korean beef.
Like many restaurants and cafes in Ikseon-dong, Uyeonhwa is housed inside a hanok-style building.
As the restaurant only offers two kinds of dinner sets (₩25,000), it was easy to do it through the ticketing machine. Simply enter the table number and choose the appetizer and main dish respectively. The menu also offers translations in English and Chinese making it very easy for tourists like us.
We were seated at the bar table which provided front row seats to the open kitchen where the chef patiently placed the beef patties into the grill one after another.
The ventilation system effectively cleared the smoke from the charcoal grill, allowing us to sit back, relax and watch our patties cook through the transparent glass partitions.
While the chef was putting the finishing touch on our patties, it was time to get our sauce ready (only four kinds of sauce to choose from, wasabi, dried garlic, Korean chili paste and tomato).
As a purist, all I needed was an egg yolk and some sweet soy to go with my beef patty.
Each set came with a garden salad or this cod roes dish which has been sprinkled with fresh chives and sesame.
Also included with the set was this bucket of steamed rice.
The first of my two beef patties was there, emanating a robust aroma from the charcoal grill.
Can't wait to enjoy this with my rice!
Well, the patty was less charred than I originally expected. It was incredibly soft, juicy and tender.
Not sure if it was intentional but my second patty was noticeably less cooked in the middle than the first one but equally delicious especially the sweet soy and yolk.
I wasn't sure how it stacked up against the prized hamburger steak at Hikiniku To Come but for me, this meal provided me a truly mouthwatering experience. Highly recommended for any hamburger steak fan!
Food Rating: 6.4/10
Price: ₩₩₩
Address: 23 Donui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Closest Metro Station: Jongno 3(sam)-ga
Tel: +82 0507 1490-7984
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 9:00pm daily
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