They Cure the Ham in the Building, and No Tourists Come! The Curing in Heukseok-dong — Five House Meats and Three Cheeses for 31,000 Won, a Jambon Pizza at 23,000, Corkage 20,000, Three Minutes From Line 9

The restaurants foreigners eat at in Seoul are mostly in Myeongdong, Hongdae or Seongsu. Heukseok-dong is none of those. It is a neighbourhood of Chung-Ang University students and residents, and almost no visitors walk through it.

At the bottom of that hill is a dining pub that cures its own ham and calls itself a meat-curing specialist. Salt it, smoke it, dry it — that process is the name over the door.

This article is the nine plates we actually ordered, in photographs, with what each one is, what it costs and the order to ask for them in. From the 31,000-won charcuterie board to the 28,000-won duck confit.

Three minutes from Exit 3 at Heukseok Station, three stops from the Express Bus Terminal on Line 9 — an easy evening if you are staying anywhere in Gangnam!

The place first: three minutes from Exit 3, opens at 5 pm, closed Sundays, and the ham is made upstairs

✔ 93–107 m from Exit 3 of Heukseok Station (Line 9), on the second floor, 5 pm–midnight (last order 10 pm), closed Sundays
The Curing (더큐어링) is at 12 Seodal-ro 14-gil, Dongjak-gu, on the second floor, 93–107 m and about three minutes on foot from Exit 3 of Heukseok Station on subway Line 9. There is no lunch service: it runs from 5 pm to midnight, with last orders at 10 pm. It closes every Sunday, and extra closing days appear through the year (in September 2026 the 19th, 20th, 21st and 25th all show as closed). The phone number is 070-4400-4912.

✔ ‘Meat-curing specialists’ means the salting, smoking and drying happen here
The restaurant describes itself as a charcuterie-based dining pub specialising in meat curing, and the Catch Table listing says it serves charcuterie and wine made through salting, smoking and drying. In other words the jambon, salami, bacon and terrine are finished in the building rather than bought in — which is exactly what you are looking at in the photographs below, on the pizza and in the scored bacon.

✔ Ratings: Catch Table 4.8 (492 reviews), Google Maps ★4.6 (42 reviews, below our review-count bar)
Catch Table gives it 4.8 across 492 reviews, Google Maps ★4.6 across 42, and Kakao Map 4.5 across 29. Our listing bar is ★4.5 or better with at least 100 reviews, so the Google count does not clear it and we say so here. We included it on the strength of the local review volume on Catch Table and of the food that actually arrived.

The Curing: main menu and prices (Catch Table, updated 2026-04-13; checked 2026-09-18)

Course	Dish	Price
Charcuterie	Charcuterie sampler (5 house meats + 3 cheeses)	31,000 won
Starter	House smoked bacon / aubergine gratin 15,000 / caprese 20,000	from 14,000 won
Starter	Asparagus and poached egg	23,000 won
Pasta	Aglio e olio 15,000 / arrabbiata 17,000 / white ragù gnocchi	up to 22,000 won
Pizza	Pepperoni 21,000 / jambon	23,000 won
Main	Squid confit 24,000 / Spanish-style honey cod 24,000 / duck confit	28,000 won
Main	Striploin steak (market price)	50,000–80,000 won
Corkage	Per bottle of wine (up to 3) / whisky 30,000 won a bottle	20,000 won

Read next: To do the same evening cheaply at a market stall, see 『15,000 KRW Covers Three Signature Dishes! The Gwangjang Market Method—Communal Stools, Point-to-Order and Cash in Seoul’s Oldest Market』 — Gwangjang Market at about 15,000 won a head.

The headline is the 31,000-won charcuterie sampler — five meats, three cheeses, plus two starters

✔ Charcuterie sampler, 31,000 won: five house-cured meats and three cheeses, with nuts and fig jam
This is the plate the restaurant is built around. On a long wooden board: pale pink jambon still moist, salami marbled with fat, a lean firm coppa, bacon and a pâté-like terrine — five different families of cure — with three cheeses set between them, a bloomy-rind brie, a semi-hard wedge and a blue. Almonds and cashews, fig jam shot through with mustard seed, green grapes, cherry tomatoes, sliced apple and thyme fill the gaps.

Cured meat leads with salt, which is why the sweet jam and the grapes are always beside it: a little jam rounds the salt off and the nuts change the texture. It is a board built for wine. For two people this plus one pasta is about right; for four, add a pizza.

✔ House smoked bacon, 14,000 won: scored in a diamond pattern, with grilled cabbage
If you try only one thing, this is the clearest. Three thick slices of bacon are scored in a diamond pattern and grilled so the cuts char and the smoke comes forward, and they arrive with a halved, grilled head of albaechu (a small, tender Korean cabbage) and a smooth potato purée. It is not the salt-forward taste of supermarket bacon; the thickness of the meat and the smoke do the work, and the sweetness of the charred cabbage cuts the fat at the end.

✔ Asparagus and poached egg, 23,000 won: break the yolk and it becomes the sauce
Grilled green asparagus under a poached egg and slices of raw cured ham, with parmesan grated over it like snow. The method is simple: break the egg first and drag the yolk through the asparagus. The richness of the yolk, the salt of the ham and the cheese land as one thing — the same salt-and-richness register as the charcuterie board.

✔ White fish crudo (a chef’s recommendation, so it changes with the delivery)
Thinly sliced white fish dressed in olive oil and citrus, with shaved radish, frisée, pink peppercorns and basil — served cold and raw, a crudo or carpaccio. It is not a fixed menu item but sits in the ‘chef’s recommendation’ slot, so both the fish and the price change from day to day (recommended starters and mains run 20,000–50,000 won).

