Chungmuro restaurant for tomato cheongyang soba before a show

So the story goes — right before I watched Lee Eun-gyeol's 30th anniversary magic show 😎 It was going to run 120 minutes with no intermission, so I decided to fuel up properly first 😙

While looking for a good spot near the venue, one place caught my eye — none other than Chungmuro's own Nagwon-ui Soba~~

So let's get into it — from the menu at Nagwon-ui Soba to parking and everything else~~

Nagwon-ui Soba: basic info and hours

First, the basics on this Chungmuro spot~~

• Address: 2F, 2 Seoae-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Daily 10:30–22:00
• Break time: 15:00–16:30
• Last order: 21:00
• Parking: use nearby paid parking

Here's the exterior of the building~ It has a rounded shape that feels pretty unique and distinctive ☺️

Nagwon-ui Soba is on the 2nd floor, but since it's right on the street, it's easy to spot~

Where to park near Nagwon-ui Soba

There's no dedicated parking lot, so you'll want to use nearby paid parking~ We parked at the Starbucks building lot right across the street 🅿️

Here are the parking rates for reference~

Parking was easier than expected, so we walked straight to the restaurant~

Finding the entrance on the 2nd floor of Dain Building

You enter through the Dain Building's main entrance~

There are posters and signs for Nagwon-ui Soba all around the entrance, so it's easy to find 😊

There was also a menu display near the entrance, so I took a quick look before heading up~

Heading up the stairs~

There are various notices posted on the walls, and seeing them makes it clear how much the owner cares about the food 😄

It looks like Nagwon-ui Soba also accepts Jung-gu district meal vouchers, but it's best to check with the restaurant directly for details~

Here are the operating hours~ There's a break time, so make sure to check before you go 😁

The vibe and seating inside

Once you open the door and walk in~ there's an umbrella bag stand next to the entrance, handy for rainy days~

There's a Catch Table kiosk, and surprisingly an ice cream freezer too 😮 You can get ice cream by writing a Naver receipt review, so keep that in mind~

There's also a restroom right by the entrance 🚻 As noted on the door, be sure to close it after use~

Near the counter there's a sign listing the food origins and an evacuation map~ Here are the origins for reference~

Here's what the interior looks like~ There are quite a lot of tables and it's spacious, with most of them facing the window, so wherever you sit you get a nice view while eating ☺️

There's a fridge in the middle stocked with various drinks~ Seats fill up all the way to the back~ High chairs are available if you need one 😙

Nagwon-ui Soba is a pretty big space with a variety of seating, so it looks good for solo dining as well as group dinners or gatherings 🤭 If you're planning a work dinner around Chungmuro Station, consider booking here ahead of time 😆

We grabbed a window seat too~

Before looking at the menu, I checked out our surroundings first~ Every table has a table-order tablet, so you can order and pay right from your seat 😁

On one side there are cute little seasoning containers, paper cups, and tissues~

Above the table-order tablet there's a small notice with the WiFi info~ It also says leftovers can't be packed to go due to food safety risk 🫢

There's also a QR code for a foreign-language menu~

Besides the Naver receipt review event, there's another review event too~ After leaving a review, you can pick what you'd like~

What's on the Nagwon-ui Soba menu

Time to look at the menu~ It's not just soba — there's donkatsu, bossam, kalguksu (noodle soup), and much more 🤗

Beyond the main dishes there's a wide range of side dishes too, so it should work fine even with a group that has different tastes 😝

There's a big selection of drinks and alcohol too, which is nice for group dinners since there are lots of options~ Out of this huge menu, here's what we ordered~

What we ordered today

• Tomato cheongyang soba set: ₩20,000
• Small bossam: ₩36,000
• Beef-bone perilla dumpling soup: ₩11,000

Side dishes and wrap vegetables

Not long after ordering, the side dishes arrived~ The kimchi is made with domestic napa cabbage, so I could eat it worry-free 🤭

Wrap vegetables for the bossam also came out, with three kinds to choose from, which made it fun to mix and match 😊

The pork cutlet in the tomato cheongyang soba set

The dishes came out one by one~ First up, the roasu katsu (pork loin cutlet) included in the tomato cheongyang soba set~ It's a half portion but a good-sized piece with a generous salad, a solid combination 😆

There was a sign outside the entrance saying 'don't worry about the pink pork cutlet,' and looking at the katsu, I immediately understood why 😙 The inside is genuinely a bit pink — it's from the gabrisal, the cut connecting the neck and loin, which has a reddish tint and is considered a premium part. It's a small amount, only about 10% of the loin, and served randomly, so keep that in mind~

The meat was thick but juicy, and the outside was crisp enough to hear it crunch — really delicious 😋 Dip it deep into the sauce that comes with it and you can finish it all without getting sick of it~

Tomato cheongyang soba — looks spicy with all that cheongyang chili, but is it?

The tomato cheongyang soba 🍅 that came alongside had a neat row of tomato slices on top and finely chopped cheongyang chili too~ There looked to be a lot of chili, so as someone who can't handle spice, I got a little nervous 😂

The noodles were piled generously, so the portion was really filling~

Wrapping a slice of tomato with the noodles gave a cool, fresh flavor that came together beautifully~ The chilled broth was excellent, and contrary to my worries, it wasn't spicy at all 😄 If anything, it tasted clean and refreshing~ True to the name Nagwon-ui Soba, the soba was genuinely delicious 😋

The small bossam portion and its pairing with myeongtaehoe

Next came the bossam~ The amount of meat was so generous I had to double-check whether this was actually the small or medium size 🫢 Kimchi, myeongtaehoe (spicy seasoned pollock), kkodeulmu (crunchy pickled radish), salted shrimp, chili, garlic, and ssamjang (dipping sauce) — the spread was so full it was almost hard to list it all~

A well-cooked piece of pork~

Topped with the spicy, subtly sweet myeongtaehoe, the combination was fantastic 🤭 The mild pork paired with the flavorful seasoning of the myeongtaehoe made for a taste that was rich without being overpowering ☺️

Also wrapped a bite in fresh perilla leaf~ Adding the unbeatable myeongtaehoe-and-pork combo plus kkodeulmu made the flavor even richer~ Thanks to the aroma of the perilla leaf, the mild boiled pork, and the sweet-spicy myeongtaehoe with crunchy kkodeulmu, it became the ultimate single bite 😆

Beef-bone perilla dumpling soup, with a creamy broth

Last up was the beef-bone perilla dumpling soup~ True to its name, it was topped generously with perilla seeds~ The nutty aroma practically jumps off the photo 🤣

The perilla broth was creamy and smooth like a cream soup~ It's so nutty and rich that the moment it hits your mouth it takes over completely — once you start, you can't stop 🥹

The chewy dumplings paired really well with the rich, savory broth~ The mushrooms in it soaked up the nutty broth beautifully too, making them impossible to skip ☺️ The perilla dumpling soup held its own against the soba, no contest — it was excellent~

I got the sense that no matter what you order at Nagwon-ui Soba, you'll eat well 😁 If you're looking for a good restaurant near Chungmuro Station or Dongguk University, or planning a group dinner or gathering around Chungmuro, this place is well worth a visit 👍