It is no exaggeration to say that Gyeongbokgung palace where tourists can feel the tradition and beauty of Korea, is a must-visit place for those who never been to Korea. Gyeongbokgung Palace is a place where you can feel the beautiful scenery not only in autumn but for a year-round.
Just like any other tourist city in the world, there are many restaurants near Gyeongbokgung Palace that are too expensive for the quality of the food and simply target tourists. Tourists who do not know much about Korea will just enter those not-so-good restaurants and be disappointed at Korean cuisine. As a matter of fact, there are not many decent and reasonably priced restaurants to visit in Samcheong-dong, Insa-dong and Bukchon Hanok Village, which are close to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Chebudong Janchijip
190, Chebu-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Mon~Sat: 10:00 ~ 05:30
Sun: 10:00 ~ 24:00
The restaurant I’m going to introduce today is a place that I’ve actually visited more than 10 times and all my Korean friends who went with me for the first time said, “Why didn’t you take me here earlier” Located just near Gyeongbokgung Station, it is close to Jongno(an office area in Seoul), so office workers flock after work. Also, on weekends, the restaurant is always crowded with the hikers of a wide range of ages who went to Inwangsan Mountain nearby. The place even has annex because of its popularity. But it’s not that famous among foreign tourists compared to its popularity among local Koreans.
I personally quite often go to Gyeongbokgung Palace. First, I often climb Inwangsan(The only hobby of mine is hiking lol) and second, I work as a freelance photographer on weekends, so I often take pictures at Gyeongbokgung Palace.
After work or hike, I often call my friends and finish the day with a sip of Makgeolli. The reason why I like this place is that there is a wide variety of Korean dishes suitable for makgeolli, and most of all, it is cheap. It’s not a small amount, but very reasonably priced, so when I go there with a big group, we pick many menus and share all kinds of food!
If you get out of exit 2 of Gyeongbokgung Station(Seoul Metro line 3), you can see the Paris Baguette. Right next to the Paris Baguette, there’s this street named “Sejong Village Food Street”. Chebudong Janchijip is located on this street, and there are so many other restaurants that serve quite good food.
So if you don’t like the atmosphere or menus of Chebudong Janchijip(hopefully you like there), there are still enough options for your meal! And since the restaurant is open until late in the morning, if you stay nearby, it would be also a great idea to visit the place for a late-night snack.
There are so many choices such as Korean pancakes with oysters, mung beans, leeks, potatoes, kimchi and seafood, and also steamed eggs, and dumplings, etc. You can pick noodles up to your preferences for the reason that there are either thin or thick kinds of noodles and some have soup and some have a spicy sauce.
