Hadongkwan is a traditional Korean restaurant in Myeongdong that serves only two items on their menu—Gomtang (thick beef bone soup) and Suyuk (boiled beef or pork slices).

Having been around for 80 years, Hadongkwan has made a name for itself among locals and tourists who love to drop by for a comforting bowl of Gomtang, especially during winter. Only the highest grade of ingredients are used and no artificial flavourings are added to their food.

If you are looking for a light and nutritious breakfast or lunch option at Myeongdong street, Hadongkwan is where you should go to. 

Originally located in a back alley near Cheonggye Stream when they first started out, the restaurant was demolished due to redevelopment initiatives and it has since moved to central Myeongdong.

Despite scaling up, Hadongkwan has retained its original wooden signboard, doors and furniture so long time customers still feel that sense of nostalgia.

Their signature dish is the Regular Gomtang (W12,000), which is Korean beef soup with rice. The light, yet flavourful soup is the result of boiling beef and radish for hours and only using natural ingredients. We enjoyed the clean soup tremendously and it was made better with savoury beef slices.

For those who find it too light to their liking, add some fresh spring onion and salt into the soup. All diners are given radish kimchi as sides as well to spice up their meal.

Looking for something better? You have to go for their Special Gomtang (W15,000) instead. On top of beef slices and rice, diners are also treated to a generous portion of tripe as well—what you get is a variety of textures from the soft rice, tender beef and chewy tripe slices.

The best part about Hadongkwan is that the restaurant offers free soup refills, so do not be shy about asking for more soup from the friendly waitresses!

Hadongkwan
12, Myeongdong 9-gil
Jung-gu, Seoul
Daily: 7am – 4pm
Nearest Station: Euljiro il-ga

For more recommendations, read our Seoul’s features to discover the best things to see, do and eat in the city.

Migabon is an eatery in Myeong-dong which specialises in Korean porridge. Juk, or Korean porridge, is a local delicacy and there not many places in Seoul that do it better than Migabon. We love indulging in Korean barbecue and sinful Korean fried chicken but there are days when we want to settle for a comforting bowl of juk.

Apart from their delectable range of porridge dishes, Migabon also serves Ginseng chicken soup. 

Breakfast is the best time to visit Migabon and the crowd starts filling in before 9am. As the restaurant is located on the second level of a building, there may be a queue forming at the first floor once it starts getting crowded.

Most people have a quick meal here and leave as Migabon is not the type of place where you will linger around to chitchat.

The star of the show goes to their Mushroom and Beef Porridge (W8,000). There was a great balance between the rich minced beef and light mushroom and the combination of these two ingredients gave the dish interesting textural variety on the taste buds.

Migabon’s rendition is the definition of how a good bowl of porridge should be like—flavourful and smooth.

Something else to consider is the Abalone Porridge (W10,000) which has a much lighter flavour has compared to the Mushroom and Beef Porridge. It makes for a hearty option during breakfast but we prefer having it together with banchan given at the side to boost its overall taste.

Migabon’s Boiled Chicken with Ginseng (W13,000) came with the usual ingredients such as ginseng, sticky rice and garlic stuffed in a whole chicken.

While we enjoyed the mild flavours of the Samgyetang, it was decent at best compared to the ones we tried at Tosokchon and Korea Samgyetang. So for those who are visiting Migabon, we would recommend sticking to the porridge.

Migabon
2-2 Myeongdong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu
Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 2752 0330
Daily: 8am – 10pm
Nearest Station: Myeong-dong

For more recommendations, read our Seoul’s food & travel guides on the best places to go to.

Bibimbap is a traditional Korean dish made up of a mixture of seasoned vegetables and meat on a bed of warm white rice. Diners are required to toss the ingredients with savoury chili pepper paste that serves to enhance the overall taste of the dish.

There are a few variations of bibimbap you can find in South Korea but the Jeonju-style bibimbap is especially famous there. This elaborated dish was served to the royal family in the past and is widely enjoyed by locals today.

If you are looking for a Korean restaurant that specialises in traditional Jeonju Bibimbap, then Gogung in Myeong-dong is where you should be heading to. 

Its central location in Myeong-dong makes Gogung the go-to place for many tourists who want to have an authentic taste of South Korea’s Bibimbap. The Korean restaurant has three versions of bibimbap—Jeonju traditional Bibimbap, Jeonju Dolsot Bibimbap and Yukhoe Bibimbap.

Although they are more known for their bibimbap, meat lovers should be pleased to know that Gogung also happens to be a Korean BBQ restaurant that offers quality meat.

While toppings on a bibimbap may change according to the season, a classic Jeonju-style Bibimbap usually consists of soybean sprouts, raw egg yolk and beef tartare.

