City Hall Chinese restaurant for a solo after-work dinner: Huhugwan

Today I went to Huhugwan, a popular spot near City Hall Station. It's been a while since I've had a Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant, so I was really looking forward to it~ Everything feels exciting when you're heading there straight from work haha. My steps were so light haha.

Getting to Huhugwan near City Hall Station, and opening hours

Huhugwan is a 1-minute walk from Exit 10 of City Hall Station (Lines 1 and 2), on the 2nd floor of the building at 2 Seosomun-ro 11-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul. It's open Monday to Friday, 11 am to 11 pm, closed on weekends, and takes reservations and group bookings.

This is the entrance. You have to go up to the 2nd floor, and it totally looks like a Chinese restaurant, doesn't it?? There are Hong Kong-style posters on the way up the stairs~ It feels like I'm in Hong Kong 🤣 Suddenly I want to watch a Hong Kong movie...

What are the solo seats and the interior like at Huhugwan?

The entrance door at Huhugwan is red, and since I came alone, I sat at a solo seat in front of the kitchen. The kitchen is semi-transparent, so you can see the staff cooking, which was a little reassuring~ Such an attractive red, right~ Red you just can't separate from Chinese restaurants~~

It was evening, so there were lots of reservations, with reservation signs on the tables~ The tables are green and the lights above are red, which was a clever touch~ Huhugwan also sells draft beer and has the tap machine, so it looked so refreshing~

What I ordered alone at Huhugwan

That day at Huhugwan I ordered a beer that's like a somaek (soju-beer mix) made with Yantai kaoliang liquor, mapo tofu rice with extra cilantro, and water spinach stir-fry. I originally wanted the cucumber salad, but it was sold out~~

Deciding what to eat is really hard~ At lunch lots of office workers come, and at dinner there are many dishes that work as drinking snacks, but I still wanted a proper meal with rice, so I think that's why I ordered this way.

How the Tsingtao draft beer with Yantai kaoliang liquor tastes

The Tsingtao draft beer with Yantai kaoliang liquor at Huhugwan had a kaoliang aroma in the finish, which was clean and nice. A staff member brought the beer first, so I took a sip, and Tsingtao draft with Yantai kaoliang.. wow~ It was just one glass, but two would have gotten me drunk haha. It's a taste you can't get anywhere else, so I'm glad I ordered it~~

Then the mapo tofu came out first~ I usually like tofu dishes, but at Chinese restaurants I tended to skip it because of the fragrance? It's also plant protein, so I decided to try it.

Is the Huhugwan mapo tofu rice's aroma overwhelming?

The mapo tofu at Huhugwan was so soft that the tofu came apart with a spoon, and the sauce wasn't strong, so it was great with rice. It came in a heavy iron bowl that kept it warm the whole time, which I think made it taste even better.

I drank some Tsingtao, looked at the moody Hong Kong-style photos, mixed the mapo tofu into the rice and took a spoonful~ The look and smell already pass~ I never used to eat mapo tofu at Chinese restaurants, but from now on I can order it haha.

Water spinach stir-fry and extra cilantro

The water spinach stir-fry at Huhugwan had cheongyang chili peppers (spicy Korean green chilies) in it but wasn't spicy at all, and it went down easily and paired perfectly with the beer. I figured only mapo tofu would feel a bit lacking, so I ordered it... I can't resist vegetables haha.

I love cilantro, so I put the extra cilantro into the mapo tofu, and wow, they go together surprisingly well haha. The amount of rice was right for me, but if it's not enough you can ask the staff and they'll bring more~~ When you get thirsty from the beer, you can drink the barley tea in front of you, and it was one of those teas you keep sipping~

A spring roll for the last sip of beer

A lovely Friday evening table~ I ate plenty.. and with one sip of beer left, I finished with a spring roll, a fried dish haha. You probably don't need me to tell you about freshly fried food.

Huhugwan also runs a Naver coupon and a review event, so give them a try when you go. There are art museums and lots of things to see and do around City Hall, so if you want Chinese food in the evening, I hope you enjoy a tasty meal at Huhugwan~ There's a reason it's a popular spot at City Hall Station! Next time I'll try other dishes~~