Wine bar dining in Wangsimni: uni whelk pasta and duck steak, Ryuun

I wanted to have dinner somewhere with a nice atmosphere recently, so I went to Ryuun near Wangsimni. When I eat around Wangsimni I usually end up at places I already know, but this time I was looking for something a bit special and that's how I found this spot!

Getting to Ryuun from Wangsimni or Haengdang Station

It's located between Haengdang and Wangsimni stations, so it's easy to reach from either. I walked over from Wangsimni Station. Walk a little way into the alleys and you'll find Ryuun. It's not the kind of restaurant sitting on a big main road — it blends naturally into the neighborhood's alley vibe!!! Total hideout feeling.

Interior atmosphere and seating

Once you open the door, the space is divided once more inside, so even the entrance feels a bit different from the usual. The interior had a calm mood. Rather than lively and noisy, the lighting is soft and the space itself feels cozy — perfect for having a glass of wine with dinner in the evening.

The seating isn't just one type — there's a long bar counter running along the kitchen, plus regular tables. There's also a separate inner space that looked good for 2 to 4 people to eat quietly. Especially at the bar seats, you can see the open kitchen and watch the chef prepare food up close — nice touch.

How to order and the menu lineup

At Ryuun you check the menu and order through a QR code on the table, and there was a wide range of dishes from pasta to steak to gnocchi. We debated between several options and ended up ordering two: the uni whelk pasta and the duck breast steak.

Uni whelk pasta

The first dish to arrive was the uni whelk pasta. Since I'm a fan of uni (sea urchin), it was the one I was most curious about the moment I saw the menu. They said it's made with a sauce using uni and crab guts, plus salmon roe, whelk, and yuzu ponzu.

Because the sauce is based on uni and crab guts, it had that great seafood umami, and even the aroma before eating made me so happy. That said, it wasn't overpoweringly fishy — overall it was nutty and subtle,,!!

The whelk pieces mixed in were chewy, and the salmon roe popped for a fun texture. Personally, I think this is a dish worth ordering at least once if it's your first visit to Ryuun haha.

48-hour dry-aged duck breast steak

The second dish was the duck breast steak. It was described as 48-hour dry-aged duck breast with parsnip purée and bokbunja (black raspberry) sauce.

Eating duck breast as a steak isn't that common to begin with, so the 48-hour dry-aging really caught my interest!! The duck breast was plated beautifully with the purée and sauce arranged around it.

The duck had its distinctive flavor but felt lighter than expected, and thanks to the dry-aging, the meat was very tender.

The parsnip purée that came with it was soft with a mild nutty flavor, and it paired really well with the duck. The bokbunja sauce had a slightly tart-sweet edge, which seemed to balance out the duck's rich flavor haha.

The taste was different depending on whether I ate the meat alone or with the purée and sauce, so it was fun mixing up the combinations bite by bite. Duck breast steak might sound a bit unfamiliar, but if you normally like duck, it's worth trying!

Who should go here

Ryuun isn't just a place to eat and leave — it's a spot to enjoy the atmosphere along with the food! With its soft, calm lighting overall, it seems like a great place for a couple's date or for a quiet meal and drink with friends. If you're looking for a good restaurant near Wangsimni or Haengdang Station, I'd recommend Ryuun, a wine bar and dining spot with a great vibe. Next time I visit, I want to try the other dishes I didn't get to this time :)

• Address: 서울 성동구 행당로13길 2-1 1층 (1F, 2-1 Haengdang-ro 13-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea)
• Hours: 17:00 – 24:00
• Closed on Mondays
• About 7 minutes on foot from Haengdang Station Exit 2 / about 10 minutes from Wangsimni Station Exit 10