Diner near City Hall Station for chicken strips: Daily Fix Euljiro

When I want something a little different from the usual, I start thinking about handmade burgers or a pastrami sandwich.

This time I visited Daily Fix Euljiro (데일리픽스 을지로), tucked between City Hall Station and Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station. It's a spot with an American diner vibe, serving everything from a thick pastrami sandwich to hefty chicken strips.

I ordered a set with the pastrami sandwich, 18 Fries, and a Coke, plus chicken strips, soda water, and a Coca-Cola.

What Daily Fix Euljiro looks like inside, and how kiosk ordering works

Daily Fix Euljiro has a New York diner feel, built around yellow and deep dark tones. A sign in the store says the food is meant to enrich everyday life, made using know-how from chefs who trained at Michelin two- and three-star restaurants in New York.

They also highlight a 150g patty made from 100% Hanwoo (Korean beef) and house-made bacon and pastrami. Burgers are the signature item, but what I was most curious about that day was the pastrami sandwich.

You order through a kiosk that shows menu photos and descriptions, so it's easy to figure out the lineup even on a first visit. Both the pastrami sandwich and the chicken strips came with photos, which made it easy to gauge portion size and composition before ordering.

Pastrami sandwich price and taste: brisket cured for 72 hours

The main dish I picked was the pastrami sandwich. The single price is ₩15,900, with a set option adding 18 Fries and a Coke for ₩5,900 more — ₩21,800 total for the set.

It's a ciabatta sandwich with beef brisket cured for 72 hours, then smoked and grilled.

Before the bread, what catches your eye is the layered pastrami. There's plenty of meat packed between the ciabatta, making it fairly hefty even in one bite. The thinly sliced meat is stacked in several layers, and the smoky flavor comes through more with every chew.

The bread is golden and toasted on the outside, and doesn't get soggy easily even with all that meat inside. The meat itself has such a strong presence that it feels quite different from a typical burger. If a single-patty burger is about enjoying the juiciness, the pastrami sandwich is more about savoring the texture and flavor of thinly sliced meat through repeated chewing.

Does adding 18 Fries make it a full meal?

I added 18 Fries as part of the set with the pastrami sandwich. As you can see in the photo, these aren't your typical thin fries — they're thick, wedge-style potatoes served generously.

The thick fries are golden and crisp on the outside, with that fluffy potato texture still intact inside, pairing well as a side to the sandwich. They're lightly dusted with parsley flakes and come with a separate dipping sauce, good for dipping throughout the meal.

Eating the pastrami sandwich alone, the salty, rich meat flavor takes center stage, but the fries smooth things out along the way. The portion isn't small either, so sandwich plus fries together make a solid lunch or dinner.

Chicken strips portion size and the two dipping sauces

The second main dish was the chicken strips. Based on the name alone, you might picture a few finger-length pieces of chicken, but when it actually arrives, the portion is generous enough to fill the whole plate.

It's made with all chicken thigh meat, fried and served with two dipping sauces — curry ranch and spicy cheongyang mayo — plus a mini spicy coleslaw.

The chicken isn't the type with an exaggeratedly thick coating; the batter clings crisply along the contours of the meat. Crisp outside, moist thigh meat inside, it's easy to pick up piece by piece.

What I liked most was having two sauces, so it never felt monotonous all the way through. Alternating between the savory, mellow sauce and the slightly spicy one changed the impression of the same chicken each time.

The spicy mini coleslaw that paired well with the chicken

The coleslaw served alongside the chicken strips was quite memorable too. Rather than the usual white or pale cream coleslaw, this one has a strong reddish color, with the cabbage shredded thin.

The vegetables stay crisp, and the sauce coats them evenly, making it a good match tucked between bites of fried chicken. As you work through the chicken strips, the richness can build up, but a bite of coleslaw resets your palate.

Dipping a piece of chicken in sauce and topping it with a bit of coleslaw works well together too — crunchy chicken and crisp vegetables at once add even more texture.

Soda water to finish clean

The drink I ordered alongside was soda water. Being a clear carbonated water, it's a light option to have with rich, fried dishes like the pastrami sandwich or chicken.

Served cold, the soda water adds nothing but clean fizz, no sweetness. If you're not into sweet sodas, this combination works well. It's especially good for refreshing your palate between bites when you've ordered chicken and fries together.

The pastrami sandwich set already came with a Coke, but ordering soda water separately made it easy for each of us to pick a drink to our own taste.

Enough food for two people to share

Looking at the price alone, it's not exactly light compared to a simple burger meal. But once the food actually arrives, the pastrami sandwich comes with a generous helping of thick fries, and the chicken strips portion is substantial too, so the overall volume is plenty.

The pastrami sandwich in particular has a different character from a typical burger, and the chicken strips come with two dipping sauces plus coleslaw, letting you enjoy several flavors at once. If two people split the dishes, alternating between sandwich and chicken, satisfaction goes up even more.

Who Daily Fix Euljiro suits near City Hall Station

If you're looking for a handmade burger or American-style sandwich around City Hall Station, Daily Fix Euljiro is worth a stop. It suits people who prefer a dish with real meat flavor over a light fast-food-style burger.

The pastrami sandwich, packed with smoked brisket, is satisfying if you like meat, and the chicken strips — crispy thigh meat with two dipping sauces and coleslaw on one plate — feel more like a main dish than a side.

It's close to Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station, so access is easy, and it's also walkable from City Hall Station, making it a good option for Euljiro office workers' lunch, a City Hall Station dinner spot, or a meal near Cheonggyecheon. That said, expect a wait during busy times like lunch hour.

Trying the pastrami sandwich and chicken strips together at Daily Fix Euljiro, a City Hall Station restaurant, the two dishes had clearly different personalities. The pastrami sandwich, made with brisket cured for 72 hours and then smoked, had a real meat presence, and adding the thick 18 Fries made for a filling meal. The chicken strips, with generous thigh meat, two sauces, and spicy coleslaw, were great for alternating flavors. If you're near City Hall or Euljiro 1(il)-ga looking for a different kind of burger or sandwich, this one's worth remembering.

Daily Fix Euljiro location, hours and parking

Daily Fix Euljiro is located at 1F 103 and 104, FastFive Tower, 24 Namdaemun-ro 9-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul. It's an easy walk from Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station and also walkable from City Hall Station, making it a handy spot to check out when looking for restaurants near City Hall Station or Euljiro Ipgu.

Hours are commonly listed as 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

• Address: 1F 103, 104, 24 Namdaemun-ro 9-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Parking: Paid parking available in the FastFive building
• Takeout available
• Reservations available