Sunday lunch wait at Seocho Station chicken restaurant Seocho Jeonggye

Hi, this is Yudi. Today I'm trying Seocho Jeonggye. Nom nom.

Summer's over and it's proper autumn weather now, with big temperature swings that can wreck your condition. So I dragged Hodu along for some body-recharging food at Seocho Jeonggye.

Where Seocho Jeonggye is and when it opens

Seocho Jeonggye is on the 1st floor of the Mido Building at 20 Beopwon-ro 1-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Hours are 11:00–22:00, with a break time from 15:00–17:00, and last order is at 21:00.

You get to Seocho Jeonggye by coming out exits 7 or 8 of Seocho Station and heading into the alley. Lots of cars parked out front too.

The exterior is done in wood, so it's easy to spot at a glance. The sign's lettering has that whole good-restaurant energy going on..!

How long is the wait at noon on a Sunday?

There's a separate outdoor waiting area to the left of the entrance. We got there at noon on Sunday and it was already full, so we put our name in on Catch Table and waited outside. It's busy on weekends, so I'd call ahead before visiting.

Here's the inside. The name Seocho Jeonggye is spelled out big on the wall. The lighting isn't harsh and there's a lot of indirect lighting, so even in daytime it feels calm.

This photo is from when we walked in — packed full, buzzing with people. Quite a different vibe from the photo before, right?

There's a separate liquor fridge by the entrance. Lots of variety — beyond soju and beer, I spotted plenty of traditional Korean liquors too.

What's on the menu at Seocho Jeonggye

There are a lot of office workers around Seocho Station, so they sell solo-friendly meal options too. Probably mostly ordered on weekday lunches, I'd guess.

Seocho Jeonggye's main menu item 1: dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken). I looked up reviews and most people rave about the dakbokkeumtang. Next to it is stir-fried rice with chicken cartilage (serves 2), which you can only add on when you order dakbokkeumtang.

Main menu item 2: dak han mari (whole chicken hot pot). The chicken comes out bigger than in samgyetang, so if you want to add porridge or kalguksu noodles into a clear broth, dak han mari is the one to recommend!

There's a good range of side dishes for drinks too! Salt-grilled chicken cartilage, chicken muchim (spicy tossed chicken), chicken jeon (pan-fried chicken), and chicken tteokgalbi. Feels like they've made everything possible with chicken.. 🐔

And the traditional liquors I mentioned earlier — Igangju, Myeongjak Bokbunja, Chusabaek, and more names I'd never heard in my life.. If it hadn't been daytime I would've ordered one on the spot 🥹🥹 We ended up ordering dakbokkeumtang plus chogyeguksu!

Side dishes and what comes with the meal

According to Ttogajip, you can tell a real great restaurant by tasting its banchan (side dishes). This place was exactly that! The kimchi and mu-sobaki (stuffed radish kimchi) came out — the kimchi is crisp and refreshingly spicy like geotjeori, and the mu-sobaki is sweet, hitting that perfect sweet-and-salty combo.

Even the water isn't plain water. Seems like it's brewed tea — not too strong a scent, just a subtle aroma that got my appetite going before the meal.

How big is the dakbokkeumtang for two people?

The big moment: the dakbokkeumtang! Whoa, is that pot size for real??? And we're eating this between two people? (Quietly ignoring that the menu said serves 2-3.) It comes fully cooked, so you can dig in right away!

First bite was breast meat. I prefer white meat over thigh, so I gave Hodu the legs and took the breast. But why is the breast this tender?? The soft texture soaked in that sauce so well, I couldn't help but scrunch my face up.

Daeun added wings and potatoes on top! The chicken's delicious on its own, but the potatoes soaked up the sauce so well too — eating them together is a texture explosion. The sauce is spicy enough that your mouth starts to tingle a bit, and right around then, the chogyeguksu arrived.

One portion of chogyeguksu is this big?

Wait, why is every dish here this huge.. We definitely ordered one portion of chogyeguksu. You're going to say I took the photo too close up, aren't you?

That's one chopstick-full I picked up, and this whole bowl is what came out. Boss, this much doesn't fit in a person's stomach 😭 Beyond the sheer amount, the sweet peanut-sauce broth and chewy noodles pair perfectly, cooling down your tongue after the spicy dakbokkeumtang! And conversely, eating the chogyeguksu makes you want to go back for more dakbokkeumtang. Infinite loop 🥹🥹

Gotta chug the broth, so move that hat out of the way.

In the end, the two of us cleared both the dakbokkeumtang and the chogyeguksu. A tough challenge even for big eaters.

There's sikhye (sweet rice drink) on the way out too. Gotta have dessert~ This was my review of Seocho Jeonggye, a Korean restaurant near Seocho Station where the taste, portions, and overall composition never fell short. If you ever find yourself around Seocho Station, make sure to stop by!