If you’re looking for an authentic Seoul experience that goes beyond tourist hotspots, Euljiro is one of the city’s most rewarding neighborhoods to explore on foot. This three-stop course takes you through a slice of real Seoul — a legendary old-school Chinese restaurant, a quiet Italian-style espresso bar, and a vinyl record café where time seems to slow down.
If you’re exploring Euljiro and want a simple but satisfying food route, this course combines a historic restaurant with a cozy coffee spot:
* Route: Andongjang → Leone Coffee → Beolsae Coffee (Euljiro Branch)
Walking Time: 5–15 minutes between each stop
* Best Time: Late morning to early afternoon (start around 11:30 AM)
Total Budget: 20,000 – 50,000 KRW per person
Why Euljiro?
Euljiro (을지로) sits in the heart of central Seoul, sandwiched between the glass towers of the business district and the narrow alleyways of old commercial blocks. Unlike Hongdae or Insadong, which cater heavily to tourists, Euljiro still feels genuinely local. Office workers grab lunch here. Elderly regulars fill the same seats they’ve occupied for decades. And quietly, a new generation of independent cafés has opened up in the gaps between old print shops and hardware stores.
This course captures that contrast — the deep-rooted and the quietly modern — in just a few hours.
📍 Course Summary
- Stop 1: Andongjang (Chinese restaurant)
- Stop 2: Leone Coffee (café)
- Stop 3: Beolsae Coffee (cafe)
- Walking Time: ~10–20 minutes
- Best Time: Lunch → Coffee break → Filter Coffee time
- Total Budget: 20,000 – 50,000 KRW
🍜 Stop 1: Andongjang (안동장) Seoul’s Oldest Chinese Restaurant
What Makes It Special
Andongjang is not just a restaurant. It is a piece of Seoul’s living culinary history. Established in 1948, it holds the distinction of being widely recognized as the oldest Chinese restaurant in Seoul, and it is credited as the birthplace of oyster jjambbong (굴짬뽕) — a spicy seafood noodle soup that has become one of Korea’s most beloved dishes.
Walking in, you immediately sense that nothing here has been staged for photographs. The interior is worn in the best possible way — the kind of wear that comes from decades of loyal customers, not from an interior designer trying to simulate authenticity. The tables are simple, the service is efficient, and the atmosphere is entirely unpretentious.
The Crowd Inside
The clientele at Andongjang tells you everything you need to know. On any given weekday, you’ll find Korean office workers on their lunch break, older regulars who have been coming here for thirty or forty years, and the occasional curious visitor who has done their research. This is not a place that chases trends. It serves people who know exactly what they want and have been ordering the same thing for years.
That kind of loyal, multigenerational customer base is rare, and it is one of the strongest signals that a restaurant is doing something right.
📍 Info about Andongjang
- Location: 124, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (Euljiro 3-ga or Euljiro 4-ga subway stations)
- Opening Hours:
- Weekday: 11:30 AM – 9:00 PM
- Weekend: 11:30 AM – 8:00 PM
- Price Range: 12,000 – 40,000 KRW (per person)
- Signature Menu: Oyster Jjamppong, Tangsuyuk
- Wait Time: 10–20 minutes (peak hours)
What to Order
1. Oyster Jjamppong (Spicy Seafood Noodles)
The oyster jjambbong is the dish that put Andongjang on the map, and it remains the reason most people visit. The broth is rich, deeply spiced, and loaded with fresh oysters. It hits hard but finishes cleanly. If you have a lower spice tolerance, the jajangmyeon (black bean paste noodles) is a milder but equally satisfying option. Both dishes represent Korean-Chinese cuisine — a distinct culinary tradition that developed in Korea and differs meaningfully from Chinese food you might find elsewhere.
Portion sizes are generous, and prices are reasonable given the location and the history.
2. Tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour Pork)
- Crispy texture with light batter
- Sauce is balanced, not overly sweet
- Pairs well with spicy dishes like jjambbong
Compared to other Korean-Chinese restaurants, the tangsuyuk here feels lighter and less oily.
Taste Review
The oyster jjamppong stands out for its clean yet bold flavor. The broth is spicy but not overwhelming, making it enjoyable even for those who don’t usually eat very spicy food.
The tangsuyuk has a satisfying crunch, and the sauce complements it without overpowering the meat. Together, the combination creates a well-balanced meal.
Andongjang is more than just a restaurant — it’s a piece of Seoul’s culinary history. While it may not offer a trendy or modern experience, it delivers something more valuable: authenticity and tradition.
👉 If you want to try one of the most iconic jjambbong spots in Seoul, this place is definitely worth visiting.
☕ Stop 2: Leone Coffee
The Transition
— Italian Calm in the Middle of Euljiro
After a heavy, spicy meal at Andongjang, Leone Coffee offers exactly the kind of reset you need. It is only a 5 to 10 minute walk from the restaurant, but it feels like stepping into an entirely different world — quieter, slower, and more considered.
