Old-style vs signature pork cutlet near Seoul Botanic Park: Tteudon

This is Tteudon Magok Branch in Magok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, open 10:30 – 21:00.

Today I visited Tteudon Magok Branch, a Seoul Botanic Park-area restaurant that's said to serve really good pork cutlet. Locals love it, and so do the many people visiting Seoul Botanic Park, all for the sake of one dish: pork cutlet. It's said to be so good that it's ranked among the best restaurants near the park, so I went to see for myself.

Where is Tteudon Magok Branch?

Tteudon Magok Branch is on the 2nd floor of a building near Magok Station. It's very close to Magok Station on Line 5 and also to One Grove Mall, so I imagine many people stop by when visiting either.

Is Tteudon Magok Branch good for kids?

It's also known as a good place to go with kids. The inside was very spacious, and the seats were spaced far apart, so it looked safe and comfortable for eating with a child.

The dining room was clean, and it felt tidy throughout, so I already trusted the hygiene.

Even though I came very late in the evening, the place was full of people eating.

As I said, Tteudon Magok Branch has a reputation as a good place to eat with kids, and maybe that's why it even has a kids' room. There were plenty of toys inside and lots of things children would like.

What's at the Tteudon Magok Branch self-bar?

Another feature of Tteudon Magok Branch is the really wide variety of side dishes provided.

From soup to white bread to tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), you can help yourself to as much as you like at the self-bar, which was great.

The tteokbokki in particular is rumored to be very good, and it really looked springy and tasty, like what you'd get at a Korean snack bar.

It isn't just rice cakes, either. It had fish cake in it too, so it looked generous, and it looked so delicious just to look at!

For regular side dishes there were several options, starting with cucumber, then yellow pickled radish (danmuji), and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi).

You can also grab the tableware yourself, which was convenient in many ways.

There was even ice cream to help yourself to after the meal, and not just one flavor but four, so there's a wide choice.

The cups can be used to eat in the restaurant or to take outside, a thoughtful touch from the owner.

Of course, there are also several baby chairs, so people with young children can eat comfortably.

What did I order at Tteudon Magok Branch?

After some deliberation, I ordered the most basic menu item, the Tteudon cutlet, plus the old-style cutlet, which is even more of a classic.

I brought soup and tteokbokki from the self-bar.

Since it's unlimited at the self-bar, I ate it without expecting much, but it was honestly much better than I thought. The soup especially was rich and really thick, and delicious.

The tteokbokki was good too. You could really feel how chewy the rice cakes were, and the tender rice cakes were wonderful in the mouth.

Old-style cutlet vs Tteudon cutlet: which was better?

This time I tried the old-style cutlet, where you can really taste the cutlet itself. The crunch came through, and the meat inside was so tender it nearly melted in my mouth. I could see why Tteudon Magok Branch is known as a Magok pork cutlet hotspot.

But one step tastier than the old-style cutlet was this Tteudon cutlet.

Maybe because it's the main signature menu, the sauce was really sweet and delicious, and I understood why people love this cutlet so much. I've eaten pork cutlet at all sorts of places, but personally I haven't found one as good as Tteudon Magok Branch.

Making a cutlet burger with self-bar bread

On top of that, I made a burger with the self-bar white bread.

I stuffed the bread generously with cutlet, assorted vegetables and corn to make a burger.

One bite and it was already packed full, and it tasted great. I was so happy to be able to eat such a variety of flavors at a pork cutlet restaurant.

Final verdict on Tteudon Magok Branch

Finally, I brought back ice cream too, and with that sweet finish it was a perfect meal. It's called a top restaurant near Seoul Botanic Park, and there really is a reason. The cutlet is great, but I was satisfied in so many ways, and I think I'll be coming back often.