Lamb biryani and palak paneer at Namaste, a Dongmyo Indian restaurant

I went to explore Dongmyo, the legendary secondhand market in Korea that occasionally showed up as a filming location on shows like Infinite Challenge and I Live Alone. It was my first time visiting, and since it was the weekend, the whole stretch from the exit all the way to Dongmyo Station was packed with street stalls and people — honestly as lively as any big downtown area haha.

Before browsing the Dongmyo market, we wanted to fill up first, so we stopped by a nearby Indian and Nepalese restaurant, Namaste Dongmyo Branch. I'll share our review of the palak paneer curry (curry with spinach and cottage cheese, which I love), samosas, lamb biryani, and mango lassi — all from a Blue Ribbon-listed restaurant that nails authentic flavors even though we've never actually been to India or Nepal. I'll also share some Dongmyo parking tips.

• Location: 18 Jibong-ro, 2nd floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00 – 22:00 (last order 21:00)
• Parking: 344 Jongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Daewoo Diobil building parking recommended)

Where to park near Dongmyo Station: why Daewoo Diobil beats Changil

If you're driving to Namaste Dongmyo Branch, I'd recommend Jongno Daewoo Diobil Parking Lot (344 Jongno), right in front of Dongmyo Station. The lot we actually used, Changil Private Parking Lot, was pretty pricey — ₩3,000 for the first 20 minutes, plus ₩1,000 per additional 10 minutes.

My wife and I had been meaning to check out the Dongmyo flea market we'd only heard about, and since it's well served by subway and buses, most people just take public transit. But we weren't feeling great that day, so we drove instead. Parking near Dongmyo Station turned out to be both pricier and harder to find than expected. Public lots are basically impossible on weekends since vendors show up early in the morning to claim spots.

We ended up parking at Changil Private Parking Lot — ₩3,000 for the first 20 minutes, ₩1,000 per additional 10 minutes — and while walking toward Dongmyo Station,

we spotted Jongno Daewoo Diobil Parking Lot! I really wished we'd parked there instead, because right in front of Dongmyo Station, this lot offers a discount coupon rate of ₩1,000 per hour, or without the coupon: the first 10 minutes free, ₩2,000 after 30 minutes, then ₩2,000 per additional hour — way cheaper than I expected ㅠㅠ.

I also occasionally saw recent Naver reviews recommending the Changsin 1st Community Center parking lot. I have to wonder if those reviewers actually tried it themselves — the gate wasn't even open, so parking there is simply not possible. Anyway, we parked at the pricier Changil Private Parking Lot and headed to Namaste Dongmyo Branch.

Inside Namaste Dongmyo Branch: 2nd-floor room and menu

Namaste Dongmyo Branch is an Indian and Nepalese restaurant you reach by walking through a ground floor packed with street stalls and heading up to the 2nd floor. The interior itself gives off strong Nepal and India vibes.

I'd never been on a weekday, so this was what it looked like on a weekend — we came on a Sunday, and every corner around Dongmyo Station had vendors with stalls set up, even in the empty spaces in front of the building. The ground floor of the building housing Namaste Dongmyo Branch was also packed with countless stalls, so my wife and I enjoyed slowly wandering and browsing before heading up to the 2nd floor and going inside.

There was even a signed photo, apparently from when mountaineer Um Hong-gil visited in the early days haha.

It's also been on the Blue Ribbon list, the go-to list for good restaurants in Korea for over 10 years now, so it definitely felt like an established, well-regarded Nepalese-Indian specialty restaurant!

Every piece of the interior felt like it had been brought straight from India or Nepal. There were plenty of tables toward the back, arranged almost like a group room, for larger parties.

Every dish, every small prop and accent — from outside, it just looked like an ordinary building, but the atmosphere inside Namaste Dongmyo Branch felt, even to someone who's never actually been to India or Nepal, like it had been decorated authentically in the local style.

Once we settled in, they handed us the menu, so we looked it over and ordered right away.

