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Home / Photography • SoKo Living / The Jewel of Jangan-dong: Restaurant Escoffier.
Posted inPhotography SoKo Living

The Jewel of Jangan-dong: Restaurant Escoffier.

Posted By Jacksonville Rising
“A cook is a man with a can opener. A chef is an artist.” -Chef Escoffier

Korean food rocks!  Make no doubt about it.  The flavor, affordability, quantity, health benefits, and convenience is surpassed by none.  However, diversity is the spice of life.  Since I’m from America, I’m acquainted to being able to choose from a diversity of cuisines.  The problem with living in Seoul is if a foreigner doesn’t live in a touristy area, his options are limited to Korean Barbecue, kimbap and seafood.  If he’s lucky, he might have a few more options but he generally exhausts those options quickly.  As a result, foreigners are accustomed to heading to Gangnam, Itaewon, Hongdae, or Samcheong-dong on the weekends for a minor recourse from Korean culture.

While the break is nice, there is one minor problem.  For all of us who have lived in a major or even a minor city, we know the most popular or frequented restaurants aren’t the best in town.  The best restaurants are typically the smaller venues treasured by locals.  These are the places that you are excited to share with your close friends and family when they visit from out of town.  These places are unique to you and your neighborhood.  In essence, they are the jewels of where you live.  They are the places that make you feel proud of your city and in a small way become part of who you are.

As a foreigner, I often miss these places in Seoul due to the language and culture barrier.  If I want variety, I usually seek out touristy restaurants because they are easy to find. I’m fully aware that better places must exist somewhere in this massive city. So, imagine my surprise when I discovered an excellent French Restaurant off the main road directly behind my building.  Never in a million years did I think I would write a business review for a location in Jangan-Dong.  Nevertheless, I’ve been so mesmerized by the wonderful staff and its delicious French cuisine that I want to share with you what has recently become a small part of who I am.

Enter Escoffier, the crown jewel of my neighborhood known as Jangan-dong in the Dongdaemun-Gu district.  I first visited after a tiring photo shoot of Olympic Park.  It was late on a Sunday night when the chef of Escoffier welcomed me.  He spoke with me for an extensive amount of time and told me about his travels in Europe and how he studied at the famous and world-renowned culinary school Cordon Le Bleu in Paris.  He is fluent in French which was obvious because he often jumbled his French with his English in the most charming manner.  Good food often brings out the best in people, but the best restaurants are where the owners make you feel equally as wonderful.  Restaurant Escoffier is such a place.


Since my first encounter, I’ve learned more about Chef de Cuisine Byong-Dong Jang.  Not only did he study at Le Cordon Bleu, but he worked at restaurants like La Manifacture in Paris for three years and toured Europe(with an extended stay in Spain) observing the best culinary techniques and sampling the best cuisines.  He is also a published chef and is the president of both the Le Cordon Bleu Korea and the Escoffier(Escoffier was a very famous chef in Paris) organization in Korea.  He worked in Samcheong-dong for several years as a Sous Chef but wanted to open a restaurant near his home so he could be closer to his two beautiful daughters and help improve the quality of life and cuisine in Dongdaemun-Gu.

His restaurant is small and cozy.  It’s comprised of one room, a bar, an open kitchen and a beautifully lit outdoor patio.  It’s off the main street so it is quiet and not inundated by crazy sidewalk-driving Korean traffic.  The restaurant is the perfect place to take a date or visit with a small group of friends who enjoy cracking open a bottle of wine-or three.

I’ve eaten here three times and each time has been a delightful experience.   I’m not a food critic, but all of the food has been excellent.  On my first visit, I partook in the linguine with white wine clam sauce that had a very subtle but pleasing flavor.  On my second visit, I ordered the dinner special and was served smoked salmon, beef rib-eye steak with pine mushroom sauce and gatueu au chocolat.  On my third visit, Chef Byong-Dong showed me that he is not only a master of French cuisine, but he is also the Korean master of barbecue and cooked the most delicious pork I have ever had in my life(this is not an exaggeration).  Make sure you stop by during the summer as he will be holding outdoor events and grilling often on the streets.  As he told me, “summer is a time for barbecue.”  I couldn’t agree more.

Chef Byong-Dong Jang and his staff are extremely heartwarming and whether you are seeking a break from Korean cuisine, desire to enjoy elevated (but not overly priced) dining with friends over a few glasses or wine, or if you need the perfect neighborhood restaurant to charm that girl you always daydream about at work, Restaurant Escoffier is your ideal spot.

To dine at Escoffier, take line 5 to the Janganpyeong Station and use exit three.  Proceed to walk down the main street.  You’ll pass a Tom N Toms on your right and about 5-8 minutes later you will pass another Tom N Tom’s on your left.  Once you pass the building with the second Tom N Tom’s, take a left and restaurant Escoffier will be behind this building.  The business hours, phone number, contact information, and address in Korean are provided below.

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Tags: Dongdaemun Escoffier French French Cuisine French Food Jangan-dong Restaurant Seoul Visiting Korea
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0 Comments

  1. Cypher Yi Ping Fung
    June 4, 2012 at 8:00 PM

    I will definitely pay this place a visit!!!!

    Reply
  2. David Sheffield
    June 4, 2012 at 8:26 PM

    This was a good review and definitely wants to make you visit this restaurant!!!

    Reply
  3. terry
    June 5, 2012 at 2:36 AM

    would like to eat there right now! sounds wonderful!

    Reply
  4. Tara
    June 21, 2012 at 6:40 PM

    Wow. I literally live 2-3 buildings down from here and I never even knew it existed, THANKS! Can’t wait to try it… Discovered an Indian restaurant today in our neighborhood.. Pokhara.. Today was a good day for me 🙂

    Reply
    • kaliber411
      June 21, 2012 at 7:00 PM

      What??? Where. I think it’s time for a foreigner Jangandog facebook page. I love indian food.!!

      Reply
      • Tara
        June 21, 2012 at 10:45 PM

        Just made a group and posted the pictures and map: https://www.facebook.com/groups/348974128504956/ (hopefully that link works)

        Reply
  5. Paul
    July 15, 2012 at 8:11 PM

    Oh, this place is in my building. It was a grubby little pub when I first moved in called ‘Oppa.’ I never bothered going, but the food in your photos looks great. I really should hop on down …

    Reply
  6. Julie
    July 16, 2012 at 12:07 PM

    This is great! Where’s your byline? You should always have “by Whomever” at the beginning or end of anything you publish!

    Reply
    • kaliber411
      July 16, 2012 at 12:19 PM

      oooooh.

      Reply
  7. Miike Green
    May 25, 2013 at 10:56 AM

    I too live pretty close to this place. I couldn’t believe it when I saw inside. It looks exactly like a high end Parisian restaurant. You didn’t mention the cost, how expensive is it? I just moved in so all my budget is going on appliances, but I really want to go to this place. Thanks for your post!

    Reply
    • Brent Sheffield
      May 25, 2013 at 1:00 PM

      Hey Mike! Welcome to the Jang! It’s not cheap. You could spend anywhere from 15-40 dollars on a meal for one person. Make sure to join the foreigners on Jangan-dong group on facebook.

      Reply
      • Miike Green
        May 26, 2013 at 9:39 PM

        I tried the above link but it doesn’t work.What’s the name of the group? I’ll have a look on facebook.

        Reply

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