Hanseong Kalguksu, Nonhyeon-dong — a drinking house under a noodle shop sign

In Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam, turn off Eonju-ro into the lane and the Cheongho Arcade building appears. Up on the second floor is Hanseong Kalguksu.

The name says noodle shop, but walk in during the evening and few tables are eating noodles. Most have a plate of boiled pork in front of them and are drinking.

The menu explains why. Kalguksu is a single line at 12,000 won, while above and below it run boiled pork 33,000 won, boiled pork leg 30,000 won, stir-fried octopus 40,000 won and prawn jeon 28,000 won.

On the second floor of Building Na in the same block is the Thai restaurant Yeongdong Pochana. One building holding two places of completely different character, side by side.

The place — second floor of the Cheongho Arcade, closed on Saturdays

The address is 2nd floor, Building Ga, Cheongho Arcade, 14 Eonju-ro 148-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. By subway it sits roughly between Hakdong and Gangnam-gu Office stations on line 7, and since it is on the second floor it is quicker to look for the building number than the sign. The phone number is 02-544-0540.

Hours are 11:30~14:00 (last order 13:45) and 17:00~20:00 (last order 19:45). It shuts between 2pm and 5pm, and closes on Saturdays. The evening finish at 8pm is early, so it does not work as somewhere to move on to later in the night.

The room is wide and bright. White plates with blue patterning arrive mixed in with brassware, and the tables are set well apart. It is less a place for loud company than one for sitting a long time with food and drink both on the table.

Hanseong Kalguksu Nonhyeon main branch at a glance (checked 2026-09-19)

Item	Details
Address	2nd floor, Building Ga, Cheongho Arcade, 14 Eonju-ro 148-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Phone	02-544-0540
Hours	11:30~14:00 (last order 13:45) · 17:00~20:00 (last order 19:45)
Closed	Saturday
Noodles and dumplings	Kalguksu 12,000 won · dumpling soup 12,000 won · plated dumplings 11,000 won
Meat	Boiled pork small 33,000 won / large 44,000 won · boiled pork leg small 30,000 won / large 39,000 won
Other	Stir-fried octopus 40,000 won · blanched octopus 30,000 won · prawn jeon 28,000 won · assorted jeon small 28,000 won · courgette jeon 24,000 won
Rating	Google Maps ★3.9 (968 reviews) — ample reviews, score below this site’s threshold (★4.5)

Boiled pork at 33,000 won — the real main dish here

Boiled pork is 33,000 won for the small and 44,000 won for the large. The boiled pork leg is 30,000 won small and 39,000 won large. Ordering one of the two and adding kalguksu at the end is the basic route through this place.

The pork comes sliced thin and layered onto the plate. Fat and lean form bands, with a thin rim of white fat left at the edge. Straight out of the pot it steams, and lifted with chopsticks it bends along the grain.

It is barely seasoned. It only comes together dipped in salted shrimp or the sauce served alongside, which is exactly why eating one slice plain lets the smell of the meat itself come through. That there is no off odour is probably why this place has lasted.

The plate served with it holds boiled offal. Pieces curled into rings mix with flat opened-out pieces, laid over lettuce. The chew is pronounced, so alternating it with the pork keeps changing the texture.

A few dishes to drink with — the stir-fry, a soup, and dumplings

Boiled pork alone does not keep the drinking going, so a stir-fry gets added. It is a plate of coarsely ground pepper used generously, stir-fried with spring onion and red chilli, but the menu name could not be confirmed for certain, so it goes unnamed here.

The flavour is unambiguous. The hot fragrance of the pepper lands first, with the sweetness of the spring onion behind it. There is fat in it but it does not sit heavy, which makes it good between rounds of pork. For reference, the menu lists stir-fried octopus at 40,000 won and blanched octopus at 30,000 won.

There is a soup as well. Coriander sits on a red broth, with white pieces and mushrooms submerged in it. The heat builds slowly from behind, so the first spoonful reads as mild. The menu name for this one also went unconfirmed, so it is not given.

Dumplings appear on the menu as plated dumplings 11,000 won and dumpling soup 12,000 won. The plate that arrived on the day was dressed with chilli oil and scattered with crushed peanuts and coriander, which looked nothing like the usual plate of dumplings. The nutty heat of the chilli oil soaks into the wrappers and calls for a drink.

Kalguksu at 12,000 won — on living up to the name

The sign here says kalguksu. Kalguksu 12,000 won, dumpling soup 12,000 won. DiningCode reviews mention that the broth is built on meat rather than seafood, and that this is the house characteristic.

Written honestly, though, the most impressive plate here was not the kalguksu. The boiled pork and the drinking dishes are well ahead of it. The kalguksu is closer to a bowl that fills you up at the end, and the impression it left was not one worth making the trip for on its own.

So it is more accurate to put it this way. Hanseong Kalguksu is a drinking house under a noodle shop sign. Order a plate of boiled pork and one stir-fry, drink soju over them, and finish with the noodles, and you meet only this restaurant’s strengths.

Map and practicalities — getting there, the break, and the rating

Address 2nd floor, Building Ga, Cheongho Arcade, 14 Eonju-ro 148-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Phone 02-544-0540
Hours 11:30~14:00 · 17:00~20:00 (last order 13:45 / 19:45) / Closed Saturday

It is walkable from between Hakdong and Gangnam-gu Office stations on line 7. It is on the second floor, and the second floor of Building Na in the same block holds Yeongdong Pochana. One is a Korean drinking house and the other a Thai restaurant, so when a group’s tastes split you can choose within the same building.

The evening service ends at 8pm. Arrange dinner in Gangnam without knowing that