Yeoksam-dong: Gangnam's business district eats on its own schedule
Yeoksam-dong sits inside Gangnam's office towers, and the ten restaurants here mostly run on the workday: lunch rushes that clear fast, then a second wave after 6pm when the same buildings empty out for dinner and drinks. Daeun Sikdang runs two menus side by side — jeyuk-bokkeum and squid stir-fries on one side, dongtae-jeon and pollack stew on the other — and turns tables fast enough that Sung Si-kyung's Muktende and Kim Three Meals both credited it independently. Yeoksam-dong Bugeojip has done one thing since 2003: a bugeojjim (braised dried pollack) rice set that reads as a taxi-driver's hangover lunch more than a destination meal.
Dinner shifts toward meat, seafood, and one outlier: Brick Oven, a second-floor pizzeria that's baked foldable New York-style slices in a brick oven since the early 2010s — a rare non-Korean anchor in an otherwise all-Korean batch, though its Ddoganjip mention came without the show's official pick mark. Namho Sikdang, open since 2000, sells countryside home-style sets at lunch and fresh (unfrozen) samgyeopsal at night. Cheongsu Hoetjip runs a basement raw-fish room built for company dinners — its course sets need two people minimum, though solo diners can order a la carte. Kkotsaeu Yeongbeonji, the seafood pocha in the group with valet parking, built a reputation around a ₩30,000 soy-sauce egg rice that ChopChop University's short singled out.
After the tables clear, Sindonggung Gamjatang — open since 1993 — is where the late crowd lands, grilling bone-in pork and pouring gamjatang through the drinking hours. Pungnyeonjip, open since 2020, sits in between: a single-item counter for charcoal-grilled sogalbisal that draws the same office lunch-and-dinner crowd as the rest of the list. Kim Three Meals accounts for six of the ten credits here; the rest split between Muktende, Ddoganjip, and ChopChop University.
Seouljip, added in July 2026, folds its own mandu a few streets off the main office strip — a ₩11,000 single-serving dumpling soup at lunch, and shared dumpling hot pots from ₩33,000 in the evening. Daewoo Budae Jjigae, open since 2004 off Teheran-ro, is the tenth: army stew at ₩16,000 for the office crowd that stays past closing time.
4.2Daewoo Budae Jjigae 대우부대찌개
Daewoo Budae Jjigae has fed the Yeoksam office blocks since 2004 with army stew at ₩16,000 — and an upgraded ₩25,000 version built on sirloin rather than processed meat, which is the reason people cross the district for it.
₩15–40k4 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
4.1Pungnyeonjip 풍년집
Pungnyeonjip is a Yeoksam-dong beef-rib specialist that has run on a single menu item for decades: charcoal-grilled, garlic-marinated sogalbisal (thin-sliced short rib) served with a hearty doenjang-jjigae, drawing office workers from the Gangnam-Yeoksam business district for lunch and dinner.
₩15–40k4 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
4.1Namho Sikdang 남호식당
A 30-year-old Yeoksam-dong pork belly institution tucked behind a parking lot near Yeoksam Station, drawing office workers for lunchtime home-style sets and fresh (unfrozen) samgyeopsal in the evening.
₩15–40k3 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
3.9Daeun Sikdang 대운식당
A Yeoksam-dong spot near Gangnam Station running two menus at once — jeyuk-bokkeum and squid stir-fries on one side, dongtae-jeon and pollack stews (frozen and fresh) on the other.
₩15–40k3 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
3.9Yeoksam-dong Bugeojip 역삼동 북어집
A no-frills taxi-driver diner near Yeoksam known for a single rice dish — bugeojjim (spicy braised dried pollack) rice set — plus grilled and braised pollack as drinking food.
under ₩15k3 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
3.9Sindonggung Gamjatang Yeoksam 신동궁감자탕 역삼본점
A Yeoksam-dong pork-bone soup house open since 1993, known for charcoal-grilled bone-in pork and gamjatang served to the neighborhood's late-night drinking crowd.
under ₩15k3 rating sources
3.8Kkotsaeu Yeongbeonji 꽃새우영번지
Kkotsaeu Yeongbeonji is a Yeoksam-dong shrimp specialist built on raw Dokdo shrimp and mantis shrimp, known for a ₩30,000 soy-sauce egg rice that outgrew its role as a side dish and became a talking point on its own.
over ₩40k4 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
3.7Brick Oven 브릭오븐
Brick Oven has served New York-style pizza from a second-floor Yeoksam-dong space since the early 2010s, baking large, foldable slices in a 550°F brick oven rather than the thin pies more common around Gangnam.
₩15–40k3 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
3.6Seouljip 서울집
A hand-folded mandu house on a Yeoksam back street, built around dumplings the kitchen makes itself — a single-serving mandu-guk in clear broth, and a shared mandu jeongol that also comes in mushroom and aged-kimchi versions.
under ₩15k3 rating sourcesRising
3.0Cheongsu Hoetjip 청수횟집
A basement raw-fish (hoe) specialist near Yeoksam Station serving fresh live-fish sashimi platters alongside everyday single-serving options like hoedeopbap, mulhoe, and grilled fish.
₩15–40k2 rating sourcesShort waits at peak
Questions
Is Yeoksam-dong walk-in friendly, or do I need reservations?
All ten listings are walk-in. Cheongsu Hoetjip has a phone line (02-554-5252) but it's not required — most diners walk in — and its course-style set menus need a minimum of two people, so solo diners should order a la carte (hoedeopbap, mulhoe, grilled fish).
What's the food like around Gangnam's office towers?
Mostly built for a workday: fast-turning lunch sets (Daeun Sikdang, Yeoksam-dong Bugeojip, Namho Sikdang) and heavier dinner-and-drinks spots (Pungnyeonjip's grilled beef rib, Cheongsu Hoetjip's raw-fish platters, Sindonggung Gamjatang's late-night pork-bone soup). None of it is styled for a photo — it's styled for a lunch break.
Which of these has more than one independent curator credit?
Daeun Sikdang is the only one — Sung Si-kyung's Muktende and Kim Three Meals both credited it separately, which this list treats as a stronger signal than a single high-view mention.
Is there any non-Korean food in the mix?
One: Brick Oven, a New York-style pizzeria baking large foldable slices since the early 2010s, drawing an expat and returning-local crowd inside an otherwise all-Korean lineup.
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