It seems like every couple months there's a new Loving Hut establishment popping up in the country! When I heard that another one had just opened up in Seoul, and on my subway line at that (no transferring, yay!), I rallied the troops to go check it out. While the "Thien Dang" sub-name of this Loving Hut implies that it's a specifically Vietnamese restaurant, their menu actually includes dishes from all-over: donkasu, burgers, curry & rice, ramen, and even spaghetti. There's no pho on the menu yet, but the Vietnamese chef promised that it will eventually be added. You better believe that I'll be first in line for that.
The interior is very Loving Hut-y. Bright lights, clean design, supreme master tv on the wall.
Initially, I was a bit disappointed because there only seemed to be about 5 dishes on the main menu, but I later learned that we could also order from the separate "Brunch" section, even though it was dinner time. I wasn't really in the mood for anything on their main menu, but then I saw burgers and sandwiches in the display fridge and suddenly wanted a burger. Even though it was stored in the fridge, they heated it up for me so I didn't have to eat it cold.
The burger was pretty small (more like a snack), but it was only 3,500 won anyway, and I thoroughly enjoyed the chewy veggie patty and the soft whole wheat bun. It did the job of satisfying my burger craving.
On the other hand, Chis was somehow already aware that he could order from the "brunch" menu for dinner, and got the 'Big Burger.' If I had known, I probably would've gotten this too! Mm, crinkly fries...
He also ordered a soy kasu, 6,900 won. The plate originally came with a salad, but that got replaced with some fries from the other plate before I could snap the picture of the dish in its "true" form. :)
Mike's Curry Kasu (cutlet covered with curry), which came with rice, mini veggie sausages, a side salad, soup, and kimchi & pickles on the side (6,900 won).
Close up of curry kasu. Crunchy-good!
Yunseo and Rob got the spaghetti, which was also really yummy!
There were chunks of veggie meat which resembled broken up meatballs, lots of broccoli and olives, and the tomato sauce was thick and flavorful.
Soy Bulgogi Ramen (3,900 won) that Hyun ordered. She asked for it to be extra spicy, and it was indeed fiery hot! But she still said every thing including the soy meat strips were really good, which means a lot coming from the die-hard omni that she is.
And now onto the best part of the meal: dessert! Honestly, that's kind of the main reason why I wanted to go to Thien Dang in the first place. haha. While I enjoyed every bite of my veggie burger, I was mostly just thinking about the ice cream. Several of us went up to the fridge to pick out our flavors, but then the lady behind the counter offered us mini sample-scoops of every flavor, for service! Wowww!
Ok, for full disclosure, it might have come up at some point during my friendly conversation with her that I wrote a vegan blog. I only mentioned it because I wanted to explain why I was snapping so many photos of the place- not to get any freebies! But whether she was trying to win my blogger-heart or not, she was still incredibly generous~ and friendly too.
We took these sampler bowls back to our table and passed them around so that everyone could get a taste of each flavor. They were all really amazing, but by far, my favorites were the biscotti which had actual large chunks of biscotti cookies in it, and the mochaccino which was di-vine! Can't go wrong with coffee & chocolate, in my books. Some of my friend's favorites were the strawberry, banana, and chocolate.
So that was our little Loving Hut outing. Despite the fact that I get a bit creeped out by the whole Supreme Master connection, I can't deny that the food they serve is really yummy and also very affordable. And it's just so nice to not have to worry about whether something really is vegan or not. They're definitely doing something right and it's no wonder they're expanding and growing so fast all around the world. Here are some other interior-shots:
A bunch of vegan food & beauty products for sale.
pound cakes
The celebrity wall. Why does Anne Hathaway get to be in the center? hehe~ :)
Directions to Thien Dang Loving Hut: Namseong Station, Line 7. Exit 3. Walk straight about 300m. It will be on your right, next to 'Eliot Cafe.'
Open: daily, 11am-10pm
Tel: 070 8982-8501