Eggplant shrimp sando at Hwapoem, a Seoul Forest Chinese restaurant
In short
Hwapoem is a Chinese restaurant specializing in eggplant dishes, on the second floor of a building on Wangsimni-ro 5-gil in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, a 4-minute walk from Seoul Forest Station. On a weekday reservation right at opening, the table held eggplant shrimp sando at 34,000 won, charcoal-grilled beef jjajangmyeon at 12,000 won and a side of jjamppong broth at 1,000 won, with yurin sauce chosen for the fried dish. The shrimp-stuffed eggplant sando is hard to find at other Chinese restaurants, so Hwapoem makes an easy pick for a Seongsu date.
Good to know
- Location
- 2F, 9-16 Wangsimni-ro 5-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
- Getting there
- 4-minute walk from Exit 5, Seoul Forest Station
- Hours
- 11:00-21:00
- Break time
- 15:00-17:00
- Eggplant shrimp sando
- 34,000 won
- Charcoal-grilled beef jjajangmyeon
- 12,000 won
- Jjamppong broth
- 1,000 won
- Value set
- 1 mini dish + 2 mains + 1 canned drink
- Seating
- Private rooms available (reservation recommended)
as written by the visitor on Aug 13, 2026
Today I'm introducing Hwapoem, a place I visited while on a date around Seoul Forest when I wanted something a little different for Chinese food. Usually when I think of a Chinese restaurant, jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, and sweet and sour pork come to mind first, but this place specializes in eggplant dishes, so even the menu felt special! We ordered eggplant shrimp sando and charcoal-grilled beef jjajang, and also added jjamppong broth on the side.
Where Hwapoem is and when it opens
Hwapoem is a Chinese restaurant in Seongsu right next to Seoul Forest, at 2F, 9-16 Wangsimni-ro 5-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It's a 4-minute walk from Exit 5 of Seoul Forest Station. Hours are 11:00-21:00, with a break time from 15:00-17:00.
Hwapoem's second-floor exterior and interior
Hwapoem sits on the 2nd floor of a building~~ Especially around Seongsu, there are so many good restaurants that it's hard to decide what to eat, right? This place has unique eggplant-based dishes on top of the usual Chinese menu, so I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a Seongsu date spot.
Apparently there's usually a wait! I made a reservation for the weekday opening time, so luckily there was no waiting haha.
I expected a typical Chinese restaurant interior, but stepping in, it was such a stylish space..! Decorated overall in warm tones, it felt sleek yet cozy — really nice for a date.
The soft lighting over the tables made the whole place feel even more atmospheric. Hwapoem also has private rooms haha. I'd recommend booking a room in advance.
You can't have Chinese food without an apron, and sure enough there were some hanging on the wall. The basic side dishes were danmuji (pickled radish) and pickled chili peppers, and each table had soy sauce and chili powder.
Hwapoem's menu: how many eggplant dishes are there?
This is Hwapoem's menu. The value set looked like great cost performance (1 mini dish + 2 meals + 1 canned drink).
There are so many eggplant dishes~~ From fried eggplant with yurin sauce, eggplant shrimp sando, and eggplant pork sando, to fish-fragrant eggplant with flower bread, eggplant lovers would have a lot of fun picking and choosing haha. Besides these various eggplant dishes, there was also mapo tofu rice bowl, jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, mala bibim noodles, and more.
What we ordered at Hwapoem and what it cost
- Eggplant shrimp sando ₩34,000
- Charcoal-grilled beef jjajangmyeon ₩12,000
- Jjamppong broth ₩1,000
Charcoal-grilled beef jjajangmyeon, 12,000 won
You can't visit a Chinese restaurant without jjajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodles) haha. True to its name, it's jjajangmyeon loaded with beef.
The jjajang sauce was rich, and the charcoal-grilled beef added a smoky flavor, giving it a taste quite different from regular jjajangmyeon.
I like sprinkling chili powder on my jjajangmyeon, so I did that again this time and it was great as always! The sweet flavor of the jjajang combined with the spicy kick of the chili powder made it taste even better haha. Such a delicious Chinese restaurant near Seoul Forest~~
Jjamppong broth on the side, 1,000 won
What's great about Hwapoem is that they sell jjamppong broth separately for just 1,000 won! I love jjamppong broth so I was really happy haha. Having a sip of jjamppong broth alongside the jjajangmyeon and the fried dishes made the meal feel much cleaner.
Eggplant shrimp sando, 34,000 won
The dish I was most looking forward to that day was this eggplant shrimp sando! It's minced shrimp stuffed between slices of eggplant, coated in batter and fried until crispy.
When you bite into the eggplant shrimp sando, you can see how packed it is with shrimp~~ Rather than just eating fried eggplant on its own, the springy texture of the shrimp meeting the soft eggplant made it so much tastier haha.
Along with the eggplant shrimp sando, there was also a generous portion of plain fried eggplant. You can choose between yurin sauce or fish-fragrant sauce — we went with the refreshing yurin sauce! Yurin sauce is sweet, tangy, and cooling, so it went really well with the fried food. If you order the eggplant shrimp sando, I'd recommend going with yurin sauce.
On our way out, I noticed autographs from celebrities on the wall — a real, legit Chinese restaurant near Seoul Forest!
Final verdict: is Hwapoem worth it for a Seongsu date?
What made Hwapoem most special was being able to try a variety of eggplant-based dishes alongside the standard Chinese menu. In particular, the eggplant shrimp sando — with minced shrimp stuffed inside eggplant, fried crispy, and paired with yurin sauce — was a dish you don't easily see at other Chinese restaurants, which made it even more fun.
Above all, the restaurant's stylish, cozy atmosphere made it a perfect spot for a date around Seoul Forest or Seongsu! If you want to try something different in Chinese food, I'd recommend it!
Where it is
2F, 9-16 Wangsimni-ro 5-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 성동구 왕십리로5길 9-16 2층
