# Hongdae Chinese restaurant lunch with mokhwasom tangsuyuk: Seodamheon - By Gaeul (https://superchart.com/en/@coffee-then-seoul/) - Written Sep 18, 2026 - Local places › Restaurants › Mapo, Seoul - Sponsored: This post was written after a sponsored store visit, and the sweet potato mattang was provided through a review event. - English edition: https://superchart.com/en/@coffee-then-seoul/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/ - Also in: [한국어](https://superchart.com/ko/@coffee-then-seoul/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/index.md) ## In short Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch is a fusion Chinese restaurant in Mapo, Seoul, a five-minute walk from Exit 3 of Hongik University Station, serving hand-cut noodles in a hanok-style space. Two men in their twenties had lunch here: samjjamyeon, the mountain-and-sea combination of jjajang and jjamppong, at 16,000 won, mokhwasom tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) at 15,000 won, minari usamgyeop jjamppong (beef brisket and water dropwort) at 12,000 won, plus a free sweet potato mattang from the review event. If you can never choose between jjajang and jjamppong, Seodamheon's samjjamyeon settles it in one bowl. ## Good to know - **Location**: 40-3 Yeonhui-ro 1-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul (about 365m, a 5-minute walk from Exit 3, Hongik University Station) - **Ordered**: Samjjamyeon, the mountain-and-sea combination, 16,000 won; mokhwasom tangsuyuk 15,000 won; minari usamgyeop jjamppong 12,000 won - **Review event**: Free sweet potato mattang (candied sweet potato) - **Seating**: Everything from solo seats to tables for groups - **Hours**: 11:00–21:15, break 16:00–17:00 - **Last order**: Lunch 15:20, dinner 20:20 - **Parking**: No on-site parking / Yeonnam public parking lot about a 6-minute walk, Urban Fort Hongik Univ. Station Yeonnam-dong private lot about a 4-minute walk - **Price reference**: ₩16,000 ≈ $11.5 · ₩15,000 ≈ $11 · ₩12,000 ≈ $8.7 (2026-09-19) *as written by the visitor on Sep 18, 2026* ## Seodamheon in Hongdae: how the jjajang-or-jjamppong debate ended Two guys in their twenties decided to grab lunch in Hongdae. Picking the menu turned out to be harder than expected. We'd had pasta recently, meat was already on the agenda for dinner, and coming all the way to Hongdae just for gukbap felt like a waste. After a long menu-less debate, we turned toward Chinese food. Today's destination was Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch. ![Exterior of Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch in the Yeonhui-ro 1-gil alley near Hongik University Station](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-01-1u6gn-900.webp) It's located at 40-3 Yeonhui-ro 1-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul. That's about 365m from Exit 3 of Hongik University Station, roughly a 5-minute walk. It's a bit off the main Hongdae street, tucked into the alleys toward Yeonnam-dong, so first-timers end up checking the map once or twice. I ended up pulling up the map again near a place called Photo Gray. ![Entrance leading into Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-02-36hy0-900.webp) This is where the ritual of the meal begins. ## Five minutes from Exit 3, Hongik University Station: a hanok-style Chinese restaurant Seodamheon doesn't look or feel like the typical Chinese restaurant you'd picture. It's a mix of wood tones and hanok (traditional Korean house) atmosphere, so the moment you walk in, your "I'm here for jjajangmyeon" mindset wavers a little. We came for Chinese food but walked into a hanok, apparently. ![Interior of Seodamheon mixing wood tones with a hanok atmosphere](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-03-1cly7-900.webp) The restaurant has seating ranging from single seats to tables for larger groups. It's not intimidating for anyone in Hongdae or Yeonnam-dong looking for a solo Chinese meal. On the flip side, it also works well for 2–4 people who want to spread out several dishes. And now came today's hardest step. Ordering. ### What two men ordered at Seodamheon, and what it cost We seriously debated the menu for about 5 minutes. Having come this far, just getting a plain jjajangmyeon and calling it a day felt like a waste. But ordering everything in sight would mean our stomachs demanding accountability shortly after. So we landed on Samjjamyeon (Combination of Mountain and Sea) at ₩16,000, Mokhwasom Tangsuyuk at ₩15,000, and Minari Usamgyeop Jjamppong at ₩12,000. ![A table set with samjjamyeon, mokhwasom tangsuyuk, and minari usamgyeop jjamppong](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-04-22jif-900.webp) And through the review event, we also got a sweet potato mattang. At this point it wasn't lunch anymore — it was a mini Chinese food tasting. ## Why mix jjajang and jjamppong? Samjjamyeon, 16,000 won ![Samjjamyeon (Combination of Mountain and Sea) with doenjang yuni-jjajang and charcoal-fired jjamppong](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-05-1su1p-900.webp) We started with the dish we were most curious about. It's Seodamheon's signature menu, the "Combination of Mountain and Sea samjjamyeon." It's about 1.5 servings, and the idea is to mix doenjang yuni-jjajang (soybean-paste black bean sauce) with charcoal-fired stir-fried jjamppong. At first, honestly, I hesitated. Jjajangmyeon is jjajangmyeon, jjamppong is jjamppong — do they really need to be mixed? Normally I'd alternate between a bite of jjajang and a sip of jjamppong broth, but here the two worlds meet directly in one bowl. Rather than mixing everything from the start, we tasted each side separately first, then combined them. That turned out to matter — it's the only way to notice what actually changes when you mix them. The noodles were interesting too. Seodamheon uses hand-cut (dosakmyeon) noodles. From the moment you lift them with chopsticks, they look and feel thicker than regular Chinese noodles. The first bite gives softly under your teeth, then by the second or third chew, the noodle's own chewiness comes through. Because the sauce clings to the noodles, even mixed jjajang and jjamppong don't taste like they're fighting each other. Behind the heavy, savory direction of the jjajang comes