Ryunique Seoul – The Best Take On Korean Fusion Cuisine

I love to combine travel with great food and if you have followed my stories for a while you know how much I appreciate great local food. Whether it’s a food tour in Athens, authentic Peking duck in Beijing or a cooking class is Laos, I love to try as much local cuisine as I can when I’m exploring a new country. Living in South Korea definitely has its perks considering the exceptional Korean cuisine. While I have tried many different eateries around South Korea, no experience was as special as this one. I was invited to enjoy the lovely seasonal course menu at Ryunique, a Korean fusion restaurants among Asia’s Top 50 Restaurants.

Here’s my experience about Ryunique Seoul – The Best Take On Korean Fusion Cuisine:

State-of-the-art Cuisine since 2011

Chef Tae Hwan Ryu was born in Busan but ventured out into the world to find inspiration in the culinary world. He gained years of various experiences at culinary schools and Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo, Sydney, and London and returned to Korea where he opened his own restaurant. Within only three years of launching, Ryunique has respectively won 27th place and 79th place in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and is said to be the best restaurant in South Korea.

The Restaurant in Seoul‘s ‘It Neighborhood’

Ryuinque is located in the popular neighbourhood of Garosugil in Gangnam. I loved the outside decor of the restaurant and the interior was also designed very beautifully. It is a relatively small restaurant, which I didn’t mind because it gave us a feeling of ‘being at home’ in a way. All of the staff was well dressed and polite. They are all fluent in English and even have some Western staff. We arrived just before the restaurant opened for the day for Sunday’s lunch and heard the team preparing for the day. The entire team met up in the kitchen and the chef held a motivating prep-talk. You could really tell that the team loves what they’re doing and they work well together.

Signature Lunch Menu

Jeongsu and I were invited to try out the signature lunch menu with seasonal additions. We were super excited and the menu really did not reveal too much of the secretive dishes we were about to eat.

Artful Appetizers

Not quite sure what we should expect from the lunch menu, we were absolutely stunned by what the waiters presented us with. Starting with a round of different appetizers, the chef truly showed his creative side when presenting us with asparagus cakes, a kimchi firefly, Korean mushrooms, a new take on Korean sundae (stuffed cow or pig’s intestines) and so much more. Each time the waiter introduced a new dish, we had another jaw-dropping moment followed by ‘oooh’s and ‘aaaah’s!

Exceptional Main Courses

12 courses were waiting for us for the lunch menu ‘Hybrid Cuisine’. I had already lost count after the many appetizers but the waiters provided us with a list for the main courses so that we could keep track and speculate about what would be behind each creative meal name. We were presented anything from ‘Foie Gras’ and ‘Hibiscus Scallop Patty’ over ‘Apple Fed Pork Jowl Yeasan Inspiration’ to ‘Duck and Orange Intense’ and ‘The Quail Nostalgia’, the chef’s signature dish (just to name a few of the main dishes). What I loved was that chef Ryu presented his quail dish in person so we got to meet him and learn more about him. You could truly tell that he was living the dream of creating beautiful culinary art. We also received various desserts and could choose between coffee or tea to finish off the dining experience.

The Dining Experience

I had the best time during lunch at Ryunique. Jeongsu and I never had such a dining experience before and were truly amazed by what chef Ryu can do. Each dish was presented in such a thoughtful and artistic way and introduced informatively by the waiters. If you are looking for an extravagant and different dining experience in Seoul, you absolutely must visit Ryunique! Our course was an exceptional dining experience of perfectly flavored meals and creative dishes presented in an artistic way. I really enjoyed trying traditional Korean foods, such as kimchi, sundae, or mushrooms, in a new and modern way. I was absolutely blown away and Jeongsu and I are still speaking about the amazing Korean fusion food we got to experience at Ryunique in Seoul.

More Information: Ryunique 류니끄

Address: 520-1 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Phone: +82 02-546-9279

Reservations: Recommended

Hours: lunch hour 12:00pm to 3:00pm (L.O weekdays 14:00, weekend 14:00)
dinner hour 6:00pm to 10:30pm (L.O weekdays, weekend 20:00). Closed on Mondays.

Price: Moderate/High

Website: Click Here

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Disclaimer: The meal mentioned in the article above was provided free of charge in exchange for a review. The opinions, are of course, my own.