Retro udon shop in Sinjeongnegeori for cold summer soba: Haengbokhan

Some days you can't decide on lunch and all you want is a bowl of old-school udon packed with fish cake! Sinjeongnegeori has a retro Japanese-style spot made for exactly that day, Haengbokhan Udon Gage (행복한우동가게), so I ran straight over haha

Haengbokhan Udon Gage in Sinjeongnegeori: the basics

Address: 257 Jungang-ro, 1st floor, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 5-minute walk from Sinjeongnegeori Station Hours: daily 10:40 AM - 3:00 AM Last order 2:00 AM Takeout, delivery and group seating available Wi-Fi, easy payment apps Parking available

Menu and prices

• Gakgi udon ₩8,000
• Chili udon ₩8,000
• Fish cake udon ₩9,000
• Bibim udon (spicy mixed udon) ₩8,500
• Soba (cold buckwheat noodles) ₩8,500
• Perilla oil soba ₩8,500
• Tray soba ₩10,500
• Old-style donkatsu (pork cutlet) ₩10,900
• Cheese donkatsu ₩11,900
• Spicy pork rice bowl ₩10,500
• Squid rice bowl ₩10,500
• Whole shrimp rice bowl ₩11,900
• Boiled dumplings ₩6,000
• Bibim mandu (spicy mixed dumplings) ₩9,900
• Honey tomato ₩6,000

The retro vibe hits you the moment you walk in haha

The second you open the door, it feels like time rolls back to your childhood. A Goldstar fan sits off to one side and old posters cover the walls. The 90s mood is so strong that childhood memories kept coming back to me.

Every retro prop is more than simple decoration; it's a feeling anyone who actually lived through those days will relate to. The place put me in a good mood before I even ate haha

What I ordered today

Fish cake udon ₩9,000 Pan soba ₩8,500 Cheese donkatsu ₩11,900

Hot udon loaded with fish cake and fried tofu

A hot bowl of udon in rich broth with plenty of fish cake and fried tofu; it settles your stomach just by looking at it. One sip of the broth and the deep, savory flavor slides down your throat. It's not harsh at all, just clean and mild, which I loved.

The fish cake is well soaked with just the right seasoning, and the fried tofu is soft and full of broth, so picking at them one by one is half the fun. It tastes like the udon from an old snack bar, you know the one haha

Cold pan soba beats the heat

On a hot summer day, cold soba is the real answer haha Dip the chilled noodles in cold tsuyu (soba dipping sauce) and the chewy noodles meet the cool sauce, and the heat just vanishes. It's clean and mild, so it's easy to enjoy even on days when strong flavors feel like too much. Alternating with the udon made it a fun meal, warm and cool at the same time.

I keep craving the cheese donkatsu

Even the crunch of the cheese donkatsu on the first bite sounded different. Cut into the crispy fried cutlet and the cheese stretches out looong and the nutty cheese aroma spreads.

It's the kind of taste where you eat one piece and reach for another. The cheese is nutty without being greasy and pairs so well with the crispy coating that it was suddenly all gone.

The staff guide you kindly

As soon as I walked in, the staff kindly showed me to a seat, so I sat right down and ordered without waiting.

The food also came out without a long wait, so it's a comfortable place for office workers with a short lunch break.

I can see why it's packed

While I was eating, customers kept coming in until every seat was full. Tasty food, reasonable prices and retro charm: it's the kind of place you visit once and keep coming back to. It's been established in Sinjeongnegeori for a long time, and there's a reason local residents keep showing up.

In a space full of retro charm, I enjoyed a whole table of hot udon, cold soba and nutty cheese donkatsu. If you can't decide on lunch in Sinjeongnegeori, I strongly recommend Haengbokhan Udon Gage, and I'll definitely be back haha