Visited Miss Lee Cafe at Insa-dong during my trip to South Korea last week.
Miss Lee Cafe has a few outlets all over Seoul but we decided to drop by their Insa-dong outlet during our first day there.
We decided to have a quick and light dinner there as we had our lunch around 3pm (we collapsed at the airbnb for almost an hour after our flight to Incheon).
Miss Lee Cafe is famous for their dosirak 도시락,which is the Korean lunchbox. The waitress there did not know much English so we pointed out the items that we wanted from the menu and hoped for the best (there are simple English descriptions and pictures for some of the items in the menu and they helped a lot).
It was a Friday afternoon and there weren't a lot of people around so we chilled there for a while.
They also sell some trinkets and candies near the cashier.
From what I could tell, they were going for the we-are-going-to-trigger-your-childhood-memories decor hence the nostalgic food items (metal lunch boxes) and stuff from two decades ago.
Or you could simply call it a school-themed cafe.
Not sure whether I should be happy or upset that my head didn't even brush against the bottom of the stairway.
There are also pen and paper for you to leave a note/message there. Some of the weirder ones include a note asking to be T.O.P's (member of kpop group BigBang) wife. But basically you could just leave a 'so-and-so has been here' or your bucketlist there.
Bingsu빙수 (shaved ice): Milk Ice Flakes in Pot (₩11,900)
One of the best bingsu that I've ever had. It is soft, and melts in the mouth. I love the milky flavour and it was neither too much or too little unlike most bingsu outlets in Singapore and Malaysia. The red bean certainly added flavour to the bingsu and the tteok topping the dessert was chewy but not too difficult to bite on.
Dum dum dum, the main reason we were there:
Dosirak도시락 (Korean lunch box): Byeoldabang's memorial assorted box (₩6,500)
The dosirak at Miss Lee Cafe comes with a bowl of seaweed soup, egg, sausage/luncheon meat, and kimchi. It wasn't too spicy that even my brother who could not eat much spiciness enjoyed the dish. For me, I love the combination even though it was a simple one.
(There was this phase where a sunny side up with soy sauce was sufficient for a meal with rice)
BUT WAIT. How do you actually eat the dosirak?
One must not simply scoop up some rice and swallow it, not while having dosirak!
Step 1: Make sure that the container is sealed, with the lid on top.
Step 2: Shake it like there's no tomorrow to evenly distribute the kimchi and the other ingredients. You could start dancing to a song if you want to.
Step 3: Open up the lid and shake your head at the now messy and unglam dosirak in front of you. Smell the goodness and eat it anyway.
Anyways, one dosirak wasn't really enough but that was all we had. -sulks- Would try to make it when I have the time (it seemed simple enough but good kimchi isn't easy to find/make).
Food: 8/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Price: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.8/10
(based on current visit)
Ambiance: 8/10
Price: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.8/10
(based on current visit)
Miss Lee Cafe (Insadong)
144 Yulgok-ro, Gwanhun-dong,
Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
별다방미스리 인사동점
서울 종로구 관훈동 144번지 2층
서울 종로구 관훈동 144번지 2층
Nearest train station: Anguk (exit 6)
*near the Insadong Tourist Information Centre and located above a GS25 convenience store.
