Plant is a popular vegetarian/vegan restaurant/bakery in Itaewon. I spent a weekend in Seoul with a friend from Chicago whose vegetarian which made picking restaurants easier. In other words I just had to google search for any vegetarian restaurants in the area and head off that way. Plant was nice, we had a bit trouble finding it down the winding back alleys of Itaewon but when we did it was warm and cozy. I liked the cute little alien on their sliding glass front door and the English throughout. Maybe because it’s in Itaewon but all the people at the cafe were foreigners, except the people who worked there who spoke English. It also seemed like most of the people who were there were regulars who would pop into the back and talk to the people working. Their menu tends to change but I ordered a ginger apple tea, mushroom soup and gingerbread men. It looked like they have interesting baked goods, however even though we got there before a dinner rush, they were sold out of most of their baked goods.
Plant has a simple set up. A sliding door to get in through, a wait list if the small shop is full, and you pay when you order so you can just leave when you’re done. It was mildly frustrating that the shop was so small because it meant you couldn’t really stay long and hang out without inconveniencing people. There were three small tables and one bigger table which comfortably could fit about 12 people.
I enjoyed my food, the mushroom soup was packed with vegetables and went well with the toast. The salad was small but interesting and my ginger apple tea was mostly a really strong ginger that should have been calmly sipped rather than gulped down quickly to get out of the way and leave in time to make it to the show we were going to. I packed the ginger bread men to take home and eat later and was pleasantly happy to kick off December with festive cookies. Both my friend and I did notice that while healthy and tasty the food didn’t really fill us up and by the time the show we went to let out we were hungry again.
I plan to go back earlier in the day so I can try some of their desserts and maybe stock up on gingerbread men for an upcoming Christmas party. While it has a nice Chicago cafe vibe of “come here and sit for a long time and study”, it doesn’t actually feasibly work that way. It does however seem like a place you can stop by and get food to go from. The majority of the space is taken up by their huge kitchen.
The shop is owned by a vegan blogger called Alien’s Day out and is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am until 8pm and is closed on Sundays and Mondays.