Seosomun Chinese restaurant for boiled dumplings and tofu: Huhugwan

The weather's been so nice lately that after a Gwanghwamun date we headed to City Hall — and wow, City Hall turned out to be way more fun than I expected?! There was so much to see inside City Hall itself, and out on the lawn there was an outdoor library, event booths, everything.

So say you're on a Gwanghwamun-City Hall Station date and need to find a good restaurant?! But you want something a little special? Here's a no-fail option!

Where is Huhugwan near City Hall Station, and what are its hours?

Huhugwan is a Chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor of 2 Seosomun-ro 11-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul. It's open weekdays 11:00–23:00, with a break time from 4–5pm, last order at 22:30, and closed on weekends.

📍2nd floor, 2 Seosomun-ro 11-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

• Weekdays 11:00–23:00
• Break time 4–5pm
• Last order 22:30
• Closed weekends

Inside Huhugwan: a Hong Kong mood on the second floor

Huhugwan's interior is packed full of Taiwanese and Hong Kong style Chinese mood. There are bar seats and sofa/table seats, and it's an open kitchen setup, so you get a peek at the flame shows too.

It's on the 2nd floor, and just walking up already feels like clearing immigration and landing in Hong Kong.

Apparently there's a wait during weekday lunch since it's popular with office workers! We went on a weekday early evening, so lucky us.

They didn't forget the Chinese-region mood inside either~

There are bar seats and sofa/table seats, and with the open kitchen setup you get glimpses of the flame shows here and there — Chinese food's gotta have that wok-fire flavor, right?🔥🔥

What we ordered at Huhugwan: mapo tofu rice, garlic scape fried rice and dumplings

Huhugwan's menu is checked via QR code, and the two of us ordered three dishes: mapo tofu rice, garlic scape fried rice, and Chinese-style dumplings. They also have a Naver review event, love it~~ and how do you resist a draft Tsingtao? Here's what we ordered!

The mapo tofu rice here has a mala fragrance that makes it genuinely distinctive and popular, so it was a must-order, and I picked the garlic scape fried rice because reviews were good haha. The Chinese-style dumplings got added because my partner loves them so much~ Every menu item looked delicious so it was tough to choose. I want to try the braised pork belly, beef noodle soup, jajangmyeon and more too! Guess I'll have to come back multiple times... or bring more people.

The basic side dishes and Taiwanese apple cider got set down right away! Those roasted peanuts seemed freshly roasted since they were warm — even better. Finally, all three dishes arrived! The table was completely full~

The visuals were seriously grand~ The color and shine were on point!

The dishes came out pretty quickly! The dumplings came first and one or two disappeared fast haha.

Chinese-style boiled dumplings with chili oil sauce and cilantro

Huhugwan's Chinese-style dumplings come topped with cilantro, but the scent isn't too strong, so even my partner who can't handle cilantro gave it a try. The spicy chili oil sauce really kicks the flavor up.

The portion when it first arrived! It's topped with cilantro but the scent isn't strong, so even my cilantro-hating partner gave it a try (I think there might've been a no-cilantro option when ordering, but I guess we didn't set it). I figured dumplings would just taste like dumplings, but that sauce really elevates it — the combo of spicy chili oil sauce and cilantro is great~

Garlic scape fried rice: the safe choice everyone likes

Huhugwan's garlic scape fried rice has glossy, fluffy grains with bok choy mixed in, making it a dish nobody dislikes. It's a bit oily, but the bok choy cuts the heaviness.

Glossy, shiny, fluffy grains, just delicious garlic scape fried rice~ Honestly, doesn't this visual scream 'can't be bad'? It's a crowd-pleaser fried rice, no haters here haha.

A safe dish everyone eats well, so definitely throw one in! It's a little oily, but the bok choy helps cut the heaviness... you'll scrape the plate clean, no worries.

Mapo tofu rice: 8 small tofu cubes, 1 whole block and mala numbness

Huhugwan's mapo tofu rice comes with white rice on the side, and the mapo tofu itself arrives in a hot pan so it stays warm a long time. It has 8 small tofu pieces plus one whole large block of tofu, and you have to cut the big piece yourself.

The mapo tofu I was most excited about!! It comes with white rice, and the mapo tofu arrives in a hot pan so it stays warm a long time! 8 small tofu pieces plus one large block — it was my first time having mapo tofu with a whole big block, and cutting it myself felt novel haha.

You just spoon the sauce and tofu over the rice like this! The sauce tasted more mala than I expected — you don't notice it at first, but after you swallow, that mala numbness hits hahaha. Anyone who loves mala will really love this!

The tofu was firm and springy and the sauce was so good it went down easily. The rice was on the firmer, slightly dry side, but since you eat it with sauce like an Indian curry, it actually pairs much better than soft rice would!! The sauce also had mushrooms, vegetables, and meat braised down nicely into it, so the flavor and texture were both great.

Three dishes for two people: was it enough food?

Ordering mapo tofu rice, garlic scape fried rice, and dumplings for two at Huhugwan honestly left us super full. The mapo tofu rice portion in particular is large.

Three dishes honestly made us super full... (the mapo tofu rice portion is big!!) Next time I'll definitely add a noodle dish!!

This wasn't some Korea-adapted Chinese restaurant — it had that distinctive Taiwanese/Hong Kong Chinese feel, and I loved it so much! Both the mood and the taste~ Highly recommend for dates and for office worker meals!