Pranzo Italian Restaurant, Gyeongju
One of my few complaints about Gyeongju is that there just aren’t many foreign restaurants here. Sure, Gyeongju has all your usual greasy fast food joints, but you’ve got to go all the way to Daegu to find a TGI Fridays or Outback Steak House. And if you’re itching for Thai or Mexican, just forget it. Luckily we do have a couple of descent Italian joints in town, and the cream (if you’ll pardon the pun) of the crop is Pranzo (프란조). read more
Phoenix Street of Traditional Culture, Downtown Gyeongju
With the KTX slated to start running to Gyeongju by next Winter(fingers crossed), there’s been a lot of hustle and bustle around town lately If you’re local you may have noticed there’s been a lot of construction downtown over this last year. Seems the city decided to give a serious makeover to the pottery and antiques street, just a block over from McDonalds and Baskin Robbins. read more
Bean Stock Coffee, Downtown Gyeongju
If you’re local, you may have noticed lately that coffee shops have been springing up downtown like mushrooms after a rain. I’m an espresso addict who remembers the dark days when the only thing you could get here was instant hazelnut coffee, so these shops are practically manna from heaven. read more
Dweaji Sanyang (돼지사냥) Samgyeopsal Restaurant
So I’ve been in Korea for a while now and honestly I’m a bit over the whole fried meat thing. One samgyeopsol (삼겹살) joint taste like another to me anymore… but then there’s Dweaji Sanyang (돼지사냥) . It’s downtown, just a stones through from the Daerungwon tombs and if you’re looking for a different experience with Korean barbeque, I suggest checking it out. read more
Healthy Pumpkin Rice, Cheonghakdong (청학동) Restaurant
If you’re into Korean food but you’re tired of the chain restaurants downtown or student samgyeopsal (삼겹살) joints in Seonggeon-dong, there’s a little road running between the two that’s probably just what you need. On a 3 block strip there are about 20 Korean restaurants and I haven’t been disappointed yet by any I’ve been to. They serve everything from hoe (회) or “raw fish”, Chueotang (추어탕) or “mudfish soup”, bossam (보쌈) or “steamed pork”, to blowfish (복) and yeongyangtang (영양탕) or “dog soup”. read more
Gyeongju Eupseong Fortress Walls
Right around the corner from the train station is a curious piece of recent Gyeongju history (recent being it’s only a couple hundred years old rather than 1,500). Over the last year or two the city’s been taking pains to restore the old Chosun era city walls and battlements of Gyeongju Eupseong (East fortress). read more
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