📍 Info about Lione coffee
- Address: 157, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
(서울 중구 을지로 157) - Opening Hours: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Price Range: 2,500 – 6,500 KRW
The Atmosphere
Leone Coffee is a small café with a strong Italian identity. The name itself is a clue: leone means lion in Italian. The interior is calm and minimal, with textured walls, worn wooden furniture, and a general sense of stillness that feels deliberate. There are no bright neon signs or elaborate photo backdrops here. The space is designed for people who want to sit down, drink good coffee, and think.
The contrast with the old-school energy of Andongjang is part of what makes this stop work so well. You move from the loud and historic to the quiet and contemporary — and yet both places feel genuinely rooted in where they are.
After a rich and spicy meal, Leone Coffee is a great place to slow down.
The Coffee
Leone Coffee’s menu is focused and confident. The espresso is the heart of the operation — clean, well-extracted, and served in the Italian style. If you want something longer, the Americano is balanced and approachable. The latte is smooth and easy to drink.
The menu is intentionally simple. This is not a café that tries to impress you with a dozen seasonal specials. Instead, it focuses on doing a small number of things consistently well — which, after the sensory intensity of jjambbong, is exactly what you want.
Why This Stop Works
Leone Coffee succeeds as the second stop in this course because it creates space between the meal and the rest of your afternoon. The walking distance is short enough that you arrive before the post-meal fatigue sets in, and the calm interior is genuinely conducive to relaxing rather than just consuming. It is the kind of café where you sit for thirty to sixty minutes without feeling rushed.
- Travelers visiting Euljiro for the first time
- People looking for a simple half-day plan
- Anyone who enjoys food + café combinations
☕ Stop 3: Beolsae Coffee — Euljiro Branch (벌새 커피 을지로점)
A Different Kind of Café
Beolsae Coffee (벌새 means hummingbird in Korean) began with its flagship location near Gwanghwamun, where it built a reputation as one of Seoul’s most respected hand drip coffee specialists. The Euljiro branch brings that same philosophy into the neighborhood’s distinctive atmosphere.
This is not a café for people in a hurry. It is a café for people who want to experience coffee as something worth paying attention to.
The Setting: Coffee and Vinyl
📍 Info about Beolsae coffee
- Address: 157, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
(서울 중구 을지로 157) - Opening hours: 11:30 am ~ 6:30 pm (Closed on Sunday, Monday)
- Price range: 6,500 ~ 11,000 won
One of the defining characteristics of Beolsae Coffee is the LP record music. The café plays vinyl records throughout the day, and the sound system is good enough that it actually matters. The music is not background noise — it shapes the atmosphere of the space in a way that digital playlists rarely manage to do. Depending on when you visit, you might hear jazz, classic Korean pop from the 1970s and 80s, or Western folk.
Combined with the quiet interior and the unhurried pace of hand drip preparation, the result is a space that feels genuinely different from the typical Seoul café experience.
The Coffee
Hand drip coffee is the specialty here, and it is worth taking seriously. Unlike espresso-based drinks, hand drip coffee requires time — each cup is brewed individually, which means you wait a few extra minutes, but you receive something that reflects considerably more care and precision. The staff can often guide you through the available single-origin options if you’re interested.
For those who prefer espresso-based drinks, those are available as well, but hand drip is the reason to make the trip.
The Atmosphere
Beolsae Euljiro is a good place to end this course because it rewards slowing down. By the time you arrive, you’ve eaten well, had a quiet espresso, and walked through one of Seoul’s most interesting neighborhoods. Sitting with a hand-drip coffee while a record plays in the background is a fitting conclusion to an afternoon that has been, throughout, about experiencing Seoul at a human pace.
Who Should Try This Course
This itinerary works well for a specific kind of traveler:
• First-time visitors to Euljiro who want to understand what makes the neighborhood interesting beyond its reputation
• Coffee enthusiasts who want to compare espresso-forward and hand drip approaches in the same afternoon
• Anyone interested in Korean food history, particularly the Korean-Chinese culinary tradition that Andongjang helped define
• Slow travelers who prefer depth over volume — this course covers three stops, not thirty, and that is entirely the point
Practical Tips
Getting There: Euljiro 3-ga Station (Line 2 or Line 3) is the most convenient entry point. Andongjang is within walking distance, and all three stops are reachable on foot from there.
Timing: Start at Andongjang around 11:30 AM to beat the lunch rush. Allow 40–60 minutes for the meal, 30–45 minutes at Leone Coffee, and as long as you like at Beolsae. The full course, done comfortably, takes about 3 to 4 hours.
What to Bring: Comfortable walking shoes. Euljiro’s streets are uneven in places, and the pleasure of the neighborhood comes partly from wandering.
Language: Basic English is understood at all three stops, but a translation app is useful, particularly for menu navigation at Andongjang.
Euljiro doesn’t try to impress you. It doesn’t need to. The neighborhood has been here long enough to know what it is, and this course — from a 75-year-old jjambbong institution to a hand drip café playing vinyl — is a quiet argument for why that kind of confidence is exactly what makes a place worth visiting.