Gogung’s Jeonju Dolsot Bibimbap (W11,000) is an aesthetically-pleasing dish served in an earthenware bowl which helps to keep the food warm throughout your meal. We particularly liked how the edges of the rice are slightly burnt from the stone pot as it results in a slightly crispier texture.

If you are looking for something better, the Yukhoe Bibimbap (W15,000) will do the trick. Similar to the Jeonju Bibimbap, you also get a generous portion of Korean-style beef tartare, sliced mushrooms, an assortment of colourful vegetables and raw egg.

The tender raw beef was every bit delicious and seasoned really well with sesame oil and soy sauce. Have that with fresh vegetables and runny yolk to get a combustion of savoury and sweet tones in your mouth.

Complete your meal with a steaming bowl of Beef Short Ribs Soup (W11,000). Having gone through the slow and long simmering process, the succulent meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and the clear soup was rich with beef flavours.

Diners are also given a bowl of white rice together with the soup.

Gogung
27 Myeongdong 8ga-gil
Chungmuro 2(i)-ga
Jung-gu, Seoul
Tel: +82 2-776-3211
Daily: 10am – 10pm
Nearest Station: Myeongdong

Strolling around the Myeong-dong district in Seoul, South Korea, you will find that Korean Fried Chicken joints are aplenty. However, one spot that was highly recommended to us was Noo Na Hol Dak. They have several outlets in Seoul but we visited the one right in the heart of Myeong-dong.

Upon stepping in, we found out for ourselves just how popular they are with both locals and tourists alike. The restaurant is spacious, making it a great place for communal gatherings and casual hangs with friends or colleagues. Beer is the beverage of choice to complement fried chicken—but of course.

The menu was pretty simple, focusing on what they do best: Korean-style chicken. Since Noo Na Hol Dak is well-known for their oven-baked chicken, we opted for the basic Crispy Baked Boneless Chicken (W16,900) and pints of Cass beer to enjoy.

You have the option of having chicken on the bone (wings and drumlets) or boneless and we opted for the latter for ease of consumption. The chicken came in a huge sharing portion with two sauces on the side: black pepper sauce and tangy sweet chili sauce.

Digging into our first chicken piece, we noticed that the chicken was lean and a lot less greasy since it was baked instead of deep-fried.

The chicken skin was still crisp and tasty and the meat inside was so tender! The sauces on the side did not wow us though; they were simple accompaniments that had no actual added value to the chicken. The chicken tasted better on its own and we highly recommend that you have it this way!

Some shoe-string fries are thrown in on the side for you to munch on. If you love beer, do not miss out on their draft beer Cass. The beer is served icy cold. Beer and fried chicken is a match made in heaven, no doubt!

While the oven-baked chicken was not exceptionally spectacular, we liked the overall experience at Noo Na Hol Dak. It is the place to go after a long day of shopping or sight-seeing if you are ever in the Myeong-dong neighbourhood.

Noo Na Hol Dak
Hotel Ibis Ambassador Seoul
Myeong-dong, 78 Namdaemun-ro
Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 2-6361-8353
Nearest Station: Myeong-dong

Established in 1964 under the name “Jangsugang”, the restaurant changed its name to Myeongdong Kalguksu in 1966, and finally settled on Myeongdong Kyoja in 1978.

This inconspicuous restaurant in Myeongdong is like a secret hideout. It sits on a dodgy alley, but if you managed to locate it, step right in and you are definitely in for a great meal.

Of noodles and dumplings, Myeongdong Kyoja is well-loved by both locals and tourists for its unpretentious and inexpensive fare.

The outlet is a pretty huge one with many seats. Most of the staff are Korean,  so basically, you are on your own. Meal times are always busy and we were pretty much ignored most of the time when we called for help.

Nonetheless, it’s not difficult to do the basic ordering even without an English menu. Because over at Myeongdong Kyoja, the menu is fuss-free and straight to the point. There are only four items to pick from – well, noodles and dumplings.

The Chopped Noodles (W8,000) is our favourite. Essentially a Korean traditional noodle dish with thick chicken broth, it was every bit comforting. There are vegetable strips in it, and it is a hearty portion that might be good for sharing.

Another noodle variation is the Spicy Noodles (W8,000). Noodles mixed with homemade sesame oil and spicy pepper paste, topped with slices of cucumber, this is for those who prefer something more robust. And they mean it when they said the noodles are spicy.

There is a special Soybean Noodles (W8.000) that is only available between April and October. This seasonal treat is really a serving of refreshing cold noodles in soybean soup. Nothing too fanciful; just something that is perfect for summer.

And of course, you cannot go to Kyoja without ordering the signature Dumplings (W10,000). It is a huge basket of approximately a dozen pieces of traditional dumplings.

