Evening date at a Seoul Korean restaurant by City Hall: Tanbaek

The weather was so nice today that Bami and I decided to have a quick little date near his office right after he finished work haha.

We used to walk Jeongdong-gil all the time back when we were dating, and it was just as beautiful now as it was then. I'd also heard there's a hot new restaurant on Jeongdong-gil these days, so we went to check it out — Tanbaek, known as the go-to kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) spot near Deoksugung and on Jeongdong-gil!!!! Let me get right into the review 🤎

Maybe because the weather was so nice, the street was packed with people hahaha. Jeongdong-gil is always beautiful no matter when you visit. Walk along the alley and Tanbaek comes into view!

Where is Tanbaek, and what are its hours and parking?

Tanbaek is at 37 Jeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, 471m from City Hall Station Exit 12. Hours are 11:00–21:00, with a break from 15:00–17:00, and Sunday hours are 11:00–17:00.

• 📍 Address: 37 Jeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• ⏰ Hours: 11:00–21:00 / Break 15:00–17:00, Sunday 11:00–17:00
• 🚊 Transit: 471m from City Hall Station Exit 12
• 🅿️ Paid parking available: ₩5,000 for the first 60 minutes, ₩1,000 per additional 10 minutes, max ₩40,000 (Kakao T Jeongdong lot, Ewha Girls' High School paid lot, Hansan Building)

What does the name Tanbaek mean?

Tanbaek. Just the name alone felt weighty, and looking it up, it turns out tanbaek means to speak plainly and honestly, holding nothing back — reflecting the restaurant's intent to serve honest food made with clean, good ingredients 🫢..

Ground-floor bar counter full: what the second floor is like

True to its reputation as one of the go-to spots near Deoksugung, the bar seats on Tanbaek's ground floor were completely full 🥺 I thought we might have to wait, but thankfully they showed us upstairs 🤎

It had a similar but distinct feel from downstairs. It's a refined, striking wooden building, and I thought it suited Tanbaek's image really well!

Once we sat down, they brought us cold water and kimchi! Time to pick our menu 😙

Ordering by QR code at Tanbaek, down to makgeolli by the glass

Besides the paper menu on the table, Tanbaek uses QR-code ordering, and the QR menu actually had more items. Interestingly, they even had makgeolli (rice wine) by the glass!

This was the menu sitting on the table! Since you order by scanning the QR code, I scanned it and found there were even more items hahaha.

Before coming I'd read a bunch of reviews, and everyone raved about the kalguksu, the warm pork, the dumplings — pretty much everything, so we agonized over what to order 🤪 We went with

• Gom-kalguksu (rich broth knife-cut noodles)
• Soybean bibim kalguksu (chilled soybean noodles)
• Warm pork rice platter

We ordered these three dishes!

A dining room built around a fire-charred roof beam

While we waited, we looked around the restaurant, and the charred wood ceiling really stood out. Bami and I kept debating whether it was pine or actually charred wood haha. Writing this review now and looking it up, apparently during demolition for the design phase, a fire revealed a charred wooden beam from the original structure, and the brand was built around preserving that character! I also read that the space came together with the help of various Korean craftspeople, put together with real care.

Just like it says, you could feel the care put into every corner of the place! It was beautiful even at night, and with those big windows, it seemed like it would be gorgeous in daylight too...💚 As we chatted and looked around, our food arrived in no time!

Warm pork rice set: warm pork with mushroom rice

The first thing to arrive was Tanbaek's warm pork rice platter (warm pork + mushroom rice). The warm pork was diced pork jowl (hangjeongsal) served alongside a citron-dressed chamnamul (aster) salad, herring roe, and wasabi.

Pork jowl is a fatty cut that can feel heavy, but eaten together with the fragrant chamnamul salad, the spicy herring roe, and the wasabi, it tasted clean and refreshing — really delicious!!!

We also ordered the mushroom rice that came alongside it, since we wanted some rice with the meal, and it was packed with mushroom aroma, mild in flavor, and I loved that you could season it yourself with soy sauce to taste! Bami liked everything, but he said the mushroom rice was his favorite 🫢!!!

Tanbaek's signature gom-kalguksu

Next up was the gom-kalguksu! I heard it's Tanbaek's signature kalguksu so we ordered it, and the broth was so clean and delicious it felt like it soothed my whole body hahaha. The noodles were really good too!

Soybean bibim kalguksu: my number one dish

The dish I was most excited for — the soybean bibim kalguksu!!!!! Honestly, I saw this menu on Instagram and specifically wanted to try it, which is what brought us to Tanbaek in the first place. It's a slightly thicker version of kongguksu (cold soybean noodle soup), but nuttier...? Is that a good way to describe it? The more I ate, the cleaner and tastier it felt, so I gave the soybean bibim kalguksu my number one spot hahaha.

A tidy Seoul restaurant that suits Jeongdong-gil

After finishing our meal at Tanbaek, my overall impression was that it's such a tidy, put-together restaurant! Flawless dishes plus a beautiful space — this restaurant fits Jeongdong-gil perfectly :)

It especially felt like a great place to bring parents or anyone you want to treat well, so I thought I should bring my family here next time hahaha. If you're reading this and looking for a great restaurant near Deoksugung or on Jeongdong-gil, I highly, highly recommend Tanbaek 🤎