Chinese restaurant near Changgyeonggung with 3 kids: Cheonghwawon

Where to eat with kids after visiting Changgyeonggung Palace?

During the Chuseok holiday, after touring Changgyeonggung with the kids, we walked over to Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch. We'd taken the subway with the kids for a Changgyeonggung and Changdeokgung outing haha. Being holiday season there were a lot of people, but the autumn leaves were just starting to turn, and the palace scenery in fall was so pretty 🍁🍂

After thoroughly exploring Changgyeonggung, we were so hungry haha. We walked with the kids over to Daehangno looking for somewhere good to eat, and the place we landed on was Cheonghwawon.

Cheonghwawon is on Daehangno near Hyehwa Station, so it's close by after seeing Changgyeonggung, and I'd heard their doosakmyeon (knife-cut noodles) was especially good, so I was curious. 😄 I'd had doosakmyeon elsewhere before, and the distinctive noodle strands — shaved off the dough with a knife — are really appealing 👍 The noodles themselves are thicker and chewier than regular noodles, and the sauce seeps right into the ridges and grooves of the noodle, so eating it with the sauce makes the flavor feel so much richer! I wanted to taste that again, so I came back! 😄

Inside Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch: atmosphere and seating

Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch runs across two floors, with an exotic interior that combines tile decoration and lighting. Stepping inside, the atmosphere was so pretty 🖤❤️

The tile decoration, the lighting, the exotic interior all coming together made it feel like eating a meal abroad for a moment — a real local vibe.

The 2nd floor at Cheonghwawon in particular had tables spaced out generously, which made it good for a family meal haha. We were really, really hungry after wandering around Changgyeonggung for so long, so we ordered a bunch of things haha.

How to order at Cheonghwawon, and what we ordered

At Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch you could order from the table using a kiosk haha.

Everything looked delicious so it was hard to choose haha. After much debate, here's what we ended up ordering haha.

• Yubal-doosakmyeon (knife-cut noodles with meat sauce)
• Shrimp fried rice
• Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
• Shumai
• Crystal chive dumplings

Complimentary sides: peanuts and zha cai

While waiting for our order at Cheonghwawon, peanuts and zha cai (pickled mustard root) came out first. I figured they were just side dishes to nibble on, but they were surprisingly tasty too 👍 The peanuts were nutty and salty enough that I kept reaching for more, and the zha cai was crunchy with its own salty, savory kick, good for picking at one piece at a time while waiting for the food. Even the basic side dishes had that authentic feel, which got me even more excited for the main dishes haha.

How were Cheonghwawon's yubal-dosakmyeon knife-cut noodles?

Yubal-doosakmyeon is a mixed-style knife-cut noodle dish with meat, sauce, and chili all combined — sweet, salty, and packed with umami. This was the dish I was most looking forward to at Cheonghwawon!

The meat piled generously on top of the noodles gave off a savory aroma, and the deep flavor of the sauce along with a subtle heat from the chili all came through together.

And of course, doosakmyeon!! Since the noodles are shaved off the dough with a knife, the thickness isn't uniform, with some thicker parts, so the texture changes a little with every bite — that's the charm!

Chewy and springy, with the sauce clinging right onto the noodles, so every bite delivered the full sauce flavor ❤️ Because the sauce had soaked right into the noodle itself, even the noodles alone weren't bland — they were delicious. If you like doosakmyeon, I think you'd understand why so many people seek out this dish.

Which Cheonghwawon dim sum did the kids love?

Shumai: the dim sum our youngest called "so pretty!"

Cheonghwawon's shumai is packed with shrimp and pork, and its pretty colors caught the kids' attention the moment they saw it. Even our youngest looked at it and said "Whoa, pretty!" before digging in haha.

Biting into one, it was packed full of shrimp and pork inside, giving it a really nice bouncy, chewy texture. There was the clean, slightly sweet flavor unique to shrimp, and the wrapper and shrimp texture went well together, making it an easy, unintimidating dim sum for the kids to eat. The kids loved the pretty color combo of the yellow wrapper and the flying fish roe on top haha.

Crystal dumplings: our eldest's favorite dish

Cheonghwawon's crystal chive dumplings are packed full of chives, and personally, this was the dish our first child liked the most.

With so much chive inside, biting into it gave a crisp, fragrant texture. Since there was so much chive, it wasn't greasy at all, and the chive's fragrance came through with an overall light, soft chew that kept me reaching for more 👍

Xiaolongbao: the soup dumplings our middle child loved

Cheonghwawon's xiaolongbao is dim sum all about the warm broth inside, and our second child really loved these!

Xiaolongbao is all about the broth inside, right? haha

The moment you bite into Cheonghwawon's xiaolongbao, warm broth spreads out moistly inside 🥟 The wrapper was soft, and inside you could taste the rich, savory depth of the meat, so our second child ate them with real delight haha. If your kid likes xiaolongbao, this dish is a must!! haha

Should you order shrimp fried rice at Cheonghwawon with kids?

Cheonghwawon's shrimp fried rice was generous with shrimp and not too heavily seasoned, making it good to share with the kids. We ordered it worrying the noodles and dim sum alone wouldn't be enough for the kids, and it turned out to be really tasty too ^^

Cheonghwawon's shrimp fried rice was great because it had really generous shrimp, and the rice grains were fluffy and not overly seasoned, so it was good to share with the kids 👍 The shrimp had a nice springy bite, and the savory aroma of fried rice on top made it feel like a palate reset between bites of noodles or dim sum!

Going to a Chinese restaurant with kids can be tricky because of spicy dishes, but shrimp fried rice was a dish the whole family could eat together, so I was glad we ordered it 😄

Is Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch good for a family meal with kids?

Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch has a diverse menu ranging from noodles to dim sum to fried rice, so it was nice that the adults could enjoy the tasty noodles and dim sum while the kids ate shrimp fried rice or xiaolongbao alongside. If you want to try something a bit different in Chinese food with kids after a play in Daehangno or an outing to Changgyeonggung, Cheonghwawon is worth stopping by.

Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch: location, hours and parking

• Address: 36 Daemyeong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 1st–2nd floor
• Location: Near Hyehwa Station Exit 4
• Hours: Daily 11:00–22:20
• Last order: 21:50
• Parking: No dedicated lot / nearby paid parking
• Floors: 1st and 2nd floor