▲ Some of the food available at Mulmegol. Photo by Veronica Spann

Mulmegol, which serves vegetarian temple food with medicinal herbs and traditional teas, has the feel of a traditional Korean homestead.

Entering the restaurant, in Susan-ri, Aewol-eup, you pass many fermentation pots and drying roots on the porch.

Inside, there are several side rooms, a kitchen, and a large dining room where shelves of hand-thrown pottery and hangers with hand dyed clothing and fabrics line the walls.
There are also bags of dried roots and plants for sale, presumably as teas.

We were greeted by a friendly woman when we came inside and it really did feel as though she was welcoming us into her home. There was another group of guests at one of the long floor
tables who kindly recommended different items off the menu for us to order.

The woman who runs the restaurant gestured to the other guests and asked if we just wanted
the same as them. Judging from the smiles coming from those guests, we decided that seemed
like a fine idea.

Our table was soon decorated with many different side dishes: salad, kimchi, pajeon, and some thinly shaved bean curd loaf that tasted quite meaty. The bean curd loaf was something different from most restaurants. It tasted particularly good and had a nice, thick, meaty texture that is hard to achieve with meatless ingredients.

▲ Some of the food available at Mulmegol. Photo by Veronica Spann

After the sides, the friendly woman brought us beautifully presented little pockets of rice wrapped in large lotus leaves. We also enjoyed a bowl of seaweed soup with rice cakes. The soup did not have the kind of seaweed you find dried out in sheets for gimbap or crushed up for bimbimbap, but rather the kind you feel tickling your toes when you touch the ocean floor. The texture of the seaweed was very interesting and gastronomically adventurous. About half of our group enjoyed the soup very much and the other half had less adventurous palates.

Regardless of whether or not you enjoy seaweed soup, Mulmegol has a lovely home-like atmosphere that makes for a very comfortable dining experience. It is clear the women who
run the restaurant appreciate craftsmanship both in and out of the kitchen.