Yurinki fried chicken after a play at Hyehwa Taiwanese restaurant

After watching a play in Hyehwa, going for a good meal is a must, haha :) This time I visited Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch (청화원 대학로점), a great pick after a show.

Location and hours of Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch

Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch is at 36 Daemyeong-gil, 1F & 2F, Jongno-gu, Seoul, about 166m from Hyehwa Station Exit 4. There's no dedicated parking at the restaurant, so you'll need to use a nearby paid lot. It's open daily from 11:00 to 22:20, with last order at 21:50.

The exterior

Walking from Hyehwa Station Exit 4, you'll find Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch tucked inside an alley. The clean exterior with the Cheonghwawon sign made it easy to spot, and since the restaurant spans both the 1st and 2nd floors, it felt bigger than I expected.

Interior atmosphere and seating

The inside of Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch had a clean, tidy Chinese restaurant feel overall. With two floors, there were more seats than I expected, making it a good spot to visit with a group in Hyehwa.

The tables weren't packed too tight, so it had a comfortable feel, perfect for eating after a play. It was casual but still clean overall. We took a seat in the cozy 2nd-floor space!

What we ordered

Food was being prepared in a clean kitchen, and dumplings were steaming away in the steamers! Wanted to eat them all, haha, so sad I couldn't.

We decided to eat what we were craving today and save the rest for a return visit, so we ordered:

• Beef knife-cut noodles (우육도삭면)
• Crystal moon dumplings (수정달만두)
• Yu린기 (유린기, crispy chicken salad)

There were so many tempting menu items that deciding was really tough, ugh.

🍜 Beef knife-cut noodles — what is dao xiao mian?

The first dish we ordered was beef knife-cut noodles! Some of you may be hearing about dao xiao mian for the first time.

Dao xiao mian is a Chinese noodle dish made by slicing dough thinly with a knife directly into boiling water. Unlike regular noodles cut to a uniform thickness, the thickness and shape vary slightly, giving it a unique texture.

So the biggest feature of dao xiao mian is definitely its chewy, springy texture! Tasting Cheonghwawon's beef knife-cut noodles, the texture was clearly different from regular noodles.

The noodles themselves were chewy and bouncy, great to bite into. Can you see it! That bounciness!! And what I personally loved was that the spice flavor wasn't too strong. Chinese food can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming because of the distinctive spices, but Cheonghwawon's beef knife-cut noodles didn't hit you with strong spice, so it was relatively easy to eat.

Eating the broth with the noodles together was hearty, and I kept thinking about the chewy noodle texture. The meat mixed in was also really tender! Recommended if you like the distinctive texture of dao xiao mian!

🥟 Crystal moon dumplings — with ginger and soy sauce

And of everything I ate that day, my favorite by far was the crystal moon dumplings!

Ah… this was totally my style! These dumplings are filled with chives and whole shrimp, and the clean, savory juice I got when I first bit in was so good. The plump whole shrimp inside gave a proper shrimp texture with every bite. I also really loved the dumpling wrapper — thin yet chewy, and it paired so well with the filling. The combo of clean chives, plump shrimp, and a thin, chewy wrapper made for a flavor that wasn't intense but kept pulling me back for more.

And this is how I liked eating it best. 👉Put a slice of ginger on top and dip it lightly in soy sauce! The sharp aroma of ginger combined with the salty soy sauce really brought out the clean flavor of the dumpling even more. If I come back again, I'll definitely order this again. 👍

🍗 Yu린기 — thin, crispy coating

The last dish we ordered was yu린기! Yu린기 is crispy fried chicken served with a sweet-and-sour sauce and vegetables. Cheonghwawon's version had a really thin coating. It wasn't a thick batter but rather thin and crispy, so with each bite you really felt that crunch!

It was almost as crispy as eating a cracker, so the texture of the coating itself was quite impressive. It tasted much better eaten with the lettuce and sauce rather than just the fried chicken alone — the crispy chicken, tangy sauce, and crunchy lettuce together kept it from feeling greasy, and I kept eating more.

In the end… I scraped the plate clean! If you love yu린기, I think you'll be satisfied with this one too.

Honest review of Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch

Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch, visited after watching a play in Hyehwa.

The beef knife-cut noodles had a great chewy, bouncy texture, and since the spice flavor wasn't strong, I could eat it without worry. The yu린기 had an appealing thin, crispy coating, and it was really delicious with the lettuce and sauce. But my clear top pick was the crystal moon dumplings!

The combination of plump shrimp, chives, clean juice, and a thin, chewy wrapper was so good. Especially the combo of dipping it in soy sauce with ginger on top — that was totally my taste, personally. If you want to try a different kind of Taiwanese food after watching a play in Hyehwa, I'd recommend trying the knife-cut noodles, dumplings, and yu린기 together at Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch!! 🍜🥟