Gyeongbok Sikdang 경복식당

A heaped bowl of black rice comes with ten-odd side dishes (kimchi, seasoned eggplant, bellflower root, stir-fried anchovies and more), plus grilled fish and a soup that change daily. The menu is just baekban (home-style set meal) with an optional jeyuk bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork), and two people sharing two sets and one jeyuk is plenty. Seasoning is gentle, like home cooking, and on days when kkongchi kimchi jorim (mackerel pike braised with aged kimchi) appears, the sour kimchi and fish carry a bowl of rice on their own. Rice and side dishes are refilled on request, and solo diners are welcome. The owner, who also runs the kitchen, comes out to ask each table whether anything needs topping up. The shop has been running since 2008, partway along the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail. With only a handful of tables the wait is long, and on weekday evenings ingredients sometimes run out early.