Seongnam chicken restaurant with nurungji whole chicken: Seowoone

Today I want to recommend a chicken restaurant near Jeongja Station — Seowoone Jangjakguyi (서우네 장작구이). I visited Jeongja Station with a friend after a while and found this famous local chicken spot in the neighborhood. Even on a weekday evening it was packed haha! Check out the details below!

Where Seowoone Jangjakguyi is and when it opens

Seowoone Jangjakguyi is at 17 Neutiro 87beon-gil, 1st floor, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, near Jeongja Station. It's 871m from Jeongja Station Exit 6, about a 15-minute walk, so if you don't have a car, taking the bus might be a good idea too ☺️

• 📍 Location: 17 Neutiro 87beon-gil, 1st floor, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do
• 🕖 Hours: Mon–Fri 16:30–22:30 / Sat–Sun 16:00–22:30
• ✔️ Group seating available, takeout, delivery, reservations, Wi-Fi

The storefront and the outdoor tables

This is the exterior of Seowoone Jangjakguyi. The sign that says 'Air conditioning is running at full power' was such a tempting, clever line haha. Oak charcoal-roasted chicken sounded so promising, and the place looked pretty spacious, able to hold a lot of people. Anyway, I was getting excited.

Seeing red tables and chairs set up on one side, it looked like they open outdoor seating when the weather's nice — so romantic. Also, there's a ₩2,000 discount for takeout, so definitely keep that in mind if you're nearby and considering takeout.

They said the place may close early once ingredients run out. That just shows how popular this true local favorite is.

The whole chicken roasting outside, visible from outside the shop 🍗 Chicken roasted like that just can't be bad.

Inside Seowoone Jangjakguyi: seating and atmosphere

Once you step inside, you'll notice the interior has a slightly different, more refined vibe than what you'd expect from a typical chicken restaurant. The owner seemed meticulous — the tables and decor pieces all around felt very clean and well maintained.

There were basic 4-person tables with a decent amount of space between them, so it felt clean and comfortable. And just like the sign outside promised, the air conditioning was really powerful, which was great in summer.

We visited on a weekday Monday, and as the evening went on the place filled up completely 😳😳😳 It really must be a well-known local outdoor-seating favorite! Popular across all ages — families, friends, work dinners — a true Jeongja Station favorite.

There was also this cute charcoal-roasting-themed decor piece in one corner of the store, so I snapped a photo haha 📸

Seowoone Jangjakguyi menu and prices

Let me introduce the menu at Seowoone Jangjakguyi. As you'd expect from a whole chicken restaurant, the signature dish is whole chicken, with variations like nurungji (scorched rice) whole chicken, cheese whole chicken, seasoned whole chicken, half-and-half, and garlic cheongyang cream. A big plus here — you can also choose a sampler option, which is great. Beyond the whole chicken menu, there were plenty of great side dishes too, like soup-based dak-bal (chicken feet), potato pancake, cream pasta, and eomuk-tang (fish cake soup). Even after finishing the chicken, there was so much more to eat that we felt like we could just keep sitting there instead of going anywhere for a second round. And honestly, that's exactly what we did haha.

Nurungji whole chicken ₩22,000

• Eomuk-tang (fish cake soup) ₩12,000
• Cass draft beer 500ml ₩5,000
• Fanta ₩2,500

We ordered the signature best-seller, the nurungji whole chicken, and my friend got a draft beer while I got a Fanta. Then partway through we added an eomuk-tang too, yum yum. I happened to be off alcohol that day, so sitting in front of a delicious nurungji whole chicken while resisting beer was genuinely hard.

The basic side dishes at Seowoone Jangjakguyi. As expected of a chicken place, they bring cabbage salad and pickled radish. There was also a tasty sauce and yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi). The drinks and beer came out first too.

What the 22,000-won nurungji whole chicken tastes like

The ₩22,000 nurungji whole chicken is a direct-fire whole chicken roasted over oak charcoal for over an hour and a half. The owner told us directly that it's roasted long over oak charcoal, and just looking at it, it seemed so delicious. It was also plumper and bigger than I expected, which was nice.

The smell was seriously insane 😳 Our nurungji chicken, served on a hot stone plate — let's try it. When you pull it apart with tongs and a fork, the melting chicken visual is amazing.

Haha, look at the cross-section of the chicken. And it's really delicious when you dip it in the seasoned sauce and mustard(?) sauce that came with it. They keep bringing more sauce too.

How to get the most out of the nurungji

Can you see the nurungji (scorched rice) layered underneath? I really love nurungji, and there was so much of it, and it was so savory to eat together with the crispy scorched bits — such a highlight, honestly a highlight. Tip: don't eat it right away — let it sit a bit longer so it gets more crispy, then eat it together with the chicken later ☺️ And true to being a 'medicinal' whole chicken, it had healthy ingredients like jujube and beans, so you can eat as much as you want without any guilt hahahaha.

Eomuk-tang (fish cake soup), 12,000 won

We ordered the ₩12,000 eomuk-tang (fish cake soup) after finishing the chicken. We were already full but craving something soupy, so we gave it a try. For the price, the amount of fish cake was really impressive. The broth was also nicely spicy, just right. A perfect dish to pair with drinks. For an extra ₩2,000 you can add udon noodles — why didn't I order that? I'm supposed to be a smart woman haha, guess I was just too full that day.

That's how satisfying and generous the eomuk-tang at Seowoone Jangjakguyi was — enjoyed it well until the very last bite 🫡 I left without drinking a single sip of alcohol but had a truly satisfying meal, haha. I'll come back the next time I visit Jeongja!

Is Seowoone Jangjakguyi worth the trip?

• Well-known local chicken restaurant that's busy even on weekdays
• Clean, spacious, and comfortable interior
• The charcoal-roasted whole chicken is very delicious
• Plenty of great side dishes beyond the whole chicken
• ₩2,000 discount available for takeout
• The owner and staff are friendly