Gwangju Eats: Tiánmìmì

A sign reading “Chinese Food Town, Draft Beer,” calls  attention to  passersby outside Tiánmìmì, a fairly new Chinese–Korean fusion restaurant in the commercial neighborhood of Pungam-dong.

Tiánmìmì

Meaning “Sweet Honey,” Tiánmìmì is operated by Liang Diann Jiunn, a native of Taiwan who can speak Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fluently, as well as some English. He has worked most of his life as a chef and moved to South Korea for work. “I met my wife here nine years ago and we decided to open our own restaurant just over a year ago.”

Atmosphere & Service

The exterior of the restaurant creates the feeling of entering a hut located next to a beach. There is a sort of patio that entices visitors by its open windows and romantic lantern lighting. Inside is a whole other welcoming world of impressive decorations. “I traveled for this vision of decorations in my restaurant, hailing from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan… and yes those swords hanging by the door frame are real,” said Liang.

He is a hardcore baseball fanatic as well; he often screens local games on the flat-screen TV.

Food

“This is a Korean restaurant with a Chinese taste to it,” explained Liang. “Most of our dishes here come from the Shan-Dong province in China, which if you look at a map, it is the closest point to Incheon, Korea.”

But a lot of his cooking also dates back to his work in Taiwan. Liang serves the famous jajangmyeong, but can cook it with black or white soybean paste. Plenty of other dishes have gained popularity among his customers too, including sweet and sour meats, fried noodles with rice and seafood. At night, several patrons can be seen enjoying Tsingtao beer served in a copa, a glass typically used for a margarita (a tequila-based drink). Liang ordered the glass saucers from Mexico since he liked the design.

Prices                                

Tiánmì mì serves two menus. One is strictly Korean and Chinese, the other an English menu. Jajangmyeong is 5,000 won, along with some individual  plates ranging from the same price to about 9,000 won. Larger plates include the sweet and sour pork or chicken at 15,000 won as well as other meat, tofu or veggie dishes for about the same price. Korean draft beer, bottled Tsingtao and soju range from 4,000 won and above. Chinese and Taiwanese tea is served to guests at no charge and exported tea is available for purchase. Chi qilai – eat up!