Gyeonggi-do - Hometown Kitchen (Filming Site for Korean Drama "Heirs")

As we began preparations for our Korea trip during the period when everyone was going craycray about the K-drama, "Heirs", we planned to have a "Heirs" trail on the third day when in Korea. I found this blog and realized most of the filming locations were concentrated in Gyeonggi-do, which required a 45 mins to 1 hour train ride out of Seoul. Plus some of the locations are next to the sea, ulu, yadda yadda so using my cmi stalking/research skills I managed to track down the locations of two of these locations, Hometown Kitchen (which was used as the scene for the cafeteria) and Mambo Noodle House (which was the location where Choi Young-do broke up with Cha Eun Sang).

Thank God the place was not difficult to find and soon after arrival we were ushered into this lovely buffet restaurant selling Shabu Shabu (with a side of buffet). FREE FLOW DESSERTS YAY!

Please do note that they have no English menu available (as this place is not exactly frequented by tourists) and they only serve beef or seafood shabu shabu. There is no chicken or pork. Prices range from 14,000 to 20,000 won per person. Each person has to order a portion of beef/seafood, and thereafter you get to enjoy the buffet! 

We were pretty pleased with the quality of beef even if it was average quality as it did not turn out rubbery after cooking it in the soup. The soup bases were also pretty decent and I especially loved the seafood soup base. You could actually taste the freshness of the seafood used to make the soup as it was sweet. Oh and look out for the vegetable dumplings that look really adorable, like little pillows. The buffet was so-so but who cares it is supposed to be Shabu Shabu with a side of buffet, not the other way round. Min was also very pleased that they served Bingsoo as one of their dessert options.

I would rate it a 4/5 yums.

We were supposed to head to Ilsan Lake Park for some floral festival after a heavy lunch but all three of us got very distracted by Daiso and ended up buying too many things to go anywhere else, let alone walk around a park.

Oh and while shopping I discovered this absurd-looking baby spoon...

#onlyinkorea #sothatshowtheyfeedstubbornkoreanbabies

Maybe if the lady in this video used this spoon, she won't have to go the distance to cook up a story to make the baby open his mouth. 

How to get to Hometown Kitchen:

1. Get on the Gyeonggui line from Seoul Station and take the train towards Tanhyeon Station. (Tanhyeon Station is near Ilsan, which is out of Seoul city)

2. Exit the station by Exit 2, you will see this ahead of you once you pass the overhead bridge.

3. Go down the escalator, turn left and make sure you are on the same level as the road. You should see the station behind you.

4. Ahead of you should be the steps going down. Go down the stairs according to the arrow in the picture.




5. Keep walking straight down and keep to the right. Hometown Kitchen would be all the way to the end.

And tadah you are there!