Upstairs seats at Cheonghwawon, a Daehangno dim sum noodle house

After watching a play with a friend in Daehangno, I somehow get even hungrier. Looking for somewhere we could chat about the show over a relaxed meal, we ended up at Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch.

Since it's close enough to grab a meal right after the show, this time we did a play-then-dinner combo. It's a place where you can order Chinese noodle dishes and dim sum together, so it worked well for sharing a bit of everything with a friend.

Where is Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch, and what are its hours?

Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch sits on the 1st and 2nd floors of a building on Daemyeong-gil, a Daehangno side street in Jongno-gu, Seoul. It's open 11:00–22:20 with last order at 21:50, and it's about 166m from Hyehwa Station Exit 4 — an easy walk from a Daehangno show.

As you can see in the photo, the signage on the building is easy to spot, so it wasn't hard to find. Inside, there are tables set up nicely for chatting with a friend about the show over dinner.

• 🏘️Address: 1F & 2F, 36 Daemyeong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch
• ⏰Hours: 11:00–22:20 (last order 21:50)
• 🚇About 166m from Hyehwa Station Exit 4

The green sign is easy to spot from a distance, but it actually reads 'Daehan Wooyukmyeon,' which can throw you off if you're looking for the name Cheonghwawon.

First floor full: what the second floor of Cheonghwawon is like

The restaurant is split across the 1st and 2nd floors, and when we visited, the 1st floor was completely full, so we settled in upstairs.

On the way upstairs, we spotted the dim sum steamer.

This is the self-serve side dish corner, with peanuts and zhacai (Chinese pickled mustard tuber). You get a basic setting at first, and if you need more you can help yourself here.

What we ordered at Cheonghwawon: beef knife-cut noodles, sujeongdal mandu, shumai

On this visit we ordered three things at Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch: woo-yuk-do-sak-myeon (beef knife-cut noodles), sujeongdal mandu, and shumai.

Pairing one noodle dish with dim sum made for a pretty solid spread. Each dim sum item had a different shape too, which made the table fun to look at.

Beef knife-cut noodles (uyuk dosakmyeon): mild, not strongly spiced

First up, the beef knife-cut noodles. My friend is always a bit picky about the smell in Chinese food, but Cheonghwawon's version had a mild aroma that made it easy to enjoy without worry.

Unlike regular noodles, the do-sak-myeon (hand-shaved noodles) had that distinctive chewy bite, which made the texture fun. Eating the broth and noodles together, you just keep going bowl after bowl. It was the perfect dish to eat while chatting about the play with a friend.

Seeing my friend enjoy it and say the aroma wasn't overwhelming made me happy too.

Sujeongdal mandu: a good chive and shrimp filling

Next, the sujeongdal mandu. The translucent dumpling skin caught my eye first, and when I actually tried it, the skin was thin and had a nice chewy texture.

Inside were chives and shrimp, so you get both the chive aroma and the shrimp flavor together. Dim sum is always fun for trying a little bit of many things, and having one more dish like this made the meal feel much more varied.

Shumai at Cheonghwawon: pretty to look at, easy to share

Last was the shumai. With the yellow and white showing together, it caught my eye just for how pretty it looked.

It was a very photogenic dish, but it wasn't just pretty — the meat had a decent chewy bite too.

It was a different texture from the softer dim sum, so eating it alongside the sujeongdal mandu gave us two different kinds of appeal.

Is Cheonghwawon a good dinner stop after a Daehangno play?

This time I went with a friend, but I think Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch would be a good pairing for anyone looking for a play-then-dinner date course in Daehangno.

Rather than just watching a show and parting ways, there's a certain fun in continuing the conversation over dinner — like "wasn't that scene earlier hilarious?"

Cheonghwawon in particular lets you order noodles and dim sum together, so it seems well-suited for days when you want to share a variety of dishes rather than stick to just one.

What stuck with me that day was the beef knife-cut noodles' mild aroma and chewy texture, the sujeongdal mandu's thin and chewy skin, and the shumai that was both pretty and satisfyingly chewy.

If you're wondering where to eat after watching a play in Daehangno, it's worth finding somewhere close to the theater that's easy to walk to and making a meal of it.