[Seoul - Samcheongdong] Onmaul - Fresh soft tofu house, homemade, country style food

This is a revisit to my favorite restaurant, Onmaul - previous post here.

 I first visited Onmaul when I was on exchange in 2010. The fact that it is still here, 8 years later, is testament to the food. Plenty of other restaurants have come and gone in Samcheongdong, but Onmaul is still holding strong. As you know, Seoul changes in the blink of an eye...seriously, one day the apartment building next to mine just...disappeared and then 3 days later a brand new building had replaced it.

Onmaul makes their own tofu. Some of the times I've been there, they have been in the midst of various stages of the tofu-making process. It was kind of neat to see. It's an organic restaurant - there was some sort of sign stating such and some plaque certifying that they had been inspected, etc.

There are some vegetarian dishes on the menu! So, it's a great place to try some more traditional Korean vegetarian food for the first time. Since it's pretty affordable, you don't have to feel bad about trying a variety of foods. I'm not sure if it's vegan, though, sorry!

The atmosphere inside is that of a countryside restaurant/drinking pub, one that sells traditional sorts of Korean drinking food with makeolli, like pajeon or haemul pajeon - Korean pancakes. Even though it looks quite old, everything is clean, so don't worry.

The Korean side dishes (banchan) are simple, but plentiful. Definitely, don't feel shy about asking for a refill. The owners, or who I assume are the owners since they've been there for all 8 years, are happy to fill your little bowls again. Sometimes, I fell a little shy asking for refills, but they are quite friendly here and don't seem annoyed that you ask.

 This is what I usually get, the kong biji jjigae, which is basically ground up soybean paste in a stew with some other vegetables and pork. It's kind of countryside laborer food, but I like it. It's got a little something of everything in it. It's pretty difficult to find anywhere else since it's such a random dish, so I make sure to get it whenever I go. It's so comforting and flavorful, yet so simple.

It is SUPER hot when you get it, though. Like it's still boiling.

This is the menu, it's quite cute. It's handwritten a wooden rice scoop, but don't worry, there's also an English/picture menu. I didn't know this existed in my previous post, but my friend didn't speak Korean, so I was translating everything and the owner realized and came with a picture menu. 

Since it is like a countryside drinking place, most of the food is anju or could be eaten as anju. For the full effect, oyou should order some dongdongju. You won't be disappointed!

They must be doing pretty well because they even have a little mascot now.

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