Mansuk Kodari in Junggok-dong, Gwangjin Dstrict, Seoul is where you can taste mastery made seasoned braised Pollack

▲ Mansuk Kodari / CEO Lee Seo-yoon

Talking about seafood on the Korean table, seasoned braised Pollack cannot be missed thanks to its chewy and spicy end of the taste. Kodari (seasoned braised Pollack) is rich in protein and minerals and is known to be good for liver, hangover cure and diet. Among many Kodari restaurants, Mansuk Kodari located in Junggok-dong, Gwangjin District, Seoul, is famous for Kodari specialized cuisine. 

CEO Lee Seo-yoon jumped into dine out industry in 2011 with her ambitious ‘bindaetteok - mung bean pancake’. Having gained experience in the field, she turned the business to ocellate spot skate in 2015. While the item did not make the expectations of her, she came to realize ‘kodari’ might be the right one to make a success. 

“Kodari in fact was more commonly enjoyed by people in general than ocellate spot skate which often was the exclusive property of only those who know the charm of the taste despite its stinky smell. In addition, I made it a meal for one person as well as two or more by reflecting the South Korea’s increasing number of single households nowadays. And it seems to be working well” says Lee. 

Lee makes soy source and bean paste with her own hands as they are two of the key sources to decide the taste of kodari. The size also cannot be ignored. Unlike other restaurants where only a few small pieces of Pollack are found in Kodari, Lee’s generous hands give a whole Pollack to each meal per person. Also to add some fun, Lee added rice cake well hidden here and there for dinners to find by chance and say like “ah~ I found rice cake!”

For those who fancy trying a bit different menu than kodari, Lee prepared a number of alternatives: ‘bossam – sliced boiled pork with vegetable wraps’, parboiled octopus, stir-fried spicy pork and stir-fried squid rice; the latter two are for lunch only.