The Hangry Plate in central Seoul's Haebangchon is closed for the night, April 7. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Central Seoul's Haebangchon has seen a handful of new restaurants come and go this year, and probably the most welcomed of all of them is Hangry Plate.
The menu, at first glance, looks crazy: gumbo, beef bourguignon, chili, mac n cheese and three pastas. American, French, Mexican, British and Italian cuisine, all in one place? (And are we really comfortable with identifying macaroni and cheese as British?)
Hangry Plate's beef bourguignon and chili are displayed on a sign in front of the restaurant in central Seoul's Haebangchon. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Why these items? Hangry Plate prepares them all in a similar way, with each one going into a wok and cooked pretty fast on the spot. They're all the types of food you'd eat with a spoon or fork, not something you'd ever pick up with your hands. And they're all comfort foods, even if you never thought beef bourguignon could be considered a comfort food. They're hearty but not overly heavy, and they're simple to eat, exactly what you need when you're feeling "hangry."
It's hard picking a favorite, because everything is good, and it's also difficult seeing a weak spot on the menu. Sometimes you just have to order what you're craving on a particular day. It's an easy restaurant to order something different each time.
Hangry Plate's gumbo and carbonara are displayed on a sign in front of the restaurant in central Seoul's Haebangchon. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
While the gumbo and the beef bourguignon are first on the menu, the pastas aren't to be missed either. The carbonara pasta is not drowning in a creamy sauce — it's made properly, with noodles cooked in egg. Andrew Han, owner of Hangry Plate, shied away from calling it "authentic," instead saying it's a "fusion" carbonara.
The prices for everything are reasonable, and you can get many of the dishes in small, medium or large. However, if I'm particularly hungry, I like to get two small portions of different menu items, rather than one large item. There are also add-ons for some of the dishes, such as mashed potato for the beef bourguignon, broccoli for the mac n cheese and extra shrimp for the gumbo, plus sides of bread and rice.
After a week-long break during which Han got married, Hangry Plate will reopen on Thursday. The restaurant is open every Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Visit linktr.ee/thehangryplate for more information.