Minced Korean pork, Chinese leeks, fresh vegetables and homemade sesame oil are wrapped in thin, crystal-like skin. Every dumpling is plump and wholesome and flavourful, and tastes even better when dipped in the homemade chilli sauce.

Kyoja is worth the hunt. It is the kind of simple restaurant you’d want to go back to every time you are in Seoul.

Myeongdong Kyoja
29, Myeongdong 10-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
Tel: +82 2 776 5348
Nearest Station: Myeongdong

There are many one-pot goodness in the world – different varieties and all that – but there is nothing that has wow-ed us as much as Mukshidonna Tteokbokki Restaurant did.

We are going to have you read on, and you have to, because if you go to Seoul and you miss this, you are really missing out in life. Mukshidonna Tteokbokki Restaurant is completely our idea of comfort, and it is so affordably priced that you can eat it often.

Now, what exactly is the fuss that got us so excited? You are to find out in a bit.

Mukshidonna Tteokbokki is really a simple restaurant that focuses on serving stews in a communal pot, and the stew is up to you to customise. The base is basically the same stock, and you pick from an array of ingredients to go into your pot.

The result, no matter how you mix and match, is a hearty pot of sweet stew that bubbles with fragrance and has so much goodness inside. Every pot comes with tteokbokki (Korean rice cake) by default, and that is their signature.

There are Seafood and Bulgogi options, both at W4,500 each. Then, there are add-ons such as Vegetables and Budae, which are at W4,500 per serving too, and the latter is quite simply sausages and ham. Staples include Ramyeon (Korean instant noodles), Oodong (udon) and Dangmyeon (vermicelli)—all at W1,000 per serving.

And no matter what your combinations are, you totally have to add on the ‘Cheese’ (W2,000). Why do we say so? Because cheese adds texture to the stew and gives a savoury boost. And it just makes the whole pot a lot more gratifying when you scoop the ingredients and tear the shreds of melted cheese; cheese lovers will get it.

We loved ours with the Bulgogi better. Budae and Cheese too, of course. By the way, you might be confused by the two Cheese options the menu. The one that is priced at W2,000 is simply cheese, while the W4,500 option is just more cheese and tteokbokki.

So, how does this pot sound to you? One thing’s for sure – every time we are in Seoul, we will definitely have a meal at Mukshidonna Tteokbokki Restaurant. It has several outlets in Seoul—including Garosugil and Hongdae—but you should dine at the original outlet at Anguk-Dong.

Mukshidonna Tteokbokki Restaurant
19-1 Anguk-Dong
Jongno-gu, Seoul
Tel: +82 2 723 8089
Daily: 11am – 8.30pm
Nearest Station: Anguk

For more recommendation, read our food & travel guides to Seoul.

O’sulloc is a tea salon in Seoul that pays homage to Korean green tea from Jeju Island, with branches in Myeongdong, Apgujeong, Insadong and Daehangno.

Over at its Myeongdong outlet, green tea lovers are seen unwinding at the three-storey cafe over tea and desserts. With an extensive menu of different teas – both hot and iced – and an assortment of green tea desserts such as swiss rolls and tiramisu, there will always be something to fall in love with.

Needless to say, a place like O’sulloc is a place for us.

It is a cosy cafe with a very inviting laid-back vibe. Wooden furnitures dominate the facade, sounds of ice blending and excitement from patrons fill the space; the lights are kept dim, but just as well, because no matter what time it is out there, we just want to recline into our seats and immerse ourselves into this relaxing environment while enjoying our green tea everything.

The classic Green Tea Latte is evidently less milky than the usual ones we’d have, but we love this version for other reasons – the fragrance of freshly grounded green tea powder is strong, the texture of the drink is thick yet goes down so smoothly, leaving hints of the tea’s bitter aftertaste; just the way we like it.

Swiss rolls sit prettily in the glass cabinet, and we heard they are fantastic. We had the Green Tea Tiramisu that was nothing short of amazing too. Expect nothing like your usual Italian pick-me-up; O’sulloc’s Green Tea Tiramisu is more like a mousse cake that has an airy and creamy center married with green tea powder to produce a light dessert that is surprisingly still dimensional in taste.

If you are up for more tea goodness, there is a selection of Oolong Tea and Herb Tea. The ones who are up for something sweet will be spoilt with their flavoured tea lattes; think Fig Tea Latte, Green Tea Caramel Latte and Tangerine Milk Tea.

And surely we aren’t the only ones who want to bring a piece of O’sulloc home? The merchandise corner is where you should stop by before you take your leave. We were mind-boggled by the incredible variety of teas available for take-home, and they sure make great gifts!

O’sulloc Tea House
47-1 Myeongdong 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
Tel: +82 2-774-5460
Daily: 9am – 11pm
Nearest Station: Myeongdong