Anguk French restaurant with Changdeokgung view lunch: Le Cochon

If you like the combo of a good meal plus a walk afterward, Le Cochon (르꼬숑) in Anguk is your spot.

When the weather's nice, staying indoors the whole time feels like a waste, so I go looking for Anguk restaurant date spots with a good view. This time I visited Le Cochon, a French restaurant right near Changdeokgung Palace. Best of all, the lush green scenery around Changdeokgung spreads out beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, so I was in a great mood the entire lunch.

French lunch plus a walk through Changdeokgung — the perfect Anguk date course on a nice day

What kind of restaurant is Le Cochon?

Le Cochon started out in Samcheong-dong in Jongno and has been serving French cuisine for a long time, now settled in Anguk. It's a French restaurant in Anguk listed in the Blue Ribbon Survey 2026, led by an executive chef who trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York and worked at places like Eleven Madison Park and Le Cirque... 🥺 Maybe that's why, even though it's rooted in classic French cooking, it doesn't feel heavy or old-fashioned — the vibe is more relaxed and approachable.

Why the window seat wins: Changdeokgung through floor-to-ceiling glass

Honestly, my favorite thing about Le Cochon was the view. The whole restaurant is lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, so during the day the green scenery around Changdeokgung and the open sky stretch out beautifully. The day I visited, the sky was so pretty I kept glancing out the window while waiting for food. It's especially lovely in a season like now, with good weather.

The interior itself isn't an over-the-top fine dining design — the view outside pretty much creates the whole mood of the space. If you're looking for an Anguk restaurant date spot and atmosphere or view matters to you, this is a pretty big plus.

There's a large table in the center, making this a good pick if you're looking for a group restaurant near Gwanghwamun or Anguk. There was actually a group dining there when we visited.

The menu is organized by price tier, and we went with the ₩59,000 per person course, adding onion soup and beef bourguignon.

What the 59,000 won lunch course includes, from amuse-bouche on

Once seated, the amuse-bouche, salad, and bread and butter come out first. Overall this lunch felt less like hardcore, experimental French cooking and more like familiar ingredients presented in a French way — so it'd feel comfortable even if you're bringing someone who doesn't usually go to fine dining. The amuse-bouche came out as several bites beautifully arranged on one plate, and it was fun picking through them before the meal properly started.

Onion soup: the French classic at Le Cochon

Personally, I love it when a French restaurant serves onion soup. The sweet, deep flavor of caramelized onions with cheese melted on top makes for a rich, warm bowl. It was even better eaten with bread. 🤍

The look of it is classic French through and through — one of the dishes that matched Le Cochon's atmosphere best out of everything we ate that day.

The mains: lamb rack and pork collar steak

For the main, we had lamb rack and pork collar steak. The outside was cooked crisp and the inside stayed moist, so the texture contrast was great. I ordered the lamb rack medium rare.

The sauce was rich in true French style, so eating the meat together with the sides was much tastier than the meat alone. The plating overall was clean without feeling overdone, which also made it great for food photos.

Dessert at Le Cochon: brownie and rooibos tea

The dense, fudgy brownie with raspberry jam, vanilla ice cream, and a tuile was the perfect ending. The rooibos tea was served at just the right temperature and paired really well with the dessert. The final course wrapped things up on a happy note. ☕️

Le Cochon's real strength: a walk through Changdeokgung and Bukchon

And here's the real reason I'd recommend this as an Anguk date course: you can walk straight from lunch to Changdeokgung and Bukchon.

I had to head back to work so I went toward Gwanghwamun, but Le Cochon is about a 5-minute walk from Anguk Station Exit 3, and Changdeokgung, Bukchon Hanok Village, Insadong, and Samcheong-dong are all nearby. So having lunch here and then walking straight to Changdeokgung is genuinely a great combo. On a clear-sky day like this, walking a loop around Changdeokgung after a good meal beats just heading to a café afterward. It'd work well for a date, of course, but also for taking your parents out to eat, or just as a Jongno restaurant to try while sightseeing in Seoul.

Is Le Cochon worth it? Final verdict

Le Cochon isn't a place I'd judge on the food alone — it's the combo of French lunch, the Changdeokgung view, and a walk around Anguk that made the whole experience so satisfying. The scenery through the windows was even better than expected, so if you can, I'd recommend visiting during the day. 🌞👍 It's a French restaurant with prices on the higher side, so it's not a casual everyday meal, but it fits well as an Anguk restaurant date spot for an anniversary or a day you want a bit of atmosphere. Recommended: visit on a nice day, have a slow lunch, and walk over to Changdeokgung.