the smoky, spicy kick of the jjamppong. The key point: neither side completely swallows the other. Wasn't I supposed to be the guy who agonizes over jjajang-or-jjamppong forever? That dilemma got physically resolved for ₩16,000. ## Mokhwasom tangsuyuk, 15,000 won: sweet and sour pork with an unusual name ![A plate of Seodamheon's round-fried mokhwasom tangsuyuk](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-06-1k9gl-1200.webp) Next up was mokhwasom tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork). This dish looks different from the typical long strips of tangsuyuk from the moment it hits the plate. Fresh sirloin is deep-fried into round shapes that resemble cotton balls (mokhwasom means "cotton"). The sauce uses traditional jocheong (grain syrup) and is meant for dipping. I take the batter pretty seriously when it comes to tangsuyuk. On the first bite, the outer surface holds up first. Then your teeth press into the chewy batter, and finally you reach the meat. It's not a tangsuyuk where the outside and inside textures disappear at once — there's an actual sequence. I meant to have just one piece. A second one got picked up. At that point it's easier to just blame the chopsticks. ## What happens when minari goes into jjamppong? Minari usamgyeop jjamppong, 12,000 won ![A bowl of minari usamgyeop jjamppong topped with minari](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-07-r3y52-900.webp) We came for the samjjamyeon, but the dish that stuck with us more than expected was the minari usamgyeop jjamppong (thin-sliced beef brisket jjamppong with minari, a water celery). It's ₩12,000. Beef and vegetables are stir-fried over high heat for a smoky char, then minari is added. Jjamppong broths can get heavy on the palate the more you eat, but the minari changes that direction entirely. ![Close-up of the minari usamgyeop jjamppong broth and beef brisket](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-08-1qhkp-900.webp) The broth hits first with a spicy, heavy flavor. Then comes the savory richness of the usamgyeop (thin-sliced beef brisket). Up to this point it's a familiar meat jjamppong, but at the end, the distinct aroma of minari rises up. That sequence is what makes it fun. - A sip of broth. - A bite of noodles. - A bit of minari. - Back to the broth. Suddenly the meal had a routine. ![Jjamppong noodles lifted up with chopsticks](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-09-cdq4t-900.webp) Ordering it alongside the samjjamyeon worked especially well because their roles didn't overlap. The samjjamyeon rewards slowly savoring the sauce-and-noodle combination, while the minari usamgyeop jjamppong stepped in with hot broth and aroma in between. If you're visiting as a pair, rather than picking just one dish, it's worth ordering dishes that go in different directions and sharing. ## The sweet potato mattang stole the table ![Sweet potato mattang received through the review event](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-10-17elq-900.webp) Once we were fairly full, the sweet potato mattang from the review event showed up. Honestly, at the start of the meal, I'd thought, "We'll definitely have room for the mattang too." Humans always overestimate their future stomach capacity. ![The Seodamheon table after finishing the meal, with the sweet potato mattang](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-11-o0zt5-900.webp) With the samjjamyeon being 1.5 servings, plus the tangsuyuk and jjamppong, the situation had changed. Still, we had to try at least one piece of mattang, right? We picked up a piece of sweet potato coated in a sweet glaze. After the sweet, slightly firm outer coating comes the fluffy texture of the sweet potato inside. It felt like a sweet finish to a mouth full of Chinese food, so naturally we grabbed another one. ![A piece of sweet potato mattang with its sweet glaze coating](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-12-15jv4-900.webp) The hidden expert of the table showed up last. ## Seodamheon parking and opening hours: check before you go If you're driving, there's one thing to know — Seodamheon has no on-site parking of its own. ![Store signage with parking information for Seodamheon](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-13-h51d2-900.webp) According to the restaurant's own signage, the Yeonnam public parking lot is about a 6-minute walk, and the Urban Fort Hongik University Station Yeonnam-dong private lot is about a 4-minute walk. Hongdae and Yeonnam-dong get pretty congested for driving on weekends, so public transit is more convenient if possible. Business hours run from 11:00 a.m. to 9:15 p.m., with a break time from 4 to 5 p.m. Last order for lunch is 3:20 p.m., and for dinner, 8:20 p.m. Hours and holidays may vary by date, so it's safer to check the latest info before heading over. ![Signage showing Seodamheon's business hours and break time](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-14-gms2b-900.webp) ## Chinese food in Hongdae, eaten as hand-cut noodles in a hanok Eating at Seodamheon, what stuck with me most was how it twists familiar dishes just enough. Jjajang and jjamppong are extremely familiar. So is tangsuyuk. Meat in jjamppong isn't exactly new either. ![A closing shot of Seodamheon's hand-cut noodle dish](https://img.superchart.com/images/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys-15-be3kj-900.webp) And yet, the samjjamyeon mixing doenjang yuni-jjajang and charcoal-fired jjamppong into hand-cut noodles, the round-shaped mokhwasom tangsuyuk dipped in jocheong sauce, and the usamgyeop jjamppong with its clear minari aroma — each dish shifted direction just a bit. Should I get jjajang, or jjamppong? At Seodamheon, there was no need to agonize. Just mix them both. ## Where it is - Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch (서담헌 홍대본점) - 40-3 Yeonhui-ro 1-gil, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea - 서울특별시 마포구 연희로1길 40-3 1층 서담헌 - 37.5606598, 126.9260202 - Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/search/%EC%84%9C%EB%8B%B4%ED%97%8C%20%ED%99%8D%EB%8C%80%EB%B3%B8%EC%A0%90/@37.5606598,126.9260202,17z --- Superchart · https://superchart.com/en/@coffee-then-seoul/seodamheon-hongdae-lunch-two-guys/ · https://superchart.com/llms.txt