Seongsu Thai restaurant for weekday lunch: shrimp curry at Soi Nana

Lately I've been craving Thai curry, so I went back to my favorite spot not far from home. I eat Southeast Asian food often and have been to plenty of famous places, but I hadn't found anywhere this close to home that also served food of this quality.

The place I went to is called Soi Nana, a Thai restaurant in Seongsu. It uses cooking methods carefully tuned to Korean palates, so even people who find the strong spices of Southeast Asian food overwhelming can enjoy it without hesitation. I liked it even more because it aims for flavors that are approachable for anyone, yet still deep.

Where is Soi Nana in Seongsu, and what are its hours?

• Address: 37 Seongsuiro 22-gil, 1st floor, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Weekdays 11:30 – 21:00
• Break time: 15:00 – 17:00 / Last order 20:00
• Closed on weekends

It's 415m from Exit 2 of Seongsu Station, so getting there isn't far from the subway exit at all. Just walk about 5 minutes from Exit 2 of Line 2's Seongsu Station and you'll cover the 415m distance. Along the way you'll spot the Arkvalley Knowledge Industry Center building, and the restaurant sits on its 1st floor, so even first-timers should find it without getting lost.

Where do you park at Soi Nana?

Not having to stress over parking in Seongsu's crowded alleys is a huge plus of this Thai pho spot. If you're driving, search the restaurant's name on Naver Maps or your navigation app, then pull into the parking lot inside the Arkvalley Knowledge Industry Center building. You get 1 hour free parking when you pay after your meal, so drivers can eat without worrying about it.

Is there a weekday lunch wait? Arriving at 1pm

Soi Nana Seongsu keeps an unusual schedule — open only on weekdays, closed on weekends. That's because it's a genuine lunch favorite for office workers from Musinsa and other nearby companies, who line up just to eat here.

It's popular enough that there's almost always a wait during weekday lunch hours, so if you want to avoid the crowded, chaotic peak, I'd suggest steering clear of 11:30am to 1pm. We arrived right at 1pm and luckily found one or two open tables, so we got lucky and skipped the wait entirely.

Soi Nana's outdoor terrace and dining room

The first thing you notice approaching the entrance is the outdoor terrace. It's set up with parasols and outdoor tables that give off a distinctly exotic feel. Soi Nana is pet-friendly, so people out walking their dogs can enjoy a meal at these outdoor tables.

Step inside and a striking interior unfolds, like arriving at a small resort tucked into the city. The spacious, comfortable dining room blends warm lighting, rattan chairs, and lush greenery placed throughout to create a cozy yet stylish atmosphere. Seating ranges from group tables for several people to window seats where you can dine side by side while looking out at the street, making it well suited for small gatherings too.

Soi Nana menu and tablet ordering

Ordering and payment happen through a tablet set up at your table. Soi Nana Seongsu serves a range of Thai dishes adapted for Korean tastes. I've been here many times and tried a variety of menu items, and the quality has been consistently good enough that you really can't go wrong ordering whatever catches your eye.

After ordering, pickled radish arrives as a basic side dish. Its sweet-and-sour, crunchy texture did a great job of refreshing the palate cleanly between bites of the main dishes.

Kung pad pong curry: Thai coconut curry with shrimp

The first dish to catch our eyes and noses was the kung pad pong curry. Whenever I normally visit a Thai restaurant, I stick to poo pad pong curry topped with fried soft-shell crab you can eat shell and all — but this time I ordered the kung pad pong curry, loaded with plump shrimp, for the first time.

I found myself wondering why I hadn't tried it sooner — it was a perfect new world for my taste. Poo pad pong curry, where the whole crab is deep-fried, inevitably leaves a somewhat greasy feeling in your mouth as you eat. The shrimp-based kung pad pong curry, though, had none of that fried heaviness, leaving a clean, light aftertaste instead.

The sauce's texture was also a work of art. Rich, nutty coconut milk at 99% purity — no water added — was quickly stir-fried with soft egg over high heat, producing a cloud-like, mouldable, creamy texture that melted away the moment it touched my tongue.

Big, plump, springy shrimp were generously packed into the curry sauce, so scooping it up with a spoon and mixing it into warm white rice filled my mouth with a sweet, smooth savoriness. Soi Nana Seongsu takes the smooth, rich flavor that's the hallmark of Thai curry and maximizes it while cutting way back on the oiliness, so I never got tired of it, all the way down to the last spoonful.

L-size beef pho with aronsatae (beef shank)

Next came the dish that's made Soi Nana word-of-mouth famous as a hidden gem of Seongsu: the L-size aronsatae (beef shank) pho, arriving in a generously sized bowl. I'm enough of a pho enthusiast to have visited plenty of places, and the broth really does taste different from restaurant to restaurant. By my personal standard, this broth is deep and rich enough that I'd call it my absolute favorite.

It was in a different league from the lightly simmered meat broth you get at common chain restaurants. Spices sourced directly from Thailand combine with a special sauce refined over long research, blended in a fantastic ratio — the moment I tasted a spoonful of broth, it won me over completely. It's not an exaggeration to say I'd order this pho just for the broth alone.

Rather than relying on strong aroma alone, it draws out the deep, natural flavor of the ingredients, and the more you eat, the more soothing and refreshing it feels — almost like a hangover cure.

The aronsatae, slow-cooked at low temperature for 24 hours, was another satisfying point — the beef fell apart and melted the moment it hit my mouth. The broth had soaked deep into the grain of the meat, so the more you chewed, the more savory juice came through.

Why Soi Nana is worth it for Thai food in Seongsu

Filling up on hearty broth simmered from good ingredients and the unusual kung pad pong curry, in such a pleasant space, made my afternoon fatigue disappear completely. The quality of the food and the comfortable service all lined up so well that I've been confidently recommending it to friends. If you love pho and Thai curry, or want to try Thai food in Seongsu tuned to Korean tastes, this place is worth a visit.