[FOOD COURT] The best places to eat near Songdo's Global Campus

Songdo in Incheon has been transforming into a global hub for universities since the early 2010s, with new schools and an influx of students creating a number of restaurants worth visiting.

Many people might immediately think of Sinchon in Mapo District, western Seoul, when thinking of campus neighborhoods. But Songdo is also quickly growing into one. 

Known as the International Global Campus, SUNY Korea first opened at Songdo in 2012. With other universities such as George Mason Korea, Utah Asia Campus and Ghent University Global Campus also opening since then, the area is now home to a big body of international students. Yonsei University opening its international campus in Songdo was another addition, with both Korean and international students studying international studies there.  

But Songdo isn't just university buildings and students.

Many visitors come all the way to Songdo to shop at the Hyundai Premium Outlet and Triple Street, or to picnic at the nearby Songdo Central Park.

If you are visiting the Songdo area and don't know what to get for lunch or dinner, hear are some recommendations from the Korea JoongAng Daily. 

Damsot

Damsot is one of the restaurants at Triple Street, a mall with many clothing stores and restaurants that is located in walking distance from the global university campuses. 

The restaurant sells sot bab, which is a traditional Korean way of serving rice in a warm pot — made of either stone or steel — and topping it with various ingredients. One of the dishes offered at the restaurant is steak sot bab. The dish is seasoned with a sweet soy bean sauce to add a bit of flavor and is topped with thick chunks of beef, egg yolk and chives.  

Rather than eating straight from the pot it's served in, customers are advised to scoop out the rice and toppings and put it all in a separate bowl. Pouring hot water into the pot that originally held the rice, sealing it with a lid and waiting for a few minutes will make nurungji, or a warm soup made from the crispy part of the overcooked rice.

The restaurant will require a long wait not just during busy lunch and dinner hours, but throughout the whole day. Customers will have to wait for at least 20 to 30 minutes and sometimes as long as an hour, but the wait isn't that hard as there are many benches customers can comfortably sit on.  

@songdo_damsot

33-2 Songdogwahak-ro 16beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon

Business hours: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

0507-1397-9492

Midoin

Midoin is also located in Triple Street, selling various steak dishes. All steak dishes are cooked tenderly and served with sides such as mashed potato and pumpkin soup.

For those who want more than just steak, customers can choose to just a half portion of the steak and have other options such as gopchang and daechang, or grilled beef tripe. Both are known to be quite fatty, but the restaurant seasons it with spicy sauce to make it easy to eat.  

The restaurant is worth visiting when it opens if you are someone who wants to try special dishes. One of the special dishes is the 400 steak bowl, which is topped with 400 grams (0.9 pound) of steak. The restaurant only sells seven bowls of the dish per day, and it tends to sell out almost instantly when it opens.  

The Midoin gucheop bansang, which translates to a meal with nine side dishes, is another of the special dishes that are only offered to seven people per day. The dish comes with a smaller steak bowl, but has various side dishes such as fried shrimp, menbosha (fried shrimp toast), salmon sushi and fried tofu.  

@midoin_songdo

33-2 Songdogwahak-ro 16beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon

Business hours: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.  

0507-1467-8853

Ssam and Jang

Ssam and Jang is a pork belly restaurant located right in front of Campus Town Station, which is close to the global universities and Yonsei University's Songdo International Campus.

Although most restaurants will serve raw slices of ssamgyeopsal, or grilled pork belly, that customers have to grill themselves, Ssam and Jang serves them cooked and ready to eat. Apart from the pork belly, customers can also order jeyuk boggeum (spicy marinated pork) and duck bulgogi, or spicy marinated grilled duck. Served in a heated stone dish, the meat remains warm long after you start eating.

When ordering the three dishes, customers can freely use the salad bar, which has a variety of vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, perilla leaves and kale. Fried eggs are also offered, and customers can make as many as they want at a small section with a stove and a frying pan at the salad bar.  

Being so close to many universities in the Songdo neighborhood, the restaurant offers many benefits for students. Customers from Yonsei's Songdo International Campus and the nearby global universities can get one free refill of the meat dishes — jeyuk boggeum, pork belly or duck bulgogi — if they bring their student ID cards. Students can also get a refill of doenjang jjigae, or fermented soybean paste stew, and the restaurant will give unlimited refills of rice.

55 Songdogwahak-ro 27beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon

Business hours: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

032-821-3001

Bumsang

Bumsang is a restaurant that sells soup curry, or a lightly flavored curry soup that originates from Hokkaido, Japan. Served with a lot more broth than curry rice, soup curry is a hearty dish that will warm customers up in chilly weather.

Customers can choose between vegetables, sausage, pork belly and chicken soup curry. All dishes come with much more ingredients such as paprika, squash, lotus roots and eggplant. The broth has a very subtle spicy aftertaste that doesn't overwhelm the taste buds and is okay for people who find it hard to handle spicy dishes.  

The restaurant is bit of a walk from Yonsei's international campus and the global university campuses, and is closer to where Incheon National University and Incheon Catholic University are located.

@bumsang_songdo

158 Harmony-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon

Business hours: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.  

0507-1335-7306

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]