Min’s Club

By Chung Hyun-chae

Entering a narrow alley in Insa-dong and passing a string of bijou art galleries, you will find yourself at a corner feeling as if you have travelled back in time to the late 19th century. There is Min’s Club, designated as the 15th Folk Cultural Property of Seoul which was the residence of Min Byeong-ok, a descendant of Empress Myeongseong.

Park Gil-yong who designed Hwasin, Korea’s first department store and Joseon’s commercial center, built the house in 1936. This modernized traditional Korean house, dubbed hanok, with restrooms built inside was a state-of-the-art facility back then. The place is now a fusion Korean restaurant loved by foreigners in Seoul.

While having preserved the interior of the hanok, Min’s Club does not force its guests to adapt to the traditional sedentary style. The restaurant has chairs and tables although you still have to be careful of the low door frames people often bump their heads against. This is part of the reason why many foreign business people have frequented this place for nearly 10 years.

Western piano melodies are played in the background while the food is a nice blend of Western and Korean cuisine.

Popular dishes at Min’s Club include “neobiani,” a meat cake made of highest grade hanwoo, Korean beef, and served with high quality “deodeok,” a mountain herb whose roots have restorative properties like ginseng, according to Ji Kyoung-sun, a manager of Min’s Club. “Once you have a bite of it, you can never stop until it is finished,” Ji said.

Min’s Club is well known not only to foreign business people who have interests in history and tradition but also to diplomats and law professionals because of its four distinctive private rooms: Library, Cafe, Terrace and Dining room.

Depending on their tastes or the level of formality of a meeting, customers can choose any of them. Business meetings have been said to go well particularly in the Library because a scholar of Pungsu, Korean geomancy referred to as Feng Shui in China, visited the room and said it has a strong spirit. The Library hosts up to 10 people.

According to Ji, one customer made a return visit to appreciate a beautiful persimmon tree they saw through the traditional Korean sliding doors. When you take out your business partners to Min’s club, you will probably need to give them some time to take pictures.

Address:

66-7 25 Gyeongun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Direction:

100 meters from the Exit 5 of Anguk Station. Next to Kyung-In Museum of Fine Art

Phone number:

02-733-2966

Price:

Lunch sets from 25,000 to 54,000 won. Dinner sets from 60,000 to 90,000 won and a la carte from

42,000 to 60,000 won. Prices are exclusive of the 10 percent VAT.

Opening hour: O

pens between noon and 3:00 p.m. and between 6 and 11 p.m.

Parking:

vailable at Sueun Assembly House Building, Gyeongun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Free parking for up to one-and-a-half hours at lunch and two-and-a-half hours at dinner. Valet parking is not available.

Reservations:

Recommended and required for private rooms. Reservations should be made only by phone call. Five private rooms catering for parties of eight, 10, 14, 22, and 30 people.

Private rooms:

Ambassadors and executives at foreign companies

Frequented by Chef’s Special menu:

Grilled hanwoo tenderloin or sirloin steak, oven-baked rack of lamb with on green chili-pepper crust and provincial vegetables, Grilled hanwoo tenderloin medallion with roasted half lobster and mushroom gravy sauce.

Total seating:

100

Special feature:

The restaurant provides an ideal place for special events including marriages and children’s first birthday parties.