Vegan/Vegetarian Eats in South Korea with Jordann! – Camouflage

Hello again! Welcome to the second series on my blog! This series will be all about vegan/vegetarian/veg-option restaurants around South Korea (mostly concentrated around Seoul) that I have tried. I will give a rundown of what I ordered at the place, the vibes of the place, and a rating of the food I tried. Certain places will have multiple food items listed, whereas others will have only one listed, depending on how often I visit the restaurant. I’ll also give the Naver Maps link to the restaurant if it interests you and you’d like to save it on your Naver Maps to explore!

A bit about me: I am vegetarian and have been since I was about thirteen. I mostly became vegetarian for moral and health reasons. Because I have not had meat in over eight years, I can no longer stomach it (or seafood, which I never liked in the first place). While vegetarian typically includes being able to eat dairy products, I actually learned here in Korea (very unfortunately, might I add ㅠㅠ) that I am lactose intolerant, but only to specific dairy products. I cannot drink milk or consume anything that is fairly unprocessed that has milk in it (e.g. cream/creamer, heavy cream, etc.). However, I can still eat cheese and butter (as those require more processing and therefore are further away from the milk that they started as), which is great for my Wisconsinite genes (Wisconsin is the cheese state lol). Anyway, that’s a little bit about me and my dietary restrictions 🙂 

In Korea, I prefer to go to vegetarian/vegan places or places with a specific veg-option menu listed, as I can never guarantee that a “regular” restaurant will have something vegetarian/vegan or will even willingly accommodate my dietary restrictions. By ensuring that I’m going to a vegan, vegetarian, or veg-option restaurant, I can guarantee that I will have something to eat. That is why a vast majority of the restaurants I recommend/talk about will be specifically vegetarian or vegan restaurants. I also have a few veg-option restaurants I’ve been to that I will recommend.

Camouflage Info + Rating

This post is to highlight one of the vegan restaurants I’ve been to: Camouflage! It is located in Itaewon, Seoul, and serves veganized versions of Chinese-American cuisine. The vibes of this restaurant were so cosy! I loved the atmosphere of this restaurant. The restaurant also seemed to be a little more close-knit and almost romantic(?) than other restaurants I’ve been to, so perhaps it would be good to go to with your significant other! I went with a friend, so you can definitely go with friends as well. Do keep in mind, though, that there are very few tables in the restaurant, and all the tables seat a maximum of four (4) people. It’s better to go here alone or with a small group of friends rather than a large group.

I ordered the Tofu and Mushroom Stir-fry (두부 버섯 베지터블 볶음) with a side of Fried Vege Dumplings (야채만두튀김). The stir-fry came with a side of rice (밥). When the food arrived, the smell was heavenly; I was super excited to dig in. However, I realised that the stir-fry contained very little tofu and mushrooms and was mostly vegetables. That wouldn’t’ve bothered me if it had been advertised as a vegetable stir-fry, not a tofu and mushroom stir-fry. In addition, I didn’t really like the sauce. I don’t really remember why, but I just remember not liking it. As for the vegetable dumplings, they weren’t as fried as I thought they would be. Not a big deal, as I like steamed dumplings as well. They tasted…fine. I’ve had better vegetable dumplings at traditional Chinese restaurants back in the States, so these were nothing to write home about. And the rice was…rice. I don’t know what else to say about it lol. It wasn’t overcooked or undercooked, which was good. It was pretty neutral.

Here are my ratings for Camouflage:

• Atmosphere: 10/10 – loved the atmosphere; so cosy and pretty!
• Tofu and Mushroom Stir-fry (두부 버섯 베지터블 볶음): 4/10 – did not love the sauce; the mushrooms and tofu that were included were good; some of the veggies were charred(?), which is not my style
• Fried Vege Dumplings (야채만두튀김): 6/10 – nothing special, but still good; i love dumplings so…
• Rice (밥): 5/10 – again, nothing to write home about; it’s rice, idk y’all

Total average rating: 6.25/10 – wasn’t the best food imo, but the atmosphere was to die for, seriously; if veganized chinese-american food sounds up your alley, you would really like this place!

Here’s the Naver Map link if you’re interested!

See you in the next blog post! 🙂