A Flower Blossom On The Rice | Michelin Star Vegan & Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurant In Insadong

Vegan and vegetarian food seems to be getting more and more popular these days in Korea.

If you're looking for vegan or vegetarian Korean food options, you have to try A Flower Blossom On The Rice (꽃밥에피다). They use organic, eco-friendly ingredients and have many vegan menu items. Not only do they serve delicious food, but they also made it onto the 2021 Michelin Guide!

Our Visit

A Flower Blossom On The Rice is tucked away in an alley off the busy street of Insadong. Insadong is already a must-see for tourists, so it will be convenient for you to stop by if you're in the area.

They have non-vegan options as well, so anyone can go and enjoy, and all of the ingredients are super fresh and healthy.

The restaurant can be found in a cute little alley. Right at the entrance, they have a banner saying they have been a Michelin Guide restaurant for 4 years in a row!

The picture on the banner is the lunchtime special dish I tried.

There's a unique walkway to the inside with a sink to wash your hands and a mini garden area.

There's lots of cute decorations on display too!

Once inside, I told the staff I had a reservation and was led straight to my table. There only seemed to be about 7 or 8 tables in the whole place.

The restaurant is pretty small, so I recommend making a reservation in advance. Lots of time slots were full when I was reserving, so the earliest I could reserve for lunch was 1:30pm!

They had information about their special organic ingredients on display, and of course, the Michelin Guide branded items.

The interior is a hanok-style building, as you can see by the roof. The wooden accents make it feel very cozy and peaceful.

For reserved tables, they have this cute hanbok shirt as a "reserved" sign and the menu, plates, and utensils were already set up. I ordered the Bojagi Bibimbap, which would be a great choice for vegetarians. Their lunch set menus all come with a soup and salad.

My food came out quickly and the staff kindly explained what went ingredients went in to each dish and how to eat them.

Bojagi Bibimbap
20,000 won

The included soup and salad were served first. It was an organic pumpkin oat soup and salad with tofu and corn dressing.

The soup was so thick and creamy and the oats were very soft. The pumpkin taste was strong and it tasted natural, so I could tell they used high-quality ingredients.

The corn dressing on the salad had a little bit of a sour taste and was delicious! I was told they used non-GMO corn to make it. The tofu was really interesting because the texture of it felt like feta cheese.

While I was eating, the main dish finally came out. Isn't it so pretty? The rice is wrapped in egg and looks like a little present. It even has an edible flower tucked under the seaweed.

The bibimbap comes with sesame oil, gochujang (red chili paste), and sides of shiitake mushrooms, shredded radish, and doenjang jjigae (soybean paste soup).

The waitress kindly explained all of the different ingredients to me and said the ingredients are all organic and eco-friendly. She waited for me to take pictures before cutting it open for me.

Wow, the inside was just as pretty! There are 7 rows of different ingredients that will be mixed into the bibimbap. There's 2 rows of mushrooms, so you might want to order something else if you can't eat them...

Add in the gochujang and sesame oil to your liking, then mix everything together well! I hadn't mixed in the egg yet for the picture, but it'll be easier to eat once you mix in the egg too.

Everything tasted super healthy and I liked that there were a variety of ingredients and a lot of each one. Even though I put in a lot of gochujang and sesame oil, the flavors of the different ingredients were still pretty strong.

Also, it looked a little small at first, but it was surprisingly really filling and I didn't finish all of it. I don't try vegetarian dishes often, but this one was definitely memorable!

Information

Address: 서울 종로구 인사동16길 3-6
3-6 Insadong 16-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Hours:
Lunch: 11:30-15:00
Dinner: 17:30-21:00
Last Order: 14:30 & 20:30
Course Last Order: 14:00 & 20:00

Transportation: 3 minute walk from Anguk Station Exit 6

Menu

How To Get There

Head out of Anguk Station Exit 6.

Go straight until you see the tourist information center. Turn left and go straight.

Turn left into the little alley right next to the craft store.

Follow the alley until you reach the restaurant!