Daehangno Indian restaurant solo lunch under ₩40,000: Meono Kkameona

3-minute walk from Hyehwa Station Exit 4, 2nd floor of Ihwa Building

Just 251 meters from Hyehwa Station Exit 4, a little over 3 minutes on foot, sits the 2nd floor of Ihwa Building. Right in the middle of Daehangno, where theater stages and the university district's distinctive bustle intersect, my lunch mission today was crystal clear.

With a precious 1-hour lunch break as an office worker in my 20s, and a self-imposed budget cap of ₩40,000, my goal was to experience the essence of authentic Indian-Nepali cuisine.

Actually, this is already my third visit to Meono Kkameona Daehangno Branch. The name means 'hope' in Nepali, and this restaurant is already well word-of-mouth known, with a genuine Indian chef of over 10 years' experience running the kitchen.

Even from the stairs leading up to the 2nd floor past the ground-level entrance, the distinctive spice aroma tingles at your nose.

Opening the door reveals a spacious, comfortable interior. I sat down, pulled up the order screen, and started picking items one by one. Normally I'd go for the 2-person set or the classic butter chicken curry, but today I wanted to try something a bit different.

A solo order built around a ₩40,000 budget, ₩39,400 total

After some deliberation, I settled on 5 items total.

• Chicken Curry Pasta ₩10,900
• Butter Naan ₩3,000
• Plain yogurt Dahi ₩5,000
• Full Tandoori Chicken ₩18,000
• Zero-sugar cola, for my conscience's sake, ₩2,500

The total came to exactly ₩39,400 — a perfectly calibrated order that left just ₩600 of my ₩40,000 budget. At this essential Hyehwa Station favorite, the holy ground for Daehangno Indian curry, I decided to take a small gamble by ordering pasta.

Before the food arrived, there was one small, subtle incident. The classic Indian way is to tear off freshly baked, piping-hot butter naan and dip it deep into traditional curry. But I was planning to dip the naan into the pasta sauce instead.

When the local staff member's eyes, well-versed in authentic Indian food, lingered on my order for a moment, there was a slight tension in the air over my unorthodox order — but the experiment had already begun in my heart.

A full tandoori chicken, straight from the clay oven

The first thing placed on the table was a full tandoori chicken, striking in its red and yellow color. It had just come out of the clay oven, steam rising and the aroma of chicken filling the air.

I picked it up with chopsticks and took a big bite. The crisp, spicy seasoning on the surface hits your tongue first! Then the moist density of the chicken meat spreads out cleanly with each chew, between the teeth.

The subtle char from the clay oven blends with the juices, leaving no greasiness at all. This moist texture that tears apart softly rather than drying out could only come from the local chef's mastery of fire control.

Chicken curry pasta: how did curry and noodles pair up?

Next came the chicken curry pasta — the highlight of this post. Honestly, I had some worries, since combining curry and pasta noodles can easily end up tasting neither here nor there. But the moment the first bite hit my mouth, I realized that worry was a complete miscalculation.

The noodles, cooked to a perfect al dente, were densely coated with a rich curry aroma on the surface. Slurping the noodles in released a spicy, deep spice flavor bursting through my entire mouth. The chicken topping in the pasta was nice and thick too, with excellent chew.

Dipping butter naan into the pasta sauce

Here I brought out the butter naan I'd been saving. Freshly baked, golden brown, glistening with butter, I tore it into long strips by hand and soaked it generously in the pasta's thick curry sauce. The chewy naan's wheaty savoriness combined with the pasta sauce's sharp spiciness — an instant nod-your-head kind of flavor!

Dahi to tame the heat

Just as my mouth was filling up with a sharp spiciness, I took a big spoonful of the plain yogurt 'dahi' I'd ordered for ₩5,000. Not the artificial sweetness you find commercially, but the heavy, tangy, thick texture unique to handmade yogurt instantly settled the heat. Finishing with a glass of zero-sugar cola poured over ice left my palate perfectly reset.

A ₩39,400 lunch — the conclusion

I'd always stuck to eating the 'proper' way, but this combination of dipping butter naan into pasta sauce was the best specialty I discovered today. I've wandered around Daehangno countless times looking for good restaurants, but the generosity and authentic flavor I enjoyed for ₩39,400 was hands-down the best.

After paying, my steps into the Hyehwa Station streets felt light. If you want to enjoy authentic deep flavors and fresh specialties at the same time in Daehangno, don't hesitate — climb those stairs.

The true depth of authentic Indian cuisine is proven in the smoky char of the clay oven.