Hongdae Chinese lunch with beer and crab fried rice: Seodamheon

When I'm picking lunch in Hongdae, the familiar jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) or jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) is great, but sometimes I want a different kind of Chinese food! Seodamheon (서담헌) is a fusion Chinese restaurant that brings Korean flavors into Chinese cooking, with knife-cut noodles, samjjamyeon that combines mountain and sea, and bite-sized mokhwasom tangsuyuk (cotton-style sweet and sour pork). On a day I craved something special, I paid a visit and wrote up this Hongik Univ. Station review.

Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch: location and hours

Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch is at 40-3 Yeonhui-ro 1-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 1st floor, and is open daily 11:00–21:15. Break time is 16:00–17:00, and last order is at 20:20.

Seodamheon serves ordinary Chinese dishes with Korean touches added. It sits between Hongik Univ. Station and Yeonnam-dong, so it's easy to reach, and I liked that the menu adds a fresh twist to familiar Chinese food!!

What I added to the Seodamheon set for two

The set for two (dameunsang) lets you try the signature samjjamyeon and mokhwasom tangsuyuk in one go, and I added a mini crab fried rice. I was wondering how to enjoy a bit of everything, and this worked well: no fuss picking dishes one by one, and you still get the signature items!! With an ice-cold beer alongside, it was a thoroughly satisfying table!

Since I was at a Hongik Univ. Station favorite anyway, I added a refreshing daytime beer. The side dishes were gimbap-style pickled radish and zha cai (Chinese pickled mustard stem).

Seodamheon mini crab fried rice: how big was it?

Despite the name, the mini crab fried rice came out in a generous, full-serving-sized portion. It arrived first: fluffy, well-fried rice with crab meat and scrambled egg, with a great texture! It had a different charm from the samjjamyeon and went well alongside it, and switching between noodles and rice made the flavor combos more varied!!

What does Seodamheon's samjjamyeon taste like?

Samjjamyeon is the signature dish: knife-cut noodles topped with both jjajang (black bean sauce) and stir-fried jjamppong, so you get two flavors at once. It was the dish I was most looking forward to at Seodamheon!!! The description of combining mountain and sea was intriguing, and it felt different from ordinary jajangmyeon or jjamppong. The rich, savory depth of jjajang plus the spicy, umami punch of stir-fried jjamppong made it a really delicious fusion dish.

How is knife-cut noodle texture different from regular noodles?

Knife-cut noodles (dosakmyeon) are made by shaving strips off the dough with a blade, so their shape and thickness differ from regular round noodles. The texture at Seodamheon was unusual: the thickness varies from strand to strand, so the chew really stands out, and the broad noodles soak up the sauce for a special mouthfeel. If you want a noodle dish unlike the usual jajangmyeon, the samjjamyeon with knife-cut noodles is worth trying.

How is Seodamheon's mokhwasom tangsuyuk different from regular sweet and sour pork?

Unlike the usual long strips, mokhwasom tangsuyuk is round, bite-sized sweet and sour pork in a white batter. Tangsuyuk is the dish you'd feel something's missing without when eating Chinese!! The name, which means "cotton" tangsuyuk, is kind of cute already >,< It's easy to pick up piece by piece, and the crispy coating with sweet sauce pairs nicely between rich, salty noodle dishes. Enjoying the strong samjjamyeon sauce and the crunchy tangsuyuk, then taking a sip of cold beer, left my mouth feeling fresh~

Complimentary dessert: injeolmi mini donuts

Seodamheon brings out adorable mini donuts as a free treat. They looked like injeolmi (rice cake rolled in roasted soybean powder), but were crispy outside and soft inside, topped with injeolmi rice cake and red bean, a surprising twist!! Even the dessert tasted high-end.

Is the Seodamheon set for two worth recommending for lunch near Hongik Univ. Station?

At Seodamheon Hongdae Main Branch, I had the set for two plus a mini crab fried rice, enjoying samjjamyeon and mokhwasom tangsuyuk together. The jjajang and stir-fried jjamppong combo, the distinctive knife-cut noodles and the round tangsuyuk made for a really different, special Chinese meal!

Hongdae has so many restaurants and cafés that choosing one near Hongik Univ. Station is tough, but if you're curious about unusual Chinese dishes, Seodamheon's fusion menu, built around knife-cut noodles, can make a memorable meal! For anyone wanting noodles and Chinese dishes together at a Hongdae lunch, the set for two is a special Hongdae Chinese option I'd recommend!!