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new prices as of Feb 2013

3 Posted on 02 / 16 / 2013

New prices are: 17,000 for dinner, weekends, and holidays. 15,000 for weekday dinners. That being said, the ladies there are super nice and I always enjoy my food. I've been there about 5 times since I moved to Seoul and the selection has yet to vary much. Because of the new prices and the lack of any new or exciting dishes, I won't be going as often. It's one of those places I usually only go to when a friend wants to try it for the first time. Since it's close to my apartment, I usually bring out-of-town vegans that are looking to load up on food for the whole day. If you're not super hungry, it's far from a bargain. You're not getting any sort of local/organic spread with fancy ingredients, but it's still nice to have the option of an all vegan buffet in this part of Gangnam. After all, back in the states, if you order 1 entrée/drink/dessert/salad/+tip, there's a good chance you might spend more than 15 bucks. Anyway, Garobee has it's place, but I'm more inspired to venture off to the other vegan options in town.

Since I feel the directions could be a bit more detailed: If you're walking from Gangnam station, you'll be making your first (right hand) turn onto the first diagonal side street you encounter (about a 5 minute walk). Walk up the hill to the first intersection and turn left. About a full block down, you can look up to the 2nd floor and see signs for Garobee. The building has a lot of glass and is on the right side of the street. Turn right down the side street and there will be some stairs leading up to the restaurant immediately on your left.

Pros: friendly staff, all you an eat, the soy cutlets
Cons: increased prices, lame celebrity wall, lack of new or rotating items, the gnarly looking

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great buffet

4 Posted on 02 / 03 / 2013

This was my first vegan Korean restaurant experience and it was wonderful! I went with a Seoul native friend of mine who is not veg but who enjoyed it as well. He was really happy to be able to tell me about all the traditional dishes they had and which, of course, were all OK for me to eat. He verified with the staff that all items on the buffet were vegan despite a comment I saw somewhere that some dessert items might not be. The buffet is all-u-can-eat and includes various traditional soups, street foods, mock-meat items, lettuce-wraps and salads. It's not on street level so when you see the sign for the place on th main street look for the entrance on the side street and follow the stairs to the 2nd floor. It was a popular lunch spot that filled up quickly after we arrived around opening time.

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Well-prepared food

4 Posted on 01 / 07 / 2013

Smaller than other buffets, but very good food. Small venue that can feel cramped when busy.

Pros: Tasty
Cons: Not so much to choose from, Scary warning signs about leaving food

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My favourite vegan buffet in Seoul

4 Posted on 10 / 21 / 2012

Seoul has a handful of buffets, and now the Loving Hut in Achasan is no longer a buffet, this is my favourite one. New Start is ok, and I liked the Yangjae Loving Hut one but last time we were there we were told to "lower our voices" and we were NOT that loud! I have been to Seoul Veggie Club meetups several times at Garobee and there with other friends and the staff have always been extremely friendly and the food is always replenished quickly. I would like more 'sweet' options, and more tofu dishes, but there is a decent selection of foods. It can get very busy on weekends so if going in a large group I would advise you to either book, or get there for it opening at 12noon.

Pros: friendly staff, fresh food
Cons: very small sweet selection

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Brilliant restaurant

5 Posted on 05 / 04 / 2012

We just finished dinner at this brilliant restaurant. Every dish was excellent, and each had a different and distinct Korean flavour. There was a wide range of dishes, most from vegetables, some from soya, and all absolutely delicious. My omnivore sister loved it, too.

The atmosphere was pleasant and buzzing, though it was not excessively busy when we visited (Friday night at around 7). There were no English signs, but as everything was vegan, it was safe to try everything, and everything we tried was great. :-) Also, the owner did speak English well, and explained the ingredients in the food to us - it was lovely that he went out of his way to help us enjoy our meals.

I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough for traditional, Korean food, vegan style!

Pros: Excellent food, Many choices, Not expensive at all!

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Worth a visit

5 Posted on 04 / 10 / 2012

I liked it mostly because they have dishes that don't have added sugar and, I think, salt. The taste is very good. It's a buffet and I highly recommend it. It's important to me that the owner-operator of a vegan/vegetarian restaurant live according to the lifestyle that the restaurant represents. The owner of this restaurant definitely does, and it shows! She's very enthusiastic and she is a vegan. I'm almost sure that there are no fish- or meat-tainted products in this place. Although small by Korean standards, the place gets crowded after 7 PM. It's directly behind CGV. It's better to call to get precise directions.

Pros: tasty food, good value, all you can eat buffet
Cons: maybe not too much variety but ok for me, noisy?

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Quality and Variety

5 Posted on 03 / 16 / 2012

The biggest problem being a vegetarian amongst omnivores is that someone almost always has to sacrifice. I have gone to many a standard restaurant and made due with the one or two items (if I'm lucky) suitable to my dietary choices. Being married to an omnivore, I am also sensitive to the reverse problem. In Korea, this can be even more difficult for vegetarians, because it is a very meat focused culture.

This past week, I have been on an assignment in the Seoul area with two Indians and one Korean. Our poor local compatriot had three vegetarians on his hands.

He found Garobee for us last night. This is a dinner buffet, with more choices than I have seen in a long time. A mix of hot and cold; Salads, sweets, and savories; And enough Faux-Meat so that a resident omnivore did not feel deprived. As a local, or Korean companion gave high marks for the "Korean Style" of much of the cuisine (including noodles with hot broth, seaweed, and other vegetables) and of course some of the standards like kimchi. For the Indians, some of the faux-meat was a little too close to the real thing, although being from Seattle, I have seen and sampled facsimiles such as this often enough before. There was of course ample variety even without the faux-meat dishes. For kids or others with a nervous palate, there are finger sandwiches and fries/chips.

I strongly recommend this place. It started serving about 6pm on the Friday we were there, and we all walked away happy.

Pros: buffet, with free returns, good value, large variety, healthy