Apgujeong Rodeo Chinese bar with a hidden private room: Mirim Yangjang

Peking duck is the kind of pricey, delicious dish you only eat on special occasions, so when I heard about a good-value spot, I went straight away.

I'd only ever had Peking duck while traveling abroad, so this was actually my first time trying it in Korea. And it was so good.

Mirim Yangjang (미림양장) is a Chinese restaurant-bar in Apgujeong Rodeo that serves Peking duck alongside a wide range of Chinese dishes — hot pot, lamb skewers, guo bao rou (sweet and sour pork), mala tang, mapo tofu, kkanpunggi-style shrimp, yuchikan (crispy chicken salad), and shrimp toast.

The interior has a Hong Kong-like vibe, decked out in punchy colors — such a pretty space that the whole meal felt like a treat.

How long is the wait at Mirim Yangjang Apgujeong at 6:30pm?

I showed up at Mirim Yangjang Apgujeong around 6:30pm, right in the middle of dinner rush, so it was packed. Lots of group bookings and reservations kept the place buzzing. Still, I got lucky and was seated right away without waiting.

But right after that, more reservation and walk-in guests kept streaming in, and a waitlist formed quickly. I'd recommend booking ahead or avoiding peak hours.

Inside Mirim Yangjang Apgujeong: the interior and the hidden private room

Mirim Yangjang Apgujeong's interior, with its punchy red accents, was gorgeous — not the heavy, old-school feel you'd expect from a Chinese restaurant, but stylishly done. Lots of tables looked like group dinners, and there were plenty of friends and couples too.

What I thought was a mirror wall turned out to be a big door hiding a private room, which also had a group inside.

So there's this cozy hidden space, like a secret room. Even during a busy stretch, the tables had comfortable spacing and the areas were well separated, so I could eat at ease.

Mirim Yangjang's menu, drinks and QR code ordering

Mirim Yangjang has a wide range of Chinese dishes. I had Peking duck, one of their signature items, but the menu also includes hot pot, lamb skewers, guo bao rou, mala tang, mapo tofu, kkanpunggi-style shrimp, gurogyuk (braised pork), fried eggplant, yuchikan, and shrimp toast.

The drinks list is huge too — Tsingtao, Harbin, Cheongha, Jinro, black tea highball, pear highball, Mirim highball, and more — great if you want to have a drink or two.

Ordering is easy — just scan the QR code and order from your phone.

What half a Peking duck looks like at Mirim Yangjang

What I ordered at Mirim Yangjang Apgujeong was half a Peking duck. It came with tender meat, crispy-chewy skin, chewy dumpling-like wraps for wrapping, and side dishes.

I ordered the half Peking duck.

It had been a while since I'd had Peking duck, so I had high expectations — and the portion was generous and delicious.

Above all, it's so juicy and truly tender.

They serve the crispy, chewy skin alongside the tender meat, and eating them together was an amazing texture combo.

And it's not just the duck — you get a chewy dumpling-skin-like wrap to eat it with, and wow, that was genuinely delicious.

The portion was generous, so I ate without feeling shorted at all.

The duck itself felt like all the fat had been rendered out and replaced with moist juices, so it wasn't greasy and I never got tired of it.

The side dishes that came with it were also so good that I finished every last bit.

Duck fried rice: only if you order the duck

Mirim Yangjang's duck fried rice can only be ordered as a side dish when you order duck. I had it too, and it was genuinely delicious.

I'm not sure if it's oyster sauce or something else, but the seasoning was just right and it was so tasty.

Personally, one bite of the duck wrap, then one bite of fried rice, plus a bite of the bean sprout or cucumber side dish — that combo was perfect. The Peking duck and duck fried rice really went together, and eating them together made the meal even more satisfying.

Service at Mirim Yangjang: an owner who really looks after you

What stuck with me as much as the food at Mirim Yangjang Apgujeong was how kind the owner was. When I visit a restaurant, the taste matters, but how the staff or owner treats you can really change how I feel about the whole place.

The owner at Mirim Yangjang was really friendly and handled guests well. Some people waited a long time, and even ones who seemed about to leave ended up staying and eating thanks to the owner's warm attention. There seemed to be quite a few foreign guests too, and the owner's fluent English made conversation easy. Given the Apgujeong Rodeo location, it makes sense there'd be plenty of foreign visitors.

Why the name Mirim Yangjang is special

Mirim Yangjang carries on the name and story of its original branch in Busan. The word 'yangjang' apparently comes from old dressmaking shops that used to tailor women's Western-style clothes — the branch inherited that original shop's name and remodeled the interior into what's now Mirim Yangjang.

Bloom every day (绽放你的每一天)

Mirim Yangjang says it carries the message 'for your surprisingly beautiful everyday life.' They wanted to create a space where people could stop by amid a busy day, enjoy good food, and refresh.

It felt like a little getaway while eating a great meal — a place that stuck with me. Definitely somewhere I want to go back to.