Gwanghwamun private room restaurant: ₩60,000 beef course at Hwarodam

Today I'm introducing a great course-meal spot near Gwanghwamun! Just so you know, they have actual private rooms here, so if you're looking for a Gwanghwamun room restaurant, this is my recommendation. (Room photos are at the very bottom!)

Where is Hwarodam? 5 minutes on foot from Gwanghwamun Station Exit 8

Hwarodam is a beef yakiniku course restaurant on the 2nd floor of 9 Saemunan-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, a 5-minute walk from Gwanghwamun Station Exit 8. We got off at Gwanghwamun Station and walked over, and the location was really convenient.

The interior isn't huge, but it has a bar table and 4-seat tables, and it was clean! It felt like the perfect spot for a drink and some meat after work on a weekday.

And there's a full window looking straight outside, which gave the place a nice atmosphere 👍

What comes in the ₩60,000 Hwarodam Course?

What we ordered at Hwarodam was the most popular option, the Hwarodam Course, priced at ₩60,000. Since it's a beef course restaurant in Gwanghwamun with dishes featuring top-grade wagyu, there's a lot to choose from — the Hwarodam Course is a filling set with salad, squid sashimi, mixed beef platter, seasonal soup, fried shrimp, maki and buckwheat noodles.

As an appetizer we got hancho-choe (seasoned squid sashimi), and the sweet-and-tangy sauce combined with the tender texture of the well-prepared squid really got the appetite going.

The salad portion was really generous, which made it good to snack on between bites of meat 👍👍

Three dipping sauces and green tea salt

Three sauces come out for dipping the beef, and the one in the middle is green tea salt — not salty at all, just clean and refreshing, and it went really well with the meat. Apparently the yakiniku sauce is imported directly from Japan.

Mixed beef platter with chicken specialty cuts and scallops

A piping-hot charcoal grill and a plate of today's main, the mixed beef platter, came out. The plating alone was gorgeous, haha. And it wasn't just beef — it came loaded with chicken specialty cuts, scallops and vegetables too, so there was plenty of variety to enjoy.

Grilling the meat right in front of the hot charcoal was pure art just from the smell alone...

They must use really good beef, because it practically melted with barely any chewing needed... it was genuinely delicious!!

The seasonal soup is odeng-tang (fish cake soup)

The seasonal soup in the Hwarodam Course is odeng-tang (fish cake soup), and the quality was on a completely different level from the odeng-tang you get at a typical bar. The fish cakes were really springy and delicious, and it had konjac in it too — it tasted like something you'd genuinely get in Japan.

There was none of that chaotic BBQ-restaurant feel — we could just chat with our group and eat comfortably. And dipping the meat in the sauce made it taste even better. This is a genuine meat spot in Gwanghwamun.

The chicken specialty cuts felt unfamiliar at first, but once we tried them, they had their own distinct charm. Grilled until crisp, they had a chewy, springy texture that was really appealing 🙌🙌

Scallops came out too, so it felt like eating grilled shellfish by the seaside for the first time in a while~! The distinctive ocean flavor and chewy texture were amazing. I think the good charcoal makes it grill even better.

Fried shrimp and a highball at Hwarodam

We were already getting full from all the meat, but the plump fried shrimp came out one per person. It's not frozen — they fry raw shrimp fresh and crispy, and it went perfectly with beer!

So in the end we ordered a highball too, haha. The owner was confident about the highball here, and it really was delicious! 👍👍

To finish, seaweed maki and a mini portion of buckwheat noodles rounded things out with some carbs, so we finished up nice and full. It really felt like being treated to a proper course meal — very satisfying.

Adding Australian lamb chop to the course

But the meat here was so good, haha, that we went ahead and added the Australian lamb chop too!

The owner was really proud of the lamb, and after trying it, I got it... there wasn't a hint of gamey smell, just a nutty, savory flavor left behind — the lamb is genuinely a recommend too.

Hwarodam's private rooms and tented group seating upstairs

Head up one floor at Hwarodam and there are private rooms like this. And inside these nicely atmospheric tents, group seating is available too, so it seems like a great spot for hanging out with friends or hosting a company dinner.