Vegan
Asian
Korean

마루 자연식김밥 is a traditional Korean restaurant in Insadong serving bunsik, kimbap, udon, dumbling, stir fry spicy rice paste (TTeok), fish cake soup, and more. Occasionally closes at 5:00 pm (twice a month 1st and 3rd Wednesday.) NOTE: Has signs associated with Loving Hut. Open Tue-Sun 10:30am-7:30pm. Closed Mon. Last order 7:00 pm.


390 Reviews

First Review by Rosaespanola

MLittl11

Points +676

Vegetarian
01 Aug 2024

Tasty

Really liked the food here, all made fresh with love and care of the owners. We had the ramen which was a bit spicy for my wife, the fried dumplings, california rolls and the kimbap.

I was put off by the California Rolls because the filling reminded me too much of tuna but wife loved. The kimbap was nice but once again the fried dumplings were the best thing.

Pros: Fried dumplings, All made fresh include owner rolling rice, Good English spoken and friendly

zendrahh

Points +124

Vegan
01 Aug 2024

Worth a visit if you're in Insadong!

One of the restaurants on my list was definitely Maru's Kimbap. Everyone talked about it and I just felt like I truly had to try it, and the food really lived up to the name. It's a bit of a search, but it's in a nice quiet area in Insadong, so we could eat and sit in peace.

When we arrived, they were closed for preparation, and we waited a bit and walked around the area and came back for food an hour later. I had to order the kimbap of course, and my boyfriend ordered udon. Both of it arrived fresh and tasted really delicious. The portions were decently sized, which means you could order something extra to share, or you could go for another small snack later.

I would definitely go here again and try more of the things on the menu if we had more time to explore Seoul. But I know I will be back in the future to eat more kimbap!

Pros: Delicious kimbap, Good portions, Affordable

bough

Points +445

Vegan
01 Aug 2024

Food in the backyard

All in all a really good taste and good experience. Ethical vegan owners, two older people that were very very nice!

Be aware of the mosquitos when it is getting dark.

Pros: Very private

jennyc32

Points +4392

Vegan
19 Jul 2024

Tasty and quick Korean dishes

We tried the bibimbap, ham gimbap, and mandu here, and were satisfied with what we got. The bibimbap had a good variety of vegetables and a really flavoursome sauce. It was a hearty potion too. The gimbap were tasty as well, the soy ham was good but was maybe a bit lost among the vegetables which had sharper tastes and crisper textures. The mandu had the perfect texture, they were really well fried, but the filling was a little bland for me. They really relied on the dipping sauce for flavour - and the dipping sauce was excellent!

Service was fast, friendly, and easy to understand as a foreign tourist. We ordered at the counter and the food was brought out to us. It's more of a market/food stall place with seating than a sit down restaurant, which means seating is quite limited and it may not be the perfect location when it's raining.

Lotta.Lu

Points +44

Vegan
16 Jul 2024

Best Place for authentic vegan korean food

Went there 3 times already and always got served good food! The owners are nice and speak english.

Pros: taste, price

heinini

Points +32

Vegan
15 Jul 2024

Good food and friendly owners

The tteokbokki was delicious and the owners were really friendly.

princessxjenny

Points +15

Vegetarian
14 Jul 2024

Best vegan place in Seoul

Great menu with all vegan korean food options. The portion sizes were big and everything tasted amazing. Owner was super friendly too, and gave us free tea and put the fan on for us so we wouldn’t be too hot. I had a great experience

Updated from previous review on 2024-07-14

sarumi

Points +87

Vegetarian
03 Jul 2024

So good :)

I'm so happy we found this place. It gave us the opportunity to try various typical Korean food. It was delicious!

paulandria

Points +141

Vegetarian
28 Jun 2024

SO GOOD

I personally only ate the tteokbokki but def i’m going to come back for more because u keep thinking about it

Pros: Taste, Spicy

Francis.crl

Points +423

Vegan
26 Jun 2024

Love it

The atmosphere is typical Korean and I love all the dishes they have! Compared to other 한식 (Korean food) spots it’s also a bit cheaper I think. It’s one of my go to places and I really love it~

Pros: Good prices , Good variety of Korean dishes , Atmosphere

Jesper020

Points +80

Vegan
26 Jun 2024

Perfect for starving vegans after

It's easy to find this lovely place and it wasn't crowded. Food was very good and we will come back happily

Pros: Food came very quickly , Extrem friendly Staff, Affordable prices

Cons: Coke was only 190ml

ItsHappyCow

Points +990

Vegan
26 Jun 2024

Underwhelming

Went twice back in March and I have to agree with some previous reviewers in not understanding the rating of this place. The food was definitely not bad, but it wasn't great either. A bit flavourless, imo.
Tteokbokki: good
Bibimbap: average
Gimbap w/ tofu: average
Gimbap w/ ham: good
Noodle soup: good
Staff aren't rude, but not very friendly either. There are better places in the area.
3.5* in my opinion.

Byul

Points +118

Vegan
25 Jun 2024

Good

The food was delicious it was great to have some kimbap and dumplings. The service was friendly but it took a very long time. I saw other reviews saying it was a quick bite so I guess it depends on when you go. It was recommended by my sister who went 6 years ago, so good to know it's still going and making delicious vegan food.

