It’s the day you need to be on board. As airport security gets tighter, you are advised to arrive at an airport at least 3 hours earlier nowadays. 3 hours! Man, how am I going to pass the time?
If you are a frequent flyer member of an airline then at least your membership can help you to ease your stress and hunger, but if you are not, you would wander around near the food court and think seriously about what you are going to eat that is good value.
I know if you are new to the place, it is not that easy to find a good place to eat. However it would help making a decision (not always though), if the restaurant got mentioned on TV or in the newspapers or won an award.
Matina restaurant, where we stopped before boarding my flight to Australia, is in both cases. It is managed by Walkerhill hotel and is ranked as the best restaurant in Incheon airport in 2004. Not to mention, it was in newspapers several times as well. So here I gave it a try.
My husband ordered Kimchi fried rice (Kimchi bokkeumbap, 10, 000 won) and I ordered Bulgogi stew (13,000 won) and I have to say that they were the cheaper kinds of food from their menu.
Yet the food didn’t taste cheap. It was quite good. It better be. Although it is classed as a hotel restaurant, the combined price of 23,000 won (US $24) before service fees and taxes isn’t cheap to us.
The atmosphere was quite relaxing until the crowds of ajummas arrived. Yet after all, we were all travelers, so most people seemed to leave as soon as they finished their meal.
One thing I didn’t like about the place was that we were seated very near the bar. It wasn’t a big bar, it was a quite small and short one. So you know what I am going to say. Yes, the cigarette smoke. We don’t like it very much, especially when we are about to have food. It made us very uncomfortable, but fortunately those smoking people didn’t stay very long. So if you go there, make sure to sit far from the bar.
My Bulgogi stew was quite hot. I nearly burned my tongue on the first spoon. It seemed slightly salty, but in general it was very nice. I got 4 side dishes (seasoned seaweed, stir fried mushrooms, soy sauce simmered radish, and Kimchi) compared to 2 side dishes (yellow pickled radish and Kimchi) for my husband (but he had soybean paste soup), yet I generously shared my side dishes with him. 🙂
Though it was a shame that they served me only a small bowl of rice, because I couldn’t completely finish my stew without the rice. What a waste! I tend to like a restaurant better, if there are generous with the food. Be generous with rice, Matina!
Location and Info
- Duty free area, 4th floor – near gate No. 11 (East side restaurant) or near gate No. 43 (West side restaurant), follow the sign “transit hotel.”
- Open – 7:00~21:00
- Menu – Korean food and Western style food (steak, pasta, and sandwiches)
- Tel – (82) (0)32-743-3012
- Service fee 10% of the value of the meal and VAT 10% will be charged on top of that separately.
- Discount info – If you stay in the transit hotel, you can get 10% off the total price of the meal.
