It has taken me over a year, but I finally made it to all the Korean restaurants in Lima (bar the instant ramen noodle place in Arenales Mall and the bingsoo dessert place downtown). Here is my review of the restaurants.
1. Dae Jang Geum, Av San Borja Sur 279, San Borja: The name of this place is named after a female palace chef and style of cooking. This place has been visited by Gaston Acurio. I like the food here including the bbq.
2. Arirang, Calle Las Orquídeas 443, San Isidro: This place is closest to Miraflores and is located in the business district. Also good food including bbq.
3. Han Kook Kwan, Av San Luis 2256, San Borja: This place doesn’t open until 2 pm on Sundays! The lady who owns the place is Korean. The food here is probably more “authentic” from the old days… all I know is that I’m not good at eating raw crab in the shell (see lower left corner in photo below). I’d say to eat here if you want a more homey style of food.
4. Nodaji, Av. Aviación 3257, San Borja: The good thing about this place is that it’s next door to Assi, the Korean store. The food was not anything special but the place was busy and had lots of tour buses parked outside.
5. Coreano Dos Hermanos, Av. Aviación 4812, Santiago de Surco: This is upstairs… the dumplings were Chinese style, had gochuchang inside, and steamed like dim sum. But, the japchae noodles were good.
6. Namu, Centro Comercial Arenales, Cuadra 17, Av. Arenales 1737, Lince: This place is located in the basement of the Arenales Mall. It’s a casual place with K pop playing and teeny boppers singing along…
7. Bingsu, Jirón Callao 161, Cercado de Lima and Av. Gral. Eugenio Garzón 1360, Jesús María. This Korean shaved ice dessert, bingsu, is served in these two locations. The branch in Jesus Maria is newer so still shiny and new. Just down the street from the new place mentioned below.
8. Seoul Chicken, Avenida General Eugenio Garzón, 1474 Jesús María, opened in July 2019, this place serves deep fried chicken, fries, ramen, and mandu (dumplings or as they are called here, “empanadas”). The wings are not the crazy addictive rice-flour-coated wings of BonChon chicken as these taste more like sweet and sour chicken. But, the owner is Korean and they play K-pop videos on the TV.