6-course Korean Meal in Madrid for Under €15

Go Hyang Mat

Calle del Divino Valles, 31, 28045 Madrid

How hard could it be to find good kimchi in a big city like Madrid?

Surprisingly hard, actually. Many Americans and Canadians assume the world is covered in sizzling Korean BBQ meat, fermented cabbage, and crispy bibimbap fried rice. Stateside, knowledge of Korean food has cultural capital, partially because Korean joints aren’t cheap and Korean-Americans are relatively well off.

Spain tells a different story. The country has a historically strict immigration policy. Plus, the Spanish economy isn’t doing too well and its higher education is among the worst of developed countries (not a single university is in the world’s top 200). Many Koreans emigrate for a high quality education and middle/upper class jobs, so Spain isn’t a top choice. There were only 2,592 Koreans living in Spain in 2012 and, of those, 216 were on student visas (sorry, we couldn’t find more recent figures).

For a quick comparison, the United States had over 70,000 Korean overseas students arrive in 2012 alone. That’s 32,500% more. So yeah, it’s hard to find a good Korean restaurant in Spain, but luckily not impossible.

Go Hyang Mat boasts an incredible dinner deal: a 6-course menu priced at €40 for 3 people. They offer the same deal at €30 for 2, which is still a steal!

You start with a couple banchan, which roughly translates to “little side dishes.” They vary per day but will likely include the almighty kimchi, pickled radishes, and some eggs or a seaweed salad.

Banchan, little side dishes

Then comes kimbap, fishless Korean sushi rolls, which may have gotten popular during Japan’s occupation in Korea (1910–1945). If you’re thinking, “Where’s the raw fish?” think again! Sushi is actually defined in Japanese as “rice with vinegar,” and anyone who knows anything about sushi knows that it’s all about the rice.

Kimbap sushi rolls

After your cold warm-up dishes (The Dudes have mastered contradictory wordplay), the seafood pancake jeon arrives with diced squid, an ingredient Spaniards and Koreans alike like (like the wordplay?). The evening’s favorite was the japchae, glass noodles made from sweet potato, then stir-fried in sesame oil and soy sauce to create a sweet, dry, and slippery sensation. By the time they brought out the sizzling bibimbap fried rice, smoking up from the hot stone bowl, we patted our guts for a meal well eaten.

Dude Tip: Ask for extra spicy sauce, it will taste a lot like Sriracha ketchup and it isn’t very spicy.

Jeon, squid pancake

But finally, to close the meal you get the meat course and can choose between bulgogi marinated beef strips, galbi short ribs and dak grilled chicken. The waiter brings out a tabletop grill and you cook the meat yourself! Go Hyang Mat provides little pieces of lettuce and bean sauce to build your own wrap with the meat.

Bulgogi lettuce wrap

Sizzling DIY bulgogi

That good good, dak

Dude Tip: Make sure to ask for rice, it’s not included but very cheap and helps soak up all of the alcohol and meat juices.

Alcohol, you’ve just screamed at your iPhone screen! When did The Dudes mention booze?

We’re saving the best for last.

A classic Korean drink is somek, beer mixed with soju, a clear fermented wine-like sake. The theory stands that the soju actually mellows out the beer, all the while making it more alcoholic. You might be thinking, somek sounds like a sake bomb (mind blown, pun intended!), but it doesn’t carry the imperialist undertones, only the fun.

Although The Dudes got street cred for ordering somek, everyone else at the restaurant was drinking red wine. We are in Spain, after all.

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