Seoul Korean restaurant near Seocho Station for a dinner with friends

Where is Seocho Jeonggye?

Seocho Jeonggye is a Korean restaurant on the first floor of the Mido Building on Beopwon-ro 1-gil in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and its signature dish is dak han mari (whole chicken hot pot). It's open daily from 11:00 to 22:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00 and last order at 21:00. It has separate men's and women's restrooms and Wi-Fi.

Today I want to share my review of Seocho Jeonggye, a hidden Korean restaurant gem near Seocho Station that I visited recently for a dinner with colleagues.

These days, whenever the weather turns chilly or I just want to fill up on something warm and hearty, dak han mari is the dish that comes to mind. I heard there was a neat, well-run Korean restaurant near Seocho Station, so I headed over after work with high expectations.

Seocho Jeonggye is only a few minutes' walk from Exit 7 of Seocho Station on Line 2, so the accessibility is really great. It's tucked into an alley near the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Supreme Court, so it was easy to find. The exterior already had that clean, modern Korean-restaurant look, which won me over from first sight.

What we ordered for dinner at Seocho Jeonggye

Looking over Seocho Jeonggye's menu, we ordered the signature dak han mari and, as a side, the potato pancake.

Some people were having a drink with their meal, too. It seems like it'd be a great spot for a work dinner.

First up: the special chive dipping sauce

We didn't wait long after ordering before the side dishes and sauce ingredients were set on the table. The heart of dak han mari is really the special dipping sauce!

Mixing crunchy vegetables and chives into the sweet-and-tangy sauce with chili paste, to taste, my mouth was already watering before the food even arrived.

How the dak han mari broth and chicken tasted

Seocho Jeonggye's dak han mari came out packed full in the pot. Along with generous chunks of chicken, it was loaded with potatoes, rice cakes, and scallions — just looking at it was reassuring.

Once it had simmered for a while, I tried the broth first. There was no gamey chicken smell at all, and the broth was deep yet clean and light on the finish.

It wasn't an artificial seasoning flavor but real savoriness drawn out from the chicken and vegetables, which kept pulling me back for more spoonfuls of broth.

Everyone should add rice cakes as a default order. The rice cakes were genuinely soft and chewy, and paired really well with the chicken.

I picked up a well-cooked piece of chicken and dipped it right into the special chive sauce I'd prepared earlier. The chicken meat was tender and moist with no dryness, and combined with the tangy, spicy chive sauce, it was truly the perfect pairing.

The potatoes cooked in with it were also nicely fluffy, and it was fun scooping them up together with the broth.

Is the potato pancake side worth adding?

While the dak han mari was simmering away, the other dish I was looking forward to — the potato pancake — arrived. Freshly pan-fried to a golden brown, it caught the eye right away just by looking at it.

It was a textbook example of crispy-outside, moist-inside — the so-called 'geotbasokchok' texture. Every bite had that nutty, chewy quality of real potato, which made me let out an involuntary sigh of admiration.

It wasn't greasy or heavy, just cleanly savory, and it went with the dak han mari better than I expected. Cutting it into bite-sized pieces and dipping it in soy sauce, I emptied the plate in no time.

Would I go back to this Seocho Station Korean restaurant?

If you're looking to enjoy a warm, well-made Korean dinner near Seocho Station, I confidently recommend Seocho Jeonggye. From the rich, deep broth and tender chicken of the dak han mari to the golden, nutty potato pancake, nothing about the meal fell short.

The atmosphere was clean and the staff were friendly, so I plan to come back the next time I'm craving warm broth. If you're looking for a lunch spot in Seocho-dong or a dak han mari place near Seocho Station, definitely give it a try!