Its job is obvious once it arrives: it resets the palate in the middle of all that fat and salt. If two of you are working through a meat board, put this or the caprese at 20,000 won in the middle and the meal stays light to the end.

Pizza at 23,000 and pasta from 15,000 — the house jambon is laid on, not baked

✔ Jambon pizza, 23,000 won: baked first, then the thin ham goes on
This pizza shows the kitchen’s character most plainly. The base is baked with tomato and cheese until the puffed rim blisters black, and only then is the thinly sliced house jambon laid over it. Because the ham never goes into the oven, the heat only loosens its fat and the slices stay soft and moist. Black olives and cherry tomatoes bring acidity, shaved parmesan brings salt, parsley finishes it. The other option is the pepperoni at 21,000 won.

✔ Pasta is 15,000–22,000 won; the one photographed is a linguine aglio e olio
The list runs aglio e olio at 15,000 won (linguine), arrabbiata with the house bacon at 17,000 (pappardelle), hand-made gnocchi in a white ragù at 22,000, basil pesto at 20,000, and a chef’s pasta of the day at 20,000–25,000.

The plate in the photograph is linguine with sliced garlic, chilli, courgette, broccoli and basil. Finished in oil alone, it lets the garlic and a light heat come through directly. It is light enough to follow cream or meat sauces, and it is the one to pick when you are also ordering pizza and charcuterie.

Three mains: duck confit 28,000, squid confit 24,000, Spanish-style honey cod 24,000

✔ Duck confit, 28,000 won: fregola and baby potatoes in a porcini broth
The most popular of the mains. A bone-in duck leg, cooked slowly in fat, floats in a clear porcini broth with fregola — the small Sardinian pasta pearls — baby potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and thyme. The skin is browned, the meat pulls off the bone. The broth is clear and smells of mushroom, and the fregola is what is left in the spoon at the end.

✔ Squid confit, 24,000 won: Venetian-style over open flame, with herb oil and basil pesto
The menu calls it Venetian-style squid grilled over an open flame, served with herb oil and basil pesto. The plate arrives flooded with yellow herb oil, the squid charred at the edges, with baby potatoes, broccoli, chopped garlic and fried rosemary. Char and herb do the work; there is no heat in it. Order the bread for 3,000 won and finish by mopping up what is left — that is the correct end to this dish.

✔ Spanish-style honey cod, 24,000 won: aioli blowtorched on top, tomato sauce underneath
The newer fish dish. Cod is cooked gently, covered with aioli and the surface scorched with a blowtorch, then set in tomato sauce with chickpeas, baby potatoes, broccoli and rosemary. The trick is to take the toasted aioli and the sharp tomato underneath in the same spoonful. Put it at the end of a table full of meat and nothing sits heavily. Also here: grilled flatfish at 22,000 won and a striploin steak at 50,000–80,000 won at market price.

Where to go? Map and practicalities — booking, corkage, parking

In short: three minutes from Exit 3 at Heukseok Station, 5 pm to midnight with last orders at 10 pm, closed Sundays plus occasional extra days. Build the meal around the 31,000-won charcuterie board, with pizza at 23,000, pasta at 15,000–22,000 and mains at 22,000–28,000. Book through Catch Table for up to six people with a 10,000-won deposit each (refunded on arrival, forfeited on same-day cancellation); parties of four or more and the private room (up to 12) go through 070-4400-4912. Corkage is 20,000 won per bottle of wine (up to three) and 30,000 won for a bottle of whisky (one). There is no car park of its own: use the Heukseok stormwater pumping station public car park (6 Seodal-ro 15-gil, 1,140 won for 30 minutes, 2,280 for an hour, 45 spaces, two minutes away) or the Chung-Ang University Hospital car park (102 Heukseok-ro, 1,500 won for 30 minutes). Ratings as of September 18, 2026.

• The Curing (더큐어링) — Google ★4.6 (42 reviews, below our review-count bar) / Catch Table 4.8 (492) · 12 Seodal-ro 14-gil, Dongjak-gu, 2nd floor · 3 minutes from Exit 3, Heukseok Station (Line 9) · 5 pm–midnight, last order 10 pm · closed Sundays · 070-4400-4912
• Heukseok Station (흑석역, Line 9) — 93–107 m from Exit 3 to the door · three stops from the Express Bus Terminal · one change from Seoul Station via Line 4
• Chung-Ang University Hospital car park (중앙대학교병원) — 102 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu · 1,500 won for 30 minutes, then 500 won per 10 minutes · about 600 spaces · the restaurant has no parking, so drivers use this or the public car park

✔ Read next: There is a second light festival on the Han River in October. The 2026 Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival runs 2~11 October on Nodeul Island, free to enter.

FAQ

Where is The Curing?

On the second floor at 12 Seodal-ro 14-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul — 93–107 m from Exit 3 of Heukseok Station on subway Line 9, about three minutes on foot. It is three stops from the Express Bus Terminal, so it is easiest if you are staying in Gangnam.

What are the hours and closing days?

Dinner only, 5 pm to midnight with last orders at 10 pm, closed every Sunday. Extra closing days come up as well, so check Catch Table or call 070-4400-4912 before you go.

Do I need to book?

Online booking takes up to six people and requires a 10,000-won deposit per person, refunded in full when you arrive and forfeited if you cancel on the day. Parties of four or more and the private room (up to 12) must book by phone.

Can I bring my own wine?

Yes. Corkage is 20,000 won per bottle of wine, up to three bottles, and 30,000 won for a bottle of whisky, one bottle maximum.

What should I order first?

Start with the charcuterie sampler at 31,000 won, add something light (the white fish crudo or the caprese at 20,000), then a pizza at 23,000 or pasta from 15,000, and finish with a main such as the duck confit at 28,000. For two people the sampler and one pasta is enough.