Jongno jokbal restaurant after a Cheonggyecheon walk: Yeonnam Jokbal

The unusually hot summer has finally passed, and cool breezes have brought a proper autumn. On a lovely day, I took a walk along Cheonggyecheon stream in the city with my family. Listening to the water as we walked, we got hungry and started brainstorming dinner. Instead of something ordinary, we wanted a real treat, so we headed to a place near Jonggak's Youth Street known for its crispy fried jokbal (fried pig's trotter). It's also certified as a hygiene-safe restaurant by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which made it even more trustworthy — here's my visit to the famous Jongno jokbal spot, Yeonnam Jokbal 1987 Jonggak Branch!

Location and hours of Yeonnam Jokbal 1987 Jonggak Branch

• Address: 26 Samil-daero 15-gil, 1F, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Transit: 324m from Exit 4, Jonggak Station (Line 1)
• Hours: Weekdays 11:00–22:00 (break 14:00–16:00), weekends 14:00–22:00 (no break on weekends)
• Parking: No dedicated lot for the restaurant — nearby Mirae Asset Center1 parking (₩3,000 for the first 30 minutes) or Signature Tower parking is recommended.
• Amenities: Group seating, reservations, takeout, Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms, corkage available for a fee

The storefront has the classic charm of a hanok tiled-roof house!

Interior and seating

Inside was modern and tidy. There were several comfortable tables for four, plus group seating — in fact, once proper dinner hour arrived, a lot of group parties came in for company dinners.

Every table has a tablet kiosk installed, which made ordering really easy. Thanks to the soft lighting, it also felt like a great spot for a family meal or a cozy date.

The jokbal-twigim set, served on a brassware tray

We ordered the signature jokbal-twigim set and the Yeosu cockle & bibim somyeon (spicy mixed noodles). It arrived on a huge brassware tray loaded with ssamjang (dipping sauce), garlic, chili peppers, lettuce, chive salad, mustard leaf kimchi, bossam kimchi, salted shrimp, cabbage salad, pickled radish, and bean sprout soup. The neat array of side dishes cleanly cut through the richness of the jokbal and boosted its savory flavor even further.

Even the lean parts taste better fried

Using only 100% domestic fresh trotters boiled that same day, the meat had no gaminess and was chewy yet tender. The crispy handmade batter combined with the soft meat let us enjoy the best of both chicken and jokbal at once. It was my first time trying it, and the more I ate, the more unique and refreshing the appeal of fried jokbal became.

What I especially loved: the tender parts are obviously delicious, but the real magic of fried jokbal shows up when you eat the leaner cuts. Normally an unpopular part, but fried, it turns crispy and genuinely tastes like eating sweet and sour pork!

Among the many side dishes, dipping the meat generously into the sweet-and-spicy special garlic sauce was fantastic. The portion was huge too — enough to fill up three adults and a baby.

Pairing with the Yeosu cockle bibim somyeon

The Yeosu cockle bibim somyeon just kept giving — cockles after cockles! Eaten together with the fried jokbal, there was never a moment of getting tired of it, we just kept eating. The chewy Yeosu cockles piled generously into the sweet-spicy mixed noodles paired wonderfully with the fried jokbal at this Jongno jokbal specialist.

Final verdict

Yeonnam Jokbal 1987 Jonggak Branch was a standout Jongno jokbal destination, boasting fried jokbal with a crispy coating and juicy meat inside, plus a neatly arranged brassware set meal.

• Crispy-outside, juicy-inside fried jokbal: the chewiness of domestic fresh trotters, crispy batter, and sweet-spicy special garlic sauce in perfect harmony.
• Generous brassware side dishes: about ten neat side dishes, including mustard leaf kimchi, bossam kimchi, and bean sprout soup, that cut through the richness.
• Convenient comfort: a four-minute walk from Jonggak Station, friendly staff, and easy tablet ordering.

Highly recommend stopping by for a family meal after a Cheonggyecheon walk!