Chinese lunch near Seoul Museum of Art, ordered by QR code: Huhugwan

Looking for lunch near City Hall Station, taste matters, but so does how fast the food comes out, right? Especially if you're an office worker with a fixed lunch hour, a long wait or slow kitchen is a real problem. Huhugwan, which I visited this time, is a Chinese restaurant near Deoksugung Palace where you can enjoy a variety of dishes while still getting lunch done fairly quickly.

How long is the lunch wait at Huhugwan near Deoksugung, and how does QR pre-ordering work?

Huhugwan is a Chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor of 2 Seosomun-ro 11-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, right by Deoksugung Palace. It's a great location not just for office workers around City Hall Station, but for anyone looking for a place to eat after stopping by Deoksugung or the Seoul Museum of Art.

The area around City Hall Station gets packed with office workers at lunchtime, and Huhugwan does get a wait during lunch hour! Luckily, even with a lot of customers, tables turn over quickly, so even with 3-4 teams ahead of us, we got seated fast. I pre-ordered by QR code while waiting, and the food came out the moment we sat down. Kind of amazing, haha. It seemed like a solid option for office workers who don't have much lunch time. Of course wait times can vary depending on when you visit and how busy the kitchen is, but when we went, despite the crowd, the meal moved along quickly.

What is on Huhugwan's lunch menu, from single bowls to sharing dishes?

One thing I liked about Huhugwan was how varied the lunch menu is. If you just want a simple bowl of noodles, you can go for the beef noodle soup or another single-bowl dish, and if you're visiting with a few people, adding a dish or two to share works well too.

We ordered yurinchi (fried chicken with a tangy sauce), mapo tofu, and beef noodle soup that day. I like Chinese food in general, so I wanted to try a few dishes together, and all three had such distinct personalities that it was fun to pick and choose.

Dish 1: Huhugwan's squid-ink yurinchi

The tastiest dish we ordered at Huhugwan that day was the yurinchi. Honestly, I've had yurinchi at plenty of other Chinese restaurants, so I considered getting something else, but I heard it was their signature dish!? So I ordered it... and if I hadn't, I would've regretted it.

Unlike the yurinchi you'd normally picture, this one is fried in a squid-ink batter with a striking look, and the sauce is insane. At first I was curious what it would taste like given the unusual color, but one bite in, the sauce was so good, and the lettuce and tomato marinated in it were fresh and genuinely delicious.

With yurinchi, I think how well the fried batter pairs with the sauce matters as much as the frying itself. Huhugwan's yurinchi, with its distinctive squid-ink look and delicious sauce, kept me reaching for more. It felt totally different from the yurinchi I usually eat, and it stuck with me — if I come back to Huhugwan, I'd order it again. I could see why it's their signature dish.

Dish 2: mala mapo tofu with a whole block of tofu

Huhugwan's mapo tofu comes with a whole block of tofu, and the sauce has a mala (numbing spice) flavor to it. Honestly, I'm not usually a mapo tofu person, haha, but something told me Huhugwan's would be different, so I ordered it. It turned out to be a bit different from what I expected too. Usually when you order mapo tofu at a Chinese restaurant, you picture a familiar look and taste.

But Huhugwan's mapo tofu had a distinctly different flavor from the usual version at Chinese restaurants. I ordered it expecting the mapo tofu I already knew, but once I tasted it, it had its own character that made it more memorable. The whole block of tofu was already surprising, and the sauce was different from typical mapo tofu too — unique and delicious. An addictive flavor you keep thinking about! While eating it I kept wondering what that flavor was, and I think it was mala. It'd be perfect for anyone who likes mala tang (numbing spicy hot pot).

Both the yurinchi and the mapo tofu show off what I think is Huhugwan's charm — taking familiar Chinese dishes and giving them a slightly different spin. If you're an office worker tired of the same old lunch options, seeking out a Chinese restaurant with a twist like this could be a small daily pleasure.

Dish 3: beef noodle soup with bok choy, broth to noodles

Huhugwan's beef noodle soup has a great broth and crisp bok choy — a good single bowl to eat solo. It's an easy option for a simple lunch, and it's also great for hangover recovery if you had drinks the night before at a work dinner or gathering! I think it's an especially good fit for office workers looking for a lunch spot near City Hall Station. Above all, the broth in Huhugwan's beef noodle soup was delicious. Eating the broth alongside the noodles, I kept reaching for my spoon.

The fresh bok choy added a really nice crunch, and the noodles were good too, so I finished the whole bowl happily. The broth, noodles, and bok choy came together so well that even after ordering several other dishes, I still enjoyed the beef noodle soup fully. If you're visiting with a group, order the yurinchi or mapo tofu to share, and if you're eating alone, a bowl of beef noodle soup works great too.

Is Huhugwan worth it for a workday lunch or a Deoksugung outing?

Located near Deoksugung Palace, Huhugwan is a solid choice not only for office workers grabbing lunch around City Hall Station, but also for anyone looking for a place to eat before or after visiting the Seoul Museum of Art or Deoksugung. There may be a wait at lunchtime, but tables turn over quickly and the food comes out fairly fast, which makes it a good fit for office workers who have to eat within a limited lunch break.

What I liked most was the range of choices — from something simple like beef noodle soup to shareable dishes like yurinchi and mapo tofu. If you want to enjoy Chinese food with a bit of a twist, or you're looking for a good restaurant near Deoksugung, give Huhugwan a try. Next time I'm hunting for a lunch spot near City Hall Station, I'll probably be thinking back to that squid-ink yurinchi and the beef noodle soup!