Hyehwa Chinese restaurant weekend dinner window seat: Cheonghwawon
In short
Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch is a two-floor Chinese restaurant on the main Daemyeong-gil strip in Jongno, Seoul, a three-minute walk from Hyehwa Station. On a weekend evening at 5:30pm, a second-floor window seat came with four dishes — Sichuan-style beef knife-cut noodles at 10,500 won, xiaolongbao at 9,500 won, mala tofu at 10,500 won and shrimp fried rice at 9,500 won — with the mala tofu tasting like a spicy mapo tofu carrying a doenjang note and the Sichuan noodles spicier than expected. Portions at Cheonghwawon are big enough to leave leftovers, so two people sharing is the right way to order.
Good to know
- Location
- 1st and 2nd floor, 36 Daemyeong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul (3-minute walk from Hyehwa Station)
- Hours
- Daily 11:00–22:20, last order 21:50, no break time
- Ordering
- Tablet ordering at the table, prepayment
- Sichuan-style beef daosaomian (knife-cut noodles)
- 10,500 won
- Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
- 9,500 won
- Mala tofu
- 10,500 won (rice included)
- Shrimp fried rice
- 9,500 won
- Side dishes
- Peanuts, cabbage and zha cai (self-serve refills)
- Price reference
- ₩9,500 ≈ $6.8 · ₩10,500 ≈ $7.6 (2026-09-21)
as written by the visitor on Sep 21, 2026
Here's a place I stopped by while visiting Hyehwa this weekend! If you're tired of greasy Western food, pay attention 🫶🏻
Where is Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch, and when is it open?
Cheonghwawon Daehangno Branch is a Chinese restaurant in Jongno-gu, Seoul, using both the 1st and 2nd floors at 36 Daemyeong-gil. It's open daily from 11:00 to 22:20, last order at 21:50, and there's no break time — so it seems really convenient!
It's a building that uses both the 1st and 2nd floors, and it's about a 3-minute walk from Hyehwa Station! It's right on the main street so you don't even need to go into an alley — super convenient haha.
Weekend 5:30pm: getting a second-floor window seat
We came for an early dinner at 5:30, but since it was the weekend, almost all the seats were already full!
We went up to the second floor!
There were all kinds of people there — families, friends, couples — and there was even a church gathering?! Since the menu items are enjoyable for people of any age, it seems like a great place to bring any kind of group haha.
Since the weather was nice, we sat by the window :) You can order via the tablet on the table, and you just prepay!
What we ordered at Cheonghwawon and what it cost
- Sichuan-style beef daosaomian (knife-cut noodles) ₩10,500
- Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) ₩9,500
- Mala tofu ₩10,500
- Shrimp fried rice ₩9,500
By the way, apparently if you order the mala tofu, it comes with rice included! I didn't know that and ordered rice separately ㅠㅠ Just a heads up for anyone ordering 🥹
The basic side dishes are peanuts and cabbage + zha cai! If you run out, you can just help yourself to more. The zha cai and cabbage were really tasty...!!!
Xiaolongbao, 9,500 won — soup dumplings that hold their broth
🤍Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) — ₩9,500🤍 That seems to be what they call xiaolongbao here!! The dumplings are so affordable ,, 🫶🏻❤️
The xiaolongbao come out packed full of broth 🫶🏻 So much anticipation... 😍
You all know how to eat these, right?! Put it on a spoon, tear it with chopsticks, and the dumpling broth comes out like this. Drink that first, then dip it in soy sauce💖
Dip that flattened dumpling right into the soy sauce!! Wow, this was seriously delicious,, the broth was rich and so tasty, and there was plenty of meat filling inside too!! No weird gamy taste at all, just really good ❤️
Sichuan beef knife-cut noodles, 10,500 won — how spicy is the mala?
❤️Sichuan-style beef daosaomian — ₩10,500❤️ I'm not really a fan of beef noodles so I tried the Sichuan-style version! Isn't this such good value?! First time seeing daosaomian for ten thousand won that's this filling,,
Loads of noodles and loads of meat too! But it had a lot more mala flavor than I expected, and it was pretty spicy!! Might be tough for people who can't handle spice ㅜㅜ
The noodles were super chewy and bouncy❤️ As someone who loves mala, this was the best for me!! 🫶🏻
Big portion, and the meat had no gamy taste so it was delicious haha. But if you're not good with mala spice, be careful ❤️
Shrimp fried rice, 9,500 won — the mild dish for a spice-shy partner
💛Shrimp fried rice — ₩9,500💛 I ordered this fried rice thinking the mala tofu wouldn't come with rice included..!! I went with my partner who can't eat mala, and he ended up eating this whole thing by himself lol
The rice was fluffy, the egg was tasty, and the shrimp was bouncy — it all went so well together! 💛
Mala tofu, 10,500 won — spicy mapo tofu with a doenjang note
❤️Mala tofu — ₩10,500❤️ Big portion and great visuals too! It said it had a mala flavor, but personally I thought it was more like a slightly spicy mapo tofu! It had a lot of that doenjang (soybean paste) flavor, spicy mapo tofu vibes haha.
It went really well with the fried rice❤️ This mala tofu is totally my style, so I'd love to have it again next time,, 🥹 But next time I'll eat the rice that comes included and order a different dim sum instead of fried rice!!
One more tempting shot for good measure... ❤️ If you love Chinese food like I do, you'll definitely love this flavor!! 🫶🏻
Four dishes for two at Cheonghwawon — how big are the portions?
Ah, the portions were seriously huge... ㅋㅋㅋ ㅜㅜ We wanted to eat more but we were too full and had to leave some behind,, If you're coming to Hyehwa for a date and you're sick of greasy Western food, definitely come to this Chinese restaurant instead!! ❤️
Where it is
36 Daemyeong-gil, 1st and 2nd floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 종로구 대명길 36 1층, 2층 청화원 대학로점
