Seoul Chinese restaurant for smoky pepper beef rice: Huhugwan

The weather has been getting warmer lately, so my mom, who loves exhibitions, suggested a Deoksugung Palace date. After seeing no fewer than three exhibitions, we went looking for lunch—and honestly, this place was legendary. It was just insanely good, so I really want to introduce it properly.

Huhugwan location and hours

Huhugwan is open weekdays from 11:00 to 23:00, and it is currently closed on weekends due to store circumstances. There is no break time, and last orders are at 22:30.

Huhugwan is very close to Deoksugung Palace and City Hall Station. The restaurant is on the second floor, so just head up one flight of stairs. There is a fairly large sign, so it is not difficult to find.

When you go up to the second floor, there is a sofa in front of the entrance where you can sit while waiting.

Even though it was a weekday, there seemed to be quite a lot of people waiting that day. We visited at 2 p.m., after the peak period, so we did not have to wait; there were about three or four parties inside.

It feels like arriving in Hong Kong

The atmosphere changes the moment you enter Huhugwan. I had booked it thinking it would be an ordinary Chinese restaurant, but it has such a strong Chinese-meets-Hong-Kong feel throughout.

My mom loved it too, saying it felt like we had come to Hong Kong, haha. The space is decorated that well, and I think the atmosphere would be especially nice at night.

There are also really well-set-up bar seats for solo visitors, so it looked great for dining or drinking alone too.

How to order at Huhugwan and what we chose

You order by QR code.

You can check the menu and order through the QR code on the table. When I visited, there was an event offering a soft drink or Chinese-style boiled dumplings for writing a review, as well as

a coupon for spring rolls or fried dumplings through the Huhugwan Naver follow-notification event. So we used the spring-roll coupon and ordered small yuringi (fried chicken with tangy sauce) for ₩13,000, pepper beef rice for ₩12,000, and seasonal cucumber salad for ₩8,000. The pepper beef rice and yuringi were said to be popular, so we gave them a try—and seriously, no regrets. Please order them.

Smoky pepper beef rice and black squid-ink yuringi

Food

The pepper beef rice came first, and this was really... delicious. My mom took one bite and immediately said it was so good, with that smoky wok flavor coming through strongly. But it was not overly spicy or intense—just gently spicy—so even people who do not handle spicy food well can enjoy it without 부담. My mom saved Huhugwan on Naver Map right after eating this. It was that good.

The yuringi came second. It was so delicious with the sauce... My mom kept saying, how can the coating be this crisp while the chicken is so tender?

And something interesting: Huhugwan's yuringi has a black squid-ink coating. At first glance, I wondered if it had somehow burned, but once I tried it, it seemed even tastier—and the unusual color made it more memorable. Personally, I would order both main dishes again on my next visit to Huhugwan.

The seasonal cucumber salad we ordered as a side had wonderfully crunchy cucumber and a lightly sharp, tangy sourness in the sauce, so it paired perfectly with the yuringi and pepper beef rice. Ordering one side like this makes it feel as if you can keep eating the mains forever. Oh, and there is danmuji (yellow pickled radish) at the table too, which is nice to have a piece of whenever things feel rich.

These are the complimentary spring rolls we received through the Naver follow-notification event. You get three in total; I ate them without expecting much, but these were delicious too—crispy outside and tender inside. They are something I would want to order as a side next time.

A quick Deoksugung Palace lunch

What was especially great was how quickly Huhugwan brought out the food. Waiting for lunch can be quietly stressful, so I loved that the dishes came fast. That said, nothing felt slapped together: everything was genuinely delicious when we tried it, with a lovely wok-char flavor too.

My mom is actually quite discerning about food, so I get very nervous choosing restaurants to go to with her. But that day, we were both extremely satisfied. My mom kept saying it was delicious and said she wanted to return with her friends. The staff were kind and the atmosphere was great, so I want to come back with my boyfriend too.

If you are looking for a good restaurant near City Hall Station after an exhibition at Deoksugung Palace, I think Huhugwan has it all: food, atmosphere, and accessibility. After an exhibition near Deoksugung Palace, after a date around City Hall Station, or whenever you want a delicious Chinese lunch, I truly recommend giving Huhugwan a try.