Yeonnam-dong sake-don & tendon with pickled garlic stems, Jongno

I went to Jongno Donburi Yeonnam (종로돈부리 연남) near Hongdae for Japanese food in Yeonnam-dong! It's a great spot for sake-don (salmon rice bowl), tendon (tempura rice bowl) and eating solo. The food and the mood were both lovely, so I think it would also work for a blind date, and the salmon bowl quality is crazy! I'd recommend this Japanese restaurant in Yeonnam-dong, especially with its table setup that's so easy for solo diners~

Jongno Donburi Yeonnam hours, parking and reservations

• Weekdays: 11:30 AM – 9:30 PM (break time 4–5 PM)
• Weekends: 11:30 AM – 9:00 PM (no break time)
• Parking: not available
• Reservations: Naver Reservation, tables for 2–6 people

How do you get to Jongno Donburi Yeonnam, and what does it look like?

Jongno Donburi Yeonnam is about a 10-minute walk from Hongik Univ. Station Exit 3. Isn't the exterior pretty already~~? It had a warm, wood-heavy interior that gives off total Yeonnam-dong Japanese restaurant vibes.

It's a spot you can easily wander into while walking around Yeonnam-dong on a date! There's no parking at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam. Yeonnam is even harder to drive to than Hongdae, ugh

Is Jongno Donburi Yeonnam good for eating alone?

I recommend Jongno Donburi Yeonnam for solo meals too. On weekdays there's a break from 4 to 5 PM, but on weekends there's no break time, so you can eat there whenever you like. One catch: solo reservations aren't possible. (But if you're eating alone, I don't think you'd need to wait in line anyway!)

A calm, quiet interior at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam

Jongno Donburi Yeonnam passes as a blind date spot! The interior was really pretty. Overall it's a Japanese restaurant with a calm, serene atmosphere. It had two sides: comfortable for eating with a friend, and also formal enough for a proper meal!

You can reserve Jongno Donburi Yeonnam through Naver Reservation. Solo reservations aren't possible, but reservations for 2 to 6 people were.

Jongno Donburi Yeonnam has plenty of tables that suit solo diners. There are lots of seats where you can sit alone, so you don't seem to need a solo reservation. I visited late on a weekend lunch, around 3 PM, and about half the seats were empty.

Jongno Donburi Yeonnam menu and prices

Jongno Donburi is a Japanese rice-bowl specialist, and its main menu is the "don-don series": katsudon, ebi-don, gyudon, tendon, sake-don and butadon~ I came knowing it as a great sake-don place in Yeonnam-dong.

• Sake-don (salmon rice bowl) ₩18,000
• Gyudon (beef rice bowl) ₩13,500
• Katsudon (pork cutlet rice bowl) ₩14,500 → ₩12,000
• Ebi-don (fried shrimp rice bowl) ₩14,500
• Tendon (assorted tempura rice bowl) ₩15,500
• Butadon (pork belly rice bowl) ₩14,500
• Unagi-don (freshwater eel rice bowl) ₩23,000

The sake-don is so good that the price looks a little steep. Apart from the salmon bowl, the other rice bowls are at prices that aren't a burden for a solo meal.

Jongno Donburi side dishes: pickled garlic stems cut the richness

The side dishes at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam are miso soup, pickled garlic stems and chili peppers, and pickled radish (danmuji). The miso soup wasn't light; it had real depth. When you're eating the salmon bowl and tempura it can get a little rich, but a bite of the pickled garlic stems and chili wiped the richness away, which I loved~!

At Jongno Donburi Yeonnam, known as a salmon place and a tendon place, how could I not order these two!!

So I ordered the sake-don and the tendon.

Jongno Donburi sake-don: how many slices of salmon?

The sake-don (₩18,000) at Jongno Donburi comes with 7 big, thick slices of salmon. The rice is already seasoned with a soy sauce base, so the staff told me not to mix it but to scoop it up just as it is.

The salmon at Jongno Donburi is springy through and through..! It tasted exactly like "yes, this is what premium salmon is like~~". The rice is already seasoned and the saltiness was just right, so it went really well with the salmon.

Eating it a bite at a time with wasabi on the rice, the whole bowl was gone before I knew it!! The salmon at Jongno Donburi is such good quality that I left really satisfied. If you visit Jongno Donburi Yeonnam, definitely order the sake-don!!!

What comes in the Jongno Donburi tendon?

The tendon at Jongno Donburi (₩15,500) comes with fried shrimp, chili pepper, king oyster mushroom, enoki mushroom and eggplant. Maybe because it's cheaper than tendon at other shops, there was no fried seaweed or pumpkin!

They put the tempura on the lid plate and add an onsen egg (soft-poached egg) for ₩900. The egg has to be ordered separately from the tendon.

The thin batter is the charm of tendon! It was fried so well that I ate to the sound of crispy crunch crunch! The ingredients at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam are fresh, but the pre-seasoned rice has just the right saltiness, which lifts the flavor of the food even further.

Would I go back to Jongno Donburi Yeonnam?

I really enjoyed the sake-don at Jongno Donburi! It's the best sake-don I've ever had,, so I saved it as my very own solo-meal spot in Yeonnam >ㅁ< I knew the salmon at Jongno Donburi was good, but I never expected this much!! I recommend it as a salmon place in Yeonnam. When you're looking for a good place to eat alone in Yeonnam, or craving a tasty Japanese rice bowl, enjoy a great-value meal here~!