Jongno 3-ga date spot with alcohol-free basil tomato highballs: Refine

What is Refine Euljiro Myeongdong like?

Refine Euljiro Myeongdong is a dining bar built around fusion Korean dishes, with a wide range of drinks. It's close to Jongno 3-ga Station and great for a stroll along Cheonggyecheon, so it's a perfect date spot :)

With so many drinks, it's also a good place for an evening get-together! I came as a couple, but plenty of groups were there for company dinners and meetups haha. The view is especially good, so if you're looking for a nice-atmosphere restaurant in Jongno or Euljiro, I recommend Refine Euljiro Myeongdong!

• Location: 2F, 67 Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–23:00, weekends 17:00–23:00
• Break time: 14:30–17:00

Getting to Refine Euljiro Myeongdong and the atmosphere

Refine Euljiro Myeongdong is near Jonggak Station, Jongno 3-ga Station and Euljiro 1-ga Station, so it looked walkable from all three! The closest are Jonggak Station or Euljiro 1-ga Station. It's on the 2nd floor of the building :)

We went on a Friday evening! Isn't the view gorgeous?! The moment we walked in, we could see outside through the big windows and the mood was so good that I thought we'd picked a great date spot.

Window seats and shared tables: is it noisy?

We sat at a window seat haha. The regular tables are shared tables that fit several people, and I saw groups having get-togethers there!

The place isn't huge, but sitting by the window it wasn't very noisy! There are lots of offices around Jonggak and Euljiro 1-ga stations, and it looked good for company dinners too.

Can you order drinks if you drive? Non-alcoholic highballs

At Refine Euljiro Myeongdong, an alcoholic drink is a required order in the evening! Luckily every highball has a non-alcoholic option, so even we, who came by car, could order without worry. I'd been wondering how to order drinks, so that was a relief!

Besides highballs there's a variety of traditional Korean liquors, and since the place is known for fusion Korean food, I recommend trying one! You can even do traditional liquor tastings haha.

Refine Euljiro Myeongdong had various events, like a stamp card and a review event! You can even get a free dessert, so be sure to join in :)

Menu recommendations at Refine Euljiro Myeongdong: yukhoe and perilla oil cream pasta

We ordered one yukhoe (seasoned raw beef, ₩29,900) and one perilla oil cream pasta (₩21,900). Refine has lots of fusion Korean dishes and so many looked delicious that it was hard to choose. But I'm sort of on a diet, so we picked two!

Hanwoo (Korean beef) tripe hotpot, ₩39,000. Honestly, the one I agonized over was the tripe hotpot..! Hanwoo tripe hotpot, imagine! But because of the diet, I held back TT

So yukhoe instead! I thought it'd be a light bite, but it turned out to be a generous portion, which was great haha.

There are plenty of other fusion Korean dishes too. It seemed like a good restaurant to visit with a foreign friend!

Basil tomato highball vs. kiwi highball

We ordered two non-alcoholic highballs, a basil tomato highball and a kiwi highball. The best at Refine Euljiro Myeongdong is the basil tomato highball... it was the best highball I've ever had haha.

How are the portion and flavor of the yukhoe?

Then the yukhoe arrived! The portion was really big. The sauce served with it was refreshing too and went so well with the yukhoe!

How was the perilla oil cream pasta?

The perilla oil cream pasta was ready right away too haha. With that view, the food looked even more delicious!

And it's a top cream pasta place!! It looked pretty and tasted so good. Everything seemed delicious overall, so I wanted to come back and try other dishes.

The topping is enoki mushrooms, and there were lots of mushrooms in the pasta too! I love mushrooms, so I enjoyed it so much!

Would I recommend Refine Euljiro Myeongdong for a Jongno or Euljiro date?

Thanks to Refine Euljiro Myeongdong, we ate well and had a lovely time haha.

If you're looking for a bar and date spot near Jongno or Euljiro, I recommend visiting Refine :)