Sinchon Taiwanese restaurant, solo mala sliced pork: Cheonghwaweon

I went to Cheonghwaweon, famous as a Sinchon must-visit! They serve all kinds of Taiwanese food — beef noodle soup, dumplings, fried rice, chili shrimp — and this is my review after a delicious meal. I visited in September 2026.

Where is Cheonghwaweon, and what are its hours?

Cheonghwaweon is a Taiwanese restaurant at 10 Myeongmul-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, near Sinchon Station, open daily 11:00 - 22:00. Being close to the station makes it very accessible. There's plenty to do and lots of cafés nearby too, so there's a whole course of fun before or after Cheonghwaweon!

I visited on a weekday evening and the place was packed. I saw a lot of solo diners, along with friends and couples! There was such a wide variety of dishes people were eating that I could immediately tell this was a real Sinchon must-visit 😋

Inside Cheonghwaweon: is it comfortable for solo diners?

Inside, Cheonghwaweon had several 2-top and 4-top tables and felt quite spacious. Many people were eating solo at the 2-tops, while others were having drinks with friends. It was so busy that I couldn't get a proper photo of the tables.

Cheonghwaweon menu and prices

Cheonghwaweon's menu is very varied, with beef noodle soup, dumplings, guobaorou (sweet and sour pork), and fried rice. Prices aren't too high, around ₩10,000-20,000, making it a great spot to swing by for a light meal near Sinchon.

Side dishes at Cheonghwaweon: pickled mustard greens and peanuts

True to a Chinese restaurant, Cheonghwaweon serves pickled mustard greens (jjasai) and peanuts as basic side dishes. Those peanuts were so nutty and delicious that I finished them all before the main dishes even arrived 😋

Tasting the shumai and mala sliced pork at Cheonghwaweon

Shumai: pork and shrimp dumplings

Since it seemed like Cheonghwaweon's signature dish, I ordered the pork-and-shrimp shumai dumplings, and they came out fast. They were packed with meat and shrimp inside, and the shrimp meat especially was plump and delicious. The pork was also generous, tasting just as good as what you'd get in Taiwan ❤️

How spicy is Cheonghwaweon's mala sliced pork?

Since I usually eat beef noodle soup, I wanted to try something different this time, so I ordered the mala-sauced sliced pork. When it first arrived, the visual impact was overwhelming 👍 It's loaded with bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, bok choy, and pork, each ingredient thoroughly coated in mala sauce, so anyone who loves mala will really enjoy this.

It's much spicier and more intense than the mala tang I usually eat, so keep that in mind when ordering!

Rice is free at Cheonghwaweon

After one bite of the sliced pork, I immediately needed to order rice. Turns out Cheonghwaweon's rice is free! Being in Sinchon, where a lot of university students hang out, it felt like really great value. Eating the sliced pork with rice cuts the spice a bit haha

Why Cheonghwaweon is worth a second visit

Sometimes I crave something exotic, and if I'm craving Taiwanese food, Cheonghwaweon is somewhere I'd want to visit again. The next table was eating cream shrimp and fried rice, which looked amazing too, and I'm curious about Cheonghwaweon's signature beef noodle soup as well. Seeing so many solo diners tells you it's a genuinely good restaurant — if you're craving beef noodle soup or dumplings near Sinchon, go check out Cheonghwaweon.