Onjium (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★★☆

I had the afternoon off from babysitting, and I’ve already made plans for a special treat for myself right in the heart of Seoul's Jongno district.

Onjium is far more than a typical dining destination. It’s a “culinary studio” housed within a prestigious cultural institute. Set between the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace and a lively modern residential neighborhood, the restaurant feels like a seamless bridge between Korea’s royal past and its contemporary present.

My journey began as soon as I was guided to a counter table directly facing the open kitchen, where I could see the chefs at work (including Chef Park Sung-bae himself) through the glass walls.

The kitchen here is helmed by Chefs Cho Eun-hee and Park Sung-bae, who treat the menu like an edible storytelling of Korea’s rich culinary heritage. Onjium meaning “creating in the right way”, reflects their belief in revisiting centuries-old recipes to bring back flavors that were once lost. Drawing on seasonal ingredients and re-imagining traditional dishes through years of careful study, the team behind Chef Cho and Chef Park reworks traditional dishes with modern refinement, so the spirit of the past lands perfectly with diners today.

Newly crowned No. 14 on Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants list and No. 57 in the world, Onjium offers one tasting menu — and one only — built around seasonal ingredients and the team’s creative minds.

Corn porridge — The porridge features different kinds of corn, peas and seafood. The seasoning is next to non-existent here to let the natural flavors of the ingredients to shine.

Summer cucumber dumpling — The mandu (만두), shaped like sea cucumber, came stuffed with sea cucumber, beef, and mushrooms. 

Again, the seasoning was very light, allowing the ingredients to carry the dish on their own.

Next up was a platter full of one-bite items.

Potato rice cake — Soft and packed with potato flavors.

Abalone jelly — Brushed with sesame oil.

Korean white melon — In-season Korean white melon with savory tofu sauce for a nice savory-sweet balance.

Corn chip — Who doesn't like Korean corn, raise your hand!

Steamed eggplant — Decorated with five-colored vegetables on top. I was told by my server that this used to be a snack served inside the palace walls. Very nice crunch.

Cherry jelly, crab meat, pine nut sauce — A mille-feuille of crab meat and cherry jelly, layered with summer vegetables and watermelon, served on a chilled pine-nut sauce blended with sesame. I didn’t expect such a lovely symphony of flavors and textures — refreshing yet comforting. Easily the best dish I had this afternoon.

Deep-fried sweet fish, Gochujang pancake — A chili-paste-and-soy-marinated pancake made with summer vegetables, served with a deep-fried sweet fish topped with a vegetal cucumber sauce. Not bad.

An off-menu seasonal fish platter came next. This was not on the original lunch menu.

Local red snapper sashimi with sesame oil — Came with some serious crunch.

Deboned Herring with fresh chives — Surprisingly fatty resulting in a nice, velvety texture.

Three-year-old kimchi — Another one that was crunchy and satisfying.

Sweet shrimp — This came with some really serious extra kick thanks to the homemade gochujang. 

Muneo-jeolyuk — Pressed octopus and beef. Thought this was a thin slice of blood sausage at first glance. Pretty nice.

Crispy pork belly — Topped with some shredded spring onion. The amaranth was pretty spicy.

I got the chance to enjoy a small cup of tea before another wave of dishes arrived.

Traditional cold soup — The soup came with acorn jelly, kimchi, pickled cucumber and clam. 

Grilled eel and beef — My main dish was inspired by the American surf and turf style.

The thin grilled beef patty was actually topped with smoked eel to resemble a slice of steak. It came with green pepper and deep-fried garlic on the side, with an umami-rich shrimp-head sauce providing the finishing touch. 

The texture pairing of beef patty and smoked eel worked surprisingly well.

There was a side dish served with my main dish: a piece of perilla leaf with pear purée and juice.

Cold marinated noodles, summer vegetables — The cold marinated noodles were served with thin strips of summer vegetables, beef and pear. Pretty refreshing.

The palate cleanser was a peppery bean sprouts soup with small pieces of squid.

Peach punch — I was admiring the orange-colored container when they came over and started pouring the peach punch into it.

Peach punch is all about peach. It was based on Sujeonggwa (수정과), a traditional Korean juice made with cinnamon stick and herbs. 

Inside were fresh peach slices, dumplings flavored with peach flour, and jelly made with different types of peaches. It was a very refreshing reset after the meaty main course.

A pair of traditional Korean snacks as mignardises following my dessert.

This looked like the palm of a hand. 

A pot of hot bamboo shoot tea to wrap up the meal that lasted just a little over an hour.

So this was the semi-private dining room featured in the photos posted on Asia’s Best Restaurants’ website.

This was a relaxing meal that felt just as much like a story about Korean heritage as it was a culinary experience. There were intriguing Korean dishes reinterpreted through the lens of modern cooking, and I felt genuinely entertained by the learning process. It’s just that there were way too many local ingredients I hadn’t tried before, and I needed time to process and get familiar with. So it took me a while to finally finish this write-up after the meal.

Food Rating: 7.2/10

Price: ₩₩₩₩

Address: 4/F, 49 Hyoja-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Gyeongbokgung

Tel: +82 02 6952-0024

Website: https://www.instagram.com/onjium_restaurant/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Fri)

S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 57th (2025)

S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 14th (2025)