Instagram Favorites Make Michelin's Cheap Eats List

Published on 2018/10/14 | Source

A number of new restaurants that have become Instagram favorites have made it into the Michelin Guide's list of outstanding cheap and cheerful eateries.

The fairly recent Bib Gourmand category lists "exceptionally good food at moderate prices", which in Seoul means a satisfying meal for W35,000 a head or less (US$1=W1,143).

This year's Bib Gourmand Seoul guide published Thursday lists 61 restaurants, up 13 from last year's, including 11 new entries which are mostly young people's favorites on social media.

Six out of the 11 have been open for just a couple of years and have in common that they are located in newly gentrifying neighborhoods, with exotic or artsy interiors as well as affordable grub.

The new guide is more diverse than past editions, where Korean cuisine predominated. It includes more Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Taiwanese and Thai cuisine, reflecting the changing palates of Seoulites.

Bib Gourmand restaurants are not awarded stars, which are reserved for fine dining, but a pictogram of Michelin's mascot Bibendum. The official Michelin Guide Seoul 2019, which awards stars, will be unveiled on Oct. 18.