Since I like Indian and Nepalese food and have eaten it before, I could usually guess what a dish would taste like just from the menu — but Namaste Dongmyo Branch had a lot of dishes I didn't recognize, and felt more specialized in genuine Indian and Nepalese cooking. The menu was so extensive I had a feeling one visit wouldn't be enough to discover everything the place has to offer, so we went with dishes we'd tried before.

We ordered a wide range: palak paneer curry with spinach and cottage cheese (₩13,500), lamb biryani (₩14,000), garlic naan (₩3,000 × 2), masala papad (₩4,500), 2 samosas (₩5,000), and mango lassi (₩5,000).

The food didn't take that long to come out — while my wife and I were chatting, the dishes started arriving one by one.

Masala papad, 4,500 won — salty for Korean tastes

I expected the masala papad (₩4,500) at Namaste Dongmyo Branch to be something like naan or a thick roti-style dough, but instead it came as three thin, cracker-like rice wafers along with vegetables tossed in masala seasoning. You're meant to pile the veggies on the wafer and eat it in bites.

As for the taste... well, there weren't many reviews of this dish online, and now I get why. It's on the salty side for Korean palates. The masala spice flavor might not be to everyone's liking if you're not used to spices, but I can handle spices fine, so that wasn't really an issue for me — it was more that the crispy wafer itself was seasoned pretty heavily ㅠㅠ. Made me think that in Nepal's high-altitude regions, where salt used to be scarce, food generally tends to be seasoned on the saltier side.

Lamb biryani, 14,000 won — generous lamb with no gamey smell

Next up was the lamb biryani (₩14,000). The color was noticeably more intense than biryani I've had at other curry places, so I was curious about the taste.

I quickly served myself a portion, and there was so much lamb mixed in that every spoonful came with a generous helping — felt like they were pretty generous with the portions. My very first bite had that foreign long-grain rice texture combined with nuts and a mix of spices — a flavor of biryani I hadn't experienced in Korea before.

It's really more accurate to call it rice tossed in spices than a fried rice, given how strong the spice aroma was. It tasted a bit salty at first, but once it cooled and I tried it again slowly, the seasoning felt just right, and it was fun how the different aromas spread through my mouth. The lamb especially had no gamey smell at all, which was a nice, clean touch.

Palak paneer curry, 13,500 won, with garlic naan

What I was looking forward to most was the palak paneer curry with spinach and cottage cheese (₩13,500), along with two pieces of garlic naan (₩3,000 each). The naan was clearly different from the naan you'd buy at a regular grocery store — it had a satisfying texture that tore apart in clean layers, and even eaten on its own, it had great flavor.

The palak paneer curry, my favorite spinach curry with cottage cheese, had no trace of that raw spinach smell at all — it was nutty and clean, almost like eating a soft, mild spinach pasta. Since Indian and Nepalese curries are traditional dishes that vary a lot from restaurant to restaurant, it's genuinely fun to compare the flavors at different places haha.

Samosas (2 pieces), 5,000 won, and mango lassi, 5,000 won

The 2-piece samosa order was ₩5,000. My wife loved samosas during her trip to India and has enjoyed them occasionally in Korea whenever she spots them — think of it as a large triangular fried dumpling filled with potato, curry, and various spices; just two of them left us feeling pretty full. It wasn't particularly spicy, salty, or sweet — if I had to compare it to something familiar, it was like a curry potato croquette, just denser, giving it a bit more of an impactful flavor.

Mango lassi, ₩5,000. We wrapped up our curry marathon with a refreshing mango lassi. It had just the right amount of tanginess without being too sour, smooth, with the mango's sweetness mixed in — a clean finish that reset the palate after Namaste Dongmyo Branch's more intensely flavored dishes.

Is Namaste Dongmyo Branch worth a visit?

Personally, Dongmyo has all kinds of great-value spots — ₩1,000 toast, ₩1,500 sikhye (sweet rice drink), and more. But since it's close to Dongdaemun, there are also quite a few authentic Indian, Nepalese, and Central Asian restaurants run by people from those countries. So if you're ever craving curry, Namaste Dongmyo Branch is a solid Dongmyo restaurant worth trying haha. Thanks for the meal.