Persian Palace
Cuisine: Middle Eastern, Iranian
Price:$$
Reservations: Optional (takes reservations but not needed)
Suggested Items: Lamb curry with rice
Bottom line: This is a good restaurant if you want to try something different. Relatively inexpensive, and the owner really does a great job making patrons feel welcome.
This is a neat little restaurant tucked away at the end of a tiny alley across the street from the main entrance of Sungkyunkwan University in northern Seoul, near Hyehwa station. It’s actually difficult to find the first time because the map on the website isn’t very good, and the alley is so narrow it’s difficult to spot.
The food here is pretty good, and everything is reasonaly priced (you can preview the menu and prices on the restaurant’s website). The owner, Doctor Shapour, is very interactive with the patrons and during each of my two trips there he came out of the kitchen to mingle with the customers, ask them how they enjoyed their food, and offer some insights to Iranian culture.
With every curry dish, you have to specify how spicy you want it to be on a scale of 1.0-10.0. Doctor Shapour explains this scale on his website, and if you order a 5.0 or higher or seem uncertain about your choice, Doctor Shapour will personally come out of the kitchen to counsel you to make sure you know what you’re getting youself into.
I’ve had lunch here twice, and typical attire was business casual. It seemed to be frequented by university professors from Sungkyunkwan, and from 12:00-13:00 it wa so packed there wasn’t much elbow room at the table.
Overall, it was a decent restaurant to try, but the best thing was how welcome the owner makes everyone feel. I’d recommend trying this at dinnertime, followed by a stroll through the area near Hyehwa station. The biggest downside is the location — it’s a little difficult to find.
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Other Amenities: Menu in English and Hangul. Western-style seating. There’s also at least one private dining room on the second floor.
Phone: 02.763.6050
Website: www.persianpalace.com
Location
Seoul, Jongno-gu, Myeongryun 2-ga, 121-1
From the main gate of Sungkyunkwan University, the restarant is in a very narrow alley directly across the street. Parking in this area is difficult, so I don’t recommend driving. Hyehwa Station is approximately 500 meters southeast. The easiest way to get there is to take a taxi to Sungkyunkwan Univ.
If you cut/paste the following coordinats into Google Earth, the map should zoom to the restaurant’s location: 37°35′4.51″N/126°59′51.51″E
Alternatively, if you go to the following website and type in the phone number, the resulting map will be vry accurate but in Hangul:
http://local.paran.com/map/mapsrch.php#search_main
Tags: Iranian, Jongno, Middle Eastern, Moderate, Seoul
The phone number listed here is incorrect. On their website it says it’s 02-763-6050. Directions are pretty sketchy as well, but I’m going to try and find it this weekend and see how it is!
Thanks. Fixed.