Review of restaurant “Doryang” in Seochon (Culinary Class Wars chef)

Doryang is a Chinese restaurant headed by one of the contestants of Culinary Class War on Netflix. I had been looking forward to trying this restaurant after passing in front of it multiple times when visiting Seochon, but I had never been able to secure a reservation slot. However, everything changed on March 25th when new reservation slots were added!

When I saw this, I decided to give it a try. I frantically clicked around for available dates and, by a stroke of luck, managed to secure a reservation for two days later.

We booked it for 11 AM, opening time of the restaurant. We were among the first to enter, so the restaurant was mostly empty, including the private rooms. I found it curious that while all reservations were booked, the place itself felt a bit deserted.

Before we even sat down, the side dishes were already prepared and waiting for us!

Doryang’s Menu!

Seeing other people’s reviews of Doryang, I was eager to order the japchae rice dish. We unfortunately found out it had been removed from the menu, which threw me off. To make up for it, we decided to order four menu items instead of limiting us to three as we initially planned…

To my surprise, the fried dumplings were already sold out even though we were among the first customers of the day. It seemed rather strange to hear they were out of fried dumplings when the restaurant had less than ten tables filled and us arriving early, so we could not help but feel disappointed. We opted for boiled dumplings instead, which weren’t quite the same. A little bit of a letdown…

The Food Experience

The Dongpo Pork (braised pork belly) was the first to arrive. Its tender texture was obvious just from the appearance of it—it practically melted in my mouth, and the bok choy was cooked to perfection! I do however think the dish could have tasted even better with a little more seasoning and spice. Compared to the Dongpo Pork I had in the U.S. made by my Taiwanese roommate’s parents, this one felt slightly underseasoned… Honestly, most of the dishes here seemed to carry a similar vibe.

That said, if you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy greasy dishes, this might not be your favorite. Naturally, if you’re averse to the jiggly texture of fat and its richness, you might find this dish slightly unappealing. I ordered it reluctantly, thinking it’d be a shame to skip over such a famous item, but it didn’t end up being my personal favorite.

Next came the Yan-tae highball (I think that’s what it was called). Surprisingly, it paired wonderfully with the Chinese dishes and was delicious!

The “Yu Xiang Eggplant Fritters” had caught my eye in earlier reviews, and I was especially excited for this dish. True to its premium price, it was stuffed generously with plump shrimp, and the flavor was incredible! However, this also felt like it lacked a bit of black pepper, ㅠ. While they didn’t skimp on the ingredients, the absence of spices such as pepper left me feeling slightly underwhelmed flavor-wise.

The “Platter Black Bean Noodles” were perfectly portioned for two to share. Loaded with seafood, it was delicious when eaten together, but once again, there seemed to be some element missing. While it was marked as spicy, I couldn’t detect any heat at all.

Lastly, the boiled dumplings were rather ordinary. In hindsight, it might’ve been better to try a more unique dish instead of this.

Overall Impression

The restaurant had a delicate and comforting Chinese cuisine feel—not too overpowering, leaving my stomach at ease. However, the food also felt heavily adapted to Korean palates, lacking the richness of spices that I associate with Chinese cuisine; as such, I was slightly disappointed. To be clear, the food was not bad at all; it may just have been that my expectations might have been too high. Disappointment can sometimes be amplified when expectations are elevated.

Our final bill amounted to 113,000 KRW… For the record, we did eat quite a lot, and two people wouldn’t usually rack up such a high bill… The only salvation in all this is that we were able to see Doryang’s chef who participated in Culinary Class War chef. Honestly, this place feels like somewhere you should visit with at least four people so that you can order a variety of dishes to share!

This is a translation of a Korean blog post. Original post: 서촌 맛집추천 - 도량 내돈내산 솔직후기 by 투잔