Katsu-nabe set at a Yeonnam-dong donburi restaurant: Jongno Donburi

Today I'm bringing you a review of Jongno Donburi Yeonnam, a Japanese rice bowl restaurant in Yeonnam-dong known for its crispy tempura and that perfect sweet-salty sauce combo! 🍱🏮 From the visuals to the taste, I left totally satisfied — let me walk you through my honest review of this Yeonnam-dong Japanese restaurant ✨

Where is Jongno Donburi Yeonnam? Hours and parking

Jongno Donburi Yeonnam is on the basement floor of 9 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's a 9-minute walk from Exit 3 of Hongik Univ. Station.

• 📍 Address: 9 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, B1, South Korea
• ⏰ Hours: Mon–Fri 11:30–21:30 (break 16:00–17:00) ※ last order 21:00 / Sat–Sun 11:30–21:00 (no break) ※ last order 20:30
• 🚇 Subway: 9-minute walk from Exit 3, Hongik Univ. Station
• 🅿️ Parking: Public parking lot next to Mimiram Lamb Skewers (₩900 per 10 minutes)
• 🚾 Restroom: Shared, inside the restaurant

What's on the menu at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam

Outside the restaurant in Yeonnam-dong

It's right in the middle of the Yeonnam-dong restaurant hotspot area, so it was easy to find, and the clean, atmospheric exterior gave off Japanese-restaurant vibes right from the entrance.

Inside Jongno Donburi Yeonnam: solo seats and couple seats

Walking inside, the space is really well laid out! In particular, the solo-dining seats are well set up, so it looked like a great spot to eat alone comfortably without feeling self-conscious.

Of course, there are also 2-person couple seats and 4-person tables, so it's equally solid as a Yeonnam-dong date spot or a place to meet up with friends :)

It's an open kitchen, so you can watch the whole cooking process! Watching the tendon get fried was actually pretty fun 👀

In Yeonnam-dong, a lot of restaurants and cafés are in these semi-basement B1 spaces, and while it's a bit dark, I really love this kind of atmosphere ···🤎

What we ordered and the side dishes that come with it

At Jongno Donburi Yeonnam we ordered two things: tendon for ₩14,500 and katsu-nabe set for ₩16,000.

• Tendon ₩14,500
• Katsu-nabe set ₩16,000

Once you sit down, they set out a warm miso soup and side dishes. You get pickled squash stem, jalapeños, and pickled radish — and since tendon or katsu-nabe can get a bit heavy or greasy, these side dishes are perfect for resetting your palate in between bites!!! An essential combo 🤤

Katsu-nabe set, ₩16,000

The katsu-nabe set is a warm, shallow-broth dish with pork cutlet and egg simmered together! The soy sauce soaks all the way into the meat, so when you scoop it over rice and eat it together, you really get the full punch of that salty seasoning :)

💡 Tip: how to order it less salty

Overall the sauce and broth are quite salty, so if you usually prefer a milder taste, it'll help to ask for less sauce when you order — you'll enjoy it a lot more that way!!!!! It was a little (okay, a lot) salty for my taste 🥲

But that first bite was genuinely delicious! It was a slightly rainy day, and maybe that's part of why it tasted even better.

Tendon, ₩14,500: sweet pumpkin and enoki mushroom tempura

The tendon is a rice bowl piled generously with freshly fried, still-crispy tempura! The tare sauce soaks generously into both the batter and the rice, giving off that intense, savory-salty flavor typical of Japanese cooking.

Personally, I liked the sweet pumpkin tempura and the enoki mushroom tempura best haha. That tare sauce is seriously heavy, though..? If you're not a fan of very salty food, it might be worth asking for the tendon to be a bit less salty too.

Is Jongno Donburi Yeonnam worth it? Final verdict

• ✔️ Right in the heart of the Yeonnam-dong hotspot area — a great Japanese restaurant near Hongik Univ. Station
• ✔️ Recommended for solo dining as well as a Yeonnam-dong date spot
• ✔️ Crispy tempura & straightforward sweet-salty flavor