City Hall Station Chinese restaurant for pepper beef: Huhugwan

Huhugwan, a Chinese restaurant near City Hall Station, is just a one-minute walk away. It is a one-minute straight walk from Exit 10 of City Hall Station, on the second floor of the Mentzru building. Go in through the entrance on the left and head upstairs; it is across from Korea Samgyetang. With Deoksugung Palace and the Seoul Museum of Art nearby, it is also great for a meal after sightseeing.

If you dine at Mentzru or Huhugwan, you can get 10% off at Mulata on the third floor, making it a nice second stop after your meal.

A modern Asian Chinese izakaya with an exotic atmosphere

Huhugwan, a popular spot near Deoksugung Palace, has an exotic interior that makes you feel as though you are traveling abroad. Its name was created from the instinctive moment when a bowl is placed on the table and, before taking the first spoonful, you gently blow on the hot food with pursed lips—together with the warm, gentle energy carried by the Chinese character 煦 (hu).

With its clean, modern atmosphere, Huhugwan is great for an office lunch, a company dinner, or a group gathering. Located where the quiet charm of Deoksugung Palace meets the lively City Hall Station area, it offers a warm meal by day and delicious bar snacks with drinks at night as a modern Asian Chinese izakaya.

Reservations for groups of up to 30 people are available.

There are bar tables, so it is comfortable for dining alone, while the roomy window tables make group meals easy too. Huhugwan's signature dishes include cumin lamb ribs, shoulder rack repeatedly brushed with house sauce and grilled over charcoal; beef shank hot pot with rich beef broth and vegetables of varied textures; Huhuchuan, a mala hot pot with carefully simmered broth and fresh ingredients on skewers; and dongpo pork, exceptionally tender pork braised for the ideal time with house spices, among many other Chinese dishes.

The savory roasted peanuts served as a basic side are nice to pick at whenever your mouth feels a little bored.

Crisp stir-fried water spinach

Stir-fried water spinach, ₩9,000. I ordered this side of water spinach, stir-fried over high heat so it kept its crisp texture.

The water spinach came in a generous portion and had a lovely aroma. It was delicious on its own and just as good alongside the other dishes.

The deeply savory seasoning was delicious, and the generous amount of garlic made it even more flavorful.

Wok-charred pepper beef with five flower buns

Pepper beef, ₩22,000. Crisp bell peppers and onions, tender meat, and mushrooms were stir-fried over high heat, giving this pepper beef plenty of wok char.

It came with five mild, soft flower buns, so there was plenty for wrapping up the pepper beef to your heart's content.

The gently spicy flavor of the pepper beef was lovely, and the vegetables, including bell peppers and onions, still had their crisp bite.

Tear a flower bun into a manageable size, fill it generously with bell pepper, onion, mushroom, meat, and everything else, then take a bite—so good!

Eggplant rice that was not soggy

Eggplant rice, ₩12,000. Huhugwan finishes crispy-on-the-outside, moist-on-the-inside fried eggplant with a house sauce for this eggplant rice bowl.

The crisp fried eggplant was not soggy, so the texture was great. Crispy outside and moist inside, it was more delicious than a typical eggplant rice bowl.

The thick, deeply savory sauce was full of flavor mixed into the rice, and there was plenty of it, so every bite through the final spoonful was delicious.

Huhugwan cooks by working a wok over high heat, serving Chinese food that is not greasy or heavy but modest and deeply flavored, with the textures of the ingredients still alive. Every carefully prepared dish was flavorful, the atmosphere was lovely, and the staff were genuinely kind, making this a really pleasant Chinese meal.

After the meal, they gave us Polo mints—freshening up complete~