Outdoor terrace chicken and soup tteokbokki near Nambu Terminal

With that cool breeze blowing morning and evening these days, doesn't a beer-and-chicken session out in the open air on the way home sound perfect? I visited Kkanbu Chicken Nambu Terminal Branch, a neighborhood fixture that has held its spot right outside Exit 1 of Nambu Terminal Station for a full 12 years — and is also famously a longtime favorite of Shinsegae chairman Chung Yong-jin!

From the outdoor terrace seating to the spacious indoor area perfect for group gatherings, plus the trusty chicken-and-soup-tteokbokki combo — let me walk you through it all!

Location and parking at Kkanbu Chicken Nambu Terminal Branch

This Seoul outdoor-terrace chicken spot sits practically at the exit of Nambu Terminal Station on Line 3, so public transit access is ridiculously convenient. It's also an easy walk down from the Seoul Arts Center.

Getting there

🚶 Come out of Exit 1 of Nambu Terminal Station on Line 3 and it's right in front of you — about as easy to find as it gets!

Parking info

🚗 The building's basement parking costs a whopping ₩9,000 per hour! Do not head down there. Use the on-street parking right in front of the restaurant instead. If there's no space on the street, just ask a staff member — they'll kindly point you to an open spot right away.

Outdoor terrace and roomy indoor seating

The first thing that caught my eye when I arrived was the wide-open outdoor terrace! Sitting out there tearing into chicken on a nice-weather day like this practically melts your fatigue away, doesn't it?

Step inside and the interior is much bigger and more spacious than it looks from the outside! It's decorated cozy and clean like a café, so it's no surprise there were tons of group reservation customers — office dinners, club meetups, you name it.

And here's the eye-catching detail I spotted in one corner of the restaurant: a photo and autograph confirming a visit from Shinsegae chairman Chung Yong-jin. Given his reputation as a serious foodie who's been a regular here, my confidence in the chicken shot way up before I'd even taken a bite, haha!

What we ordered and how it tasted

We ordered Kkanbu's forever bestseller, the boneless fried chicken, along with soup tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes in broth) to cut through the richness, plus a zero-calorie cola!

🍗 Crispy boneless chicken (₩22,000)

As befits Kkanbu's signature bestseller, the coating gleams a gorgeous golden color right off the bat. Bite in and you get a loud "crunch!" followed by a burst of juicy thigh meat. The outside is crackly like a chip and the inside is soft — perfect for those days when you can't be bothered to pick around bones.

Dip it in the accompanying sauce and you won't be able to stop.

🥘 Soup tteokbokki (₩13,000)

Spicy-sweet, tangy broth generously loaded with chewy, soft rice cakes and fish cakes! The spicy tteokbokki broth cuts right through any greasiness the fried chicken might have.

Take a piece of the crispy boneless chicken and dunk it deep into the tteokbokki broth — try eating it like that, almost like a second fried dish!

The spicy-sweet sauce soaks into the crispy coating and the umami explodes.

Add a glass of ice-cold, fizzy zero-calorie cola (₩3,500) and you've got the perfect finish to a healing kind of day!

Overall verdict

Right outside the subway station, so it's super easy to set as a meetup spot, plus a terrace where you can enjoy chimaek (chicken and beer) in a cool breeze, and chicken good enough to have earned Chung Yong-jin's stamp of approval! If you're looking for a reliable, can't-go-wrong chicken restaurant near Nambu Terminal, or trying to figure out where to go for an after-party once a show at the Seoul Arts Center wraps up, I'd recommend this place.

💡 Who should visit Kkanbu Chicken Nambu Terminal Branch

• Anyone who wants a cool autumn chimaek session right by Exit 1 of Nambu Terminal Station
• Anyone who loves the sweet-and-spicy combo of crispy-outside-juicy-inside boneless chicken and spicy soup tteokbokki
• Anyone looking for a comfortable spot with large indoor seating for group office dinners
• Anyone who wants a light stop for good chicken after catching a show at the Seoul Arts Center