VeganFairyOnEarth

Points +287

Vegan
19 Jun 2024

Thank You Maru JaYeonSik 🌱

🇰🇷💚🇰🇷 So far this was the most authentic and traditional korean vegan meal in Seoul! The Owners speaks English and are friendly. The price is very good 👍🏼 We had the 유부김밥 (Fried Tofu GimBap), 매밀국수물 (Cold Buckwheat Noodles In Radish Water), 비건 오뎅 (Vegan Odeng)... amazing ⭐️

Updated from previous review on 2024-06-19

Pros: Absolute Great Taste, Really Fair Price, Nice Small Menue

mhale

Points +304

Vegetarian
16 Jun 2024

Decent!

The people running this place are friendly and the woman at the front spoke good English. I tried both kimbap flavors, fried dumplings, and tteokbokki. Nothing outstanding but a solid vegan option and lots of different things to try. Quite well priced.

TomChaytor

Points +134

Vegan
16 Jun 2024

Lovely little hole in the wall place!

I had a lovely lunch here, it had a cosy vibe and the food was delicious. Staff were friendly and service was efficient. The one thing that could be better is the seating, there aren’t many places to sit as it’s just a small shop.

Betty.21

Points +72

Vegan
02 Jun 2024

Good for a quick eat in Insadong

I had Udong and fried Mandu and liked both! Very simple/quick Korean food on the menu and the sitting is more like outdoor for a quick eat… but staff was friendly and answered all my questions in English! ☺️ I can recommend if you want typical Korean food like ramen, etc but in vegan! 👍🏼

Pros: Quick eating, English staff, Typical Korean food

Cons: Outdoor sitting might be cold in winter

itsrinokt_

Points +6079

Vegan
31 May 2024

Delicious!

We tried this place with our non-vegan Korean friend, and she was pleasantly surprised. She mentioned that while the taste was different from typical food, it was actually good, and she liked it.

MalinBengtsson

Points +215

Vegan
26 May 2024

It's a no

I had high expectations but Im afarid I didn't like it. Tried the dumplings, fried kimbap and tteokbokki, but I didn't like any of them. Its cheap though

graceo

Points +160

Vegan
23 May 2024

great kimbap, great value

I really enjoyed the kimbap here. This place is very affordable and prices are good. We will definitely be going here for our airplane food as the kimbap is very affordable and portable. The only downside to their food is that it was way too spicy. The california roll was so pretty when they put it on the table, but the spicy mustard was too overpowering for the dish.

Pros: very affordable, great location , easy to find

Cons: too spicy

monough

Points +119

Vegan
16 May 2024

awesome vegan korean food

we ordered the tofu gimbap, ramen, and cold buckwheat noodles and all of those were super delicious. staff was very friendly and able to speak english. overall a very pleasant experience and highly recommend.

Susabana

Points +161

Vegan
11 May 2024

Disappointed by the taste

TLDR: Bad Food, Poor Service, Long Wait Times

After flying in early on a Thursday, I was looking forward to some Korean food! I saw that this was one of the top suggestions. I arrived about an hour after opening, though it was a bit difficult to find. The atmosphere was quiet, only three customers. The first red flag was although the two workers clearly saw me and another customer waiting, they did not say anything to us for 5 minutes. I shrugged it off as they seemed busy cooking. After ordering gimbap and tteokbooki and paying, I waited another 15-25 minutes for my food. Second and greatest red flag, the food genuinely just wasn’t good. The gimbap had unripe vegetables, soggy seaweed, and soggy, metallic tasting rice. The tteokbokki was worse than many ones you can find at a convenience store. It was spicy - which I expected - but didn’t taste of anything beyond that. Altogether, it was cheap, and I got what I paid for, not what I hoped.

Edited: Added TLDR and fixed spelling mistakes

Updated from previous review on 2024-05-11

Pros: Cheap, Fully vegan menu

Cons: Terrible food!!, Poor service, Long wait times

GabriellaPiergianni

Points +32

Vegan
04 May 2024

Esperienza coreana (vegana) autentica

Un piccolo chiosco, menu con cibo coreano - street food buonissimo. La signora sembra un pò burbera in realtà con noi è stata gentilissima! Si spende davvero poco, e i piatti sono fantastici. Consigliatissimo, full vegan.

Pros: Autentico Coreano, Menu all vegan, Prezzo

ale.pat

Points +57

Vegetarian
23 Apr 2024

Perfect Gimbap!

The best gimbap I’ve eaten in Seoul.
Not so friendly owner but it’s worth it.

zozj

Points +37

Vegan
21 Apr 2024

it's ok

It does the job but it's not a great spot to eat and the shop assistant wasn't very friendly that day. The gimbaps were good.

MilayaCrowder

Points +1587

Vegetarian
19 Apr 2024

So yummy! Gimbap was delicious 🤤

You gotta order the gimbap. I love this location because it’s nestled in between a bunch of art galleries.

mysa555

Points +122

Vegan
19 Apr 2024

Tiny space

With a bit of a wait but totally worth it!




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