Rainy-day solo lunch in Yeonnam-dong: salmon belly tarako don, Jongno

I went to Yeonnam-dong for a late Friday lunch after a while ◡̈ I stopped by a nearby stationery pop-up to look around, and right as I came out it suddenly started pouring 🥹

I still hadn't had lunch, so while looking for somewhere in Yeonnam-dong I could eat alone at a leisurely pace, I ended up at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam 〰️

I've always loved salmon, and it looked like a good spot to eat solo, so I went in — and that day, on top of the food, the vibe inside on a rainy day was seriously good!

Location and hours of Jongno Donburi Yeonnam

✅ Jongno Donburi Yeonnam is at 9 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, B1. It's a basement, but it feels more like a semi-basement since it has a window, so it's easy to find if you just walk straight from Hongik University Station toward the Yeonnam-dong alleys.

⏰ Weekdays 11:30–21:30 / Weekends 11:30–21:00. On weekdays there's a break time from 16:00 to 17:00, so keep that in mind :)

I visited around 2pm on a Friday. That's right after the lunch peak passes, so it was also a good time to eat alone at a relaxed pace!

An interior that looked even prettier in the rain

Honestly, the first thing that caught my eye when I walked in wasn't the food — it was the interior.

The whole place is done in a deep wood tone, and with the rain falling that day, the atmosphere was insane..

It felt kind of like ducking into a small alley restaurant while traveling in Japan to escape the rain.

Outside it was gray and rainy, but inside there was that warm wood feeling that made it even cozier. I already thought it looked pretty in photos, but seeing it in person on a rainy day, I liked it even more.

There are regular 2-4 person tables plus a separate single seat that's comfortable to sit at alone, so if you're looking for a solo dining spot in Yeonnam-dong like I was, this place should be an easy visit!

Menu information

⬇️ Tap for the high-resolution version!

There's everything from donburi like katsudon, ebi don, and gyudon to udon, nabe (hot pot), and salmon dishes, so I spent a while agonizing over it haha. That day in particular I was stuck between cold udon and salmon right until the end, when the staff member recommended the salmon, saying it was especially good today. Once you hear that, you can't just pass it up..❗️

I already love salmon, and hearing that it was especially good today made me change my mind right away haha. I was just going to get sake-don, but then I spotted sake tarako-don on the menu!

It's a sake-don topped with salted pollock roe (백명란, baengmyeongnan), and I was told it was a limited menu item available only at the time of my visit, so since I was ordering anyway, I went with this one ✔️ Salmon belly tarako don, ₩26,000.

The menu also mentioned a way to eat the sake-don together with onsen tamago (hot spring egg), and I was curious, so I added the egg too. I'd never dipped salmon in egg before, so I wondered what that would even taste like 🤔 ✨

Salmon belly tarako don, ₩26,000

And then out came the salmon belly tarako don!

First off, the salmon was so much thicker than I expected, which I loved. It wasn't sliced thin and draped over the rice — each piece was pretty sizable and thick. Salted pollock roe sits in the middle, and wasabi comes on the side too. Once I tasted it, I immediately understood why the staff said the salmon was good today.

The salmon belly in particular was seriously delicious 🧡 It's the fatty part, so it was really rich in the mouth, and with that thickness you get a proper bite and texture.

Personally I prefer salmon sliced thick like this over super-thin slices, and the fatty salmon belly flavor came through perfectly here, very satisfying..♡ I love sake-don and have had it plenty of places, but the salmon here definitely stuck with me ✅

Salmon + salted pollock roe — isn't it too salty?

And then the salted pollock roe I was curious about!

Honestly, while ordering I wondered — wouldn't salmon plus pollock roe be too salty? But you don't mix it all in, you just add a little at a time, however much you want, so it worked out fine❣️ First I tried salmon with just rice, then added wasabi, then tried a bit of the roe on top!

Personally the salmon itself was tasty enough that salmon plus rice alone was already great, but adding the salted pollock roe now and then brought a salty savoriness that gave it a different feel! If you usually like myeongnan (salted pollock roe), the sake tarako-don is worth trying.

This was my first time having sake-don with pollock roe, and they went together better than I expected.

Onsen tamago add-on, ₩1,500

And the onsen tamago I added! It was listed on the menu as a way to enjoy the dish, so I ordered it, but honestly it was the combination I was most curious about.

I popped the yolk and dipped the salmon in it — oh, this is unique! Completely different from eating it with soy sauce and wasabi!

The salmon itself is already fatty and rich, and adding the soft-boiled egg on top makes the whole thing softer and even richer overall. I like the base sake-don flavor too, so instead of dipping in the egg every time, I alternated between soy sauce and wasabi and the onsen tamago, and I liked switching back and forth like that ❗️

If you normally like soft-boiled eggs, adding one might be worth trying ◡̈ especially if you like that rich, mellow flavor ~!~

The rice is already seasoned

Also, the rice itself is already seasoned, so I didn't need to pour in a lot of soy sauce from the start.

Instead of pouring soy sauce over the rice, I lightly dipped the salmon in it, and that was just right.

Since it's a dish you eat together with salted pollock roe, I'd recommend not seasoning it strongly from the start — try it first and add a little at a time!

Basic side dishes like pickled radish and a clear soup come out with the meal too, and it was nice to take a sip of the soup now and then between bites of salmon.

A lunch made even better by eating slowly, alone

And here's why that day stuck with me especially ✔️ It was around 2pm on a Friday, so the busy lunch rush had mostly passed, it kept raining outside, and I was sitting alone in the wood-toned restaurant slowly eating salmon that I love — that time just felt so good 🫧

These days even while eating I feel like I have to be doing something, always ending up watching YouTube and eating fast, but that day I just put my phone down for a while and ate one piece at a time, slowly. Leisure,, healing,,🥺

I wasn't with anyone, but I wasn't bored at all — if anything, being alone made it feel like I was properly resting ((( feelings,,)))

Choosing one delicious thing to eat might seem like nothing special, but that day it really felt like a gift to myself. The rainy Yeonnam-dong mood on top of that probably made it feel even more that way :)

Jongno Donburi Yeonnam, wrapped up

I was torn right until the end between cold udon and sake-don, but switched to sake-don after the staff recommendation — and in the end, that was such a good call..!

Above all, the salmon was really good that day, and the thick, fatty salmon belly especially suited my taste. If you usually like sake-don, I'd recommend trying the salmon dishes, and if you also like pollock roe, the limited sake tarako-don is worth ordering 👏

Dipping salmon in onsen tamago was also a combination I tried for the first time, so that stuck with me too. The staff was friendly, the atmosphere was good, the salmon quality was great, and it's comfortable to eat alone — so I'd recommend it for a date, for Yeonnam-dong Japanese food, or if you're looking for a solo dining spot in Yeonnam-dong!

I told myself I'd come back for cold udon next time.. but if the staff says "the salmon's good today" again, I'll probably order sake-don again! haha