Yeonnam-dong weekend lunch: salmon belly don, ebi tempura udon, Jongno
In short
Jongno Donburi Yeonnam is a basement Japanese rice bowl restaurant in Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, a 10-minute walk from Hongik University Station Exit 3. On a weekend lunch with a friend, we ordered the staff-recommended salmon belly don for 20,000 won, ebi tempura udon for 11,500 won and an onsen tamago add-on for 1,500 won. The salmon belly was thick and fresh, and a stroll along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail afterwards makes Jongno Donburi Yeonnam an easy lunch date course.
Good to know
- Address
- 9 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, B1, Mapo-gu, Seoul
- Getting there
- 10-minute walk from Hongik University Station Exit 3
- Hours
- Mon–Fri 11:30–21:30 (break 16:00–17:00), Sat, Sun & holidays 11:30–21:00
- Last order
- Mon–Fri 21:00 / Sat, Sun & holidays 20:30
- Parking
- No parking available
- Salmon belly don
- 20,000 won (limited daily quantity)
- Ebi tempura udon
- 11,500 won
- Onsen tamago
- 1,500 won
- Price reference
- ₩20,000 ≈ $14.5 · ₩1,500 ≈ $1.1 · ₩11,500 ≈ $8.5 (2026-09-26)
as written by the visitor on Sep 26, 2026
At some point, doing my absolute best to stay home all weekend became a full-blown routine haha 🫠 For those of us living in Gyeonggi-do, commuting into Seoul all week and then going out again on the weekend is just exhausting 😭 I need a proper rest at home on the weekend to have the stamina to face Monday again. Is this because I'm an introvert? Do extroverts actually recharge by going out on weekends...?
Last weekend I originally planned to stay in and take it easy, but I pushed myself out the door to Hongik University Station anyway, for a lunch date with a friend at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam (종로돈부리 연남), a well-known Japanese restaurant in Yeonnam-dong!
Where is Jongno Donburi Yeonnam, and what are the hours?
Jongno Donburi Yeonnam 📍 9 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, B1, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea 🚇 10-minute walk from Hongik University Station Exit 3 ⌚️ Mon–Fri 11:30–21:30 (break 16:00–17:00) Sat–Sun & holidays 11:30–21:00 ⏰ Last order Mon–Fri 21:00 / Sat–Sun & holidays 20:30 🅿️ No parking
Follow the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail into Yeonnam-dong and you'll come across the Jongno Donburi Yeonnam branch.
I kept wondering why it's called "Jongno" Donburi and not Tokyo Donburi or Hakata Donburi — turns out the original branch started in Jongno!
The menu at Jongno Donburi Yeonnam and what we ordered
Here's the menu! Alongside various donburi (rice bowl) dishes, there are nabe (hot pot) and udon options, plus plenty of side dishes like karaage (fried chicken). The tori karaage and the house-made potato cream croquette both looked amazing — I'll definitely order those next time.
The staff let us know the salmon was in great condition that day, so we went with the salmon belly don!
Inside the basement dining room and the side dishes
Clean wooden tables and nice lighting made for a great atmosphere. Even the small side plates they gave us were so pretty...🤍 The maple leaf and cherry blossom pattern in the center is so cute, and overall it's a chrysanthemum motif.
They served us nutty roasted barley tea, and I loved it! I actually prefer grain teas like barley tea or brown rice tea over green tea.
For basic side dishes, they give you tsukemono (pickles) like yellow radish and garlic scapes.
The miso soup was savory and delicious too. Perfect for someone like me who loves a good broth!
After a short wait, everything we ordered arrived! It all looked so gorgeous.
Salmon belly don, 20,000 won and limited to the day's stock
Salmon belly don, ₩20,000
This was the salmon belly don we ordered on the staff's recommendation. Sake-don or aburi sake-don both sounded great, but I was drawn in by the description: "a rich, savory belly cut you can only get a small portion of per fish — premium and limited to same-day availability."
The flesh was thick and substantial, right? The freshness really came through. It tasted like something you could eat forever.
Why the 1,500 won onsen tamago is worth adding
Onsen tamago (soft-poached egg), ₩1,500. The menu said, "dip the salmon in the onsen tamago for an extra boost of umami," so we added it on. Oh, it really does pair beautifully with the salmon. It went down smoothly even without rice, like eating sashimi on its own.
Ebi tempura udon, 11,500 won with two shrimp tempura
Ebi tempura udon, ₩11,500. We wanted something with a hot broth too, so udon was our second dish.
It came with two pieces of shrimp tempura, so it was easy to share! The crispy tempura was great, but the batter that soaked up the udon broth was also a delicacy in its own way. Paired with the chewy udon noodles, it was so good.
A walk along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail after lunch
It's been a while since I had such delicious Japanese donburi and udon in Seoul. Watching the table next to us eat tendon made me want to try that too haha 😆 Next time I want to come back and order tendon!
The autumn weather was so nice that a walk along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail after the meal felt wonderfully atmospheric. When we got a little tired, we sat on a bench along the trail and chatted for a while. It's the perfect season for a date. Everyone, head out to Yeonnam-dong and come to Jongno Donburi!
Where it is
9 Donggyo-ro 46-gil, B1, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 마포구 동교로46길 9 B1
