Hongdae Chinese restaurant set for two with samjjamyeon: Seodamheon
In short
Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch is a Chinese restaurant near Hongik University Station in Mapo, Seoul, specialising in dosakmyeon (hand-cut knife-shaved noodles). The 2-person set (sweet rice donut, sweet and sour pork, samjjamyeon, soft drink) plus Sichuan mapo tofu came to ₩33,000 and left two people full, and samjjamyeon — soybean-paste yuni-jjajang mixed with flame-fried jjamppong — is the signature. Seodamheon also has plenty of single seats, so it works for a solo meal or a meal for two, ideally with a reservation.
Good to know
- Hours
- Daily 11:00-21:15
- Break time
- 16:00-17:00
- 2-person set
- Includes sweet rice donuts, sweet and sour pork or yuringi (crispy chicken), samjjamyeon and a soft drink / +₩1,500 to swap the drink for sikhye (sweet rice punch)
- Samjjamyeon
- ₩16,000
- Sichuan mapo tofu + bowl of rice
- ₩11,000
- Total paid that day
- ₩33,000
- Seating
- Plenty of single seats
- Waiting
- Gets busy, reservation recommended / Catch Table waitlist
- Parking
- No on-site parking. Yeonnam Public Parking Lot (6-min walk, 229-66 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu), Urban Port Hongik Univ. Station Yeonnam-dong private parking lot (4-min walk, 146-1 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu)
- Price reference
- ₩33,000 ≈ $24.5 · ₩1,500 ≈ $1.1 · ₩16,000 ≈ $12 (2026-09-15)
as written by the visitor on Sep 14, 2026
A distinctive Chinese restaurant near Hongik University Station that serves noodles totally different from the usual jjajangmyeon and jjamppong we normally eat.
Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch
Open daily 11:00-21:15 / Break time 16:00-17:00
Where to park near Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch
Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch has no on-site parking. You can use Yeonnam Public Parking Lot (229-66 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul), 6 minutes on foot, or Urban Port Hongik Univ. Station Yeonnam-dong Private Parking Lot (146-1 Dongyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul), 4 minutes on foot.
- No on-site parking
- Yeonnam Public Parking Lot [6-min walk] · 229-66 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
- Urban Port Hongik Univ. Station Yeonnam-dong Private Parking Lot [4-min walk] · 146-1 Dongyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
- You'll need to use the Yeonnam public lot or a paid lot near Hongik Univ. Station
Inside Seodamheon: a Chinese restaurant that looks like a Korean hanjeongsik house
It's a Chinese restaurant, but the interior alone could make you think you're at a hanjeongsik (Korean traditional set-meal) place instead.
A modern hanok structure with warm lighting — traditional interior is the defining feature
Can you eat alone? Single seats and waiting at Seodamheon
Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch has plenty of solo seating, so eating alone is easy. That said, the place gets busy with waits, so booking ahead is the safer bet.
Near Hongik University Station, full of foreigners and young people —
for those looking for a place to eat solo
the sweetness 💓💓 of having plenty of solo seats set aside. Good to come with company or alone, but
it's generally busy with a wait, so it's best to reserve ahead 👍👍 If you couldn't book, put your name down on the Catch Table waitlist the moment you arrive.
What is dosakmyeon, Seodamheon's signature noodle?
Seodamheon's signature
Dosakmyeon (刀削麵) — what is it? Noodles made by 'shaving (削) with a knife (刀).' The chef holds a lump of wheat dough in one hand and skillfully shaves it straight into boiling water with a special knife. This process leaves the center of each noodle thick while the edges are thin.
What comes in Seodamheon's 2-person set?
What we ordered
The must-try course at Seodamheon: the 2-person set.
An extremely generous set that includes sweet rice donut, sweet and sour pork or yurinji, samjjamyeon, and a soft drink 👏👏👏
✔️ For just ₩1,500 more, you can swap the soft drink for sikhye
Samjjamyeon, ₩16,000: soybean-paste yuni-jjajang plus flame-fried jjamppong
Seodamheon's signature menu item
A combination of mountain and sea — samjjamyeon, ₩16,000
Mix the soybean paste-based yuni-jjajang together with the fire-fried jjamppong — one of the must-eat signature dishes at Seodamheon!
It's 1.5 servings, so ordering just samjjamyeon and sweet and sour pork is enough to fill two people, but everything — jjamppong, mapo tofu, fried rice, all of it — is delicious, so we always end up ordering more food than the headcount haha.
The best way to eat samjjamyeon
Once you've eaten some of your samjjamyeon, try adding a bit of mala oil and vinegar as a way to enjoy it even more!! It brings out a slightly cleaner, lighter flavor :-)
Dosakmyeon might look rough around the edges, but surprisingly there's no floury smell and the noodle itself is wonderfully chewy — try it once and you can't help but be won over.
Set option: sweet and sour pork with jocheong (rice syrup) sauce and scallion
Of the set options, we chose sweet and sour pork instead of yurinji, and the meat itself is much heartier than typical sweet and sour pork — and unlike the usual sticky rice-battered version, it doesn't go mushy even after it cools.
What makes Seodamheon's sweet and sour pork special
The sauce is flavored with jocheong (rice syrup) and has scallion mixed in. Why didn't anyone think of putting scallion in sweet and sour pork sauce before? That one ingredient makes the flavor so much cleaner.
Sichuan mapo tofu with rice, ₩11,000
Sichuan mapo tofu + rice, ₩11,000
Seodamheon's mapo tofu even changed my mom's mind — she used to say she disliked mapo tofu because of the spice smell.
Instead of that overpowering spice smell, the seasoning here lets you really taste the spicy, savory umami, and the melt-in-your-mouth soft tofu is the highlight. The mapo tofu also comes in a stone pot, so there's plenty and it stays hot until the last bite.
Sweet rice donuts for dessert: ₩33,000 for two at Seodamheon
The dessert included in the set: chewy sweet rice donuts with sweet red bean. Just being able to enjoy this much food, this delicious, for ₩33,000 makes me happy 💙
Where it is
40-3 Yeonhui-ro 1-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 마포구 연희로1길 40-3 1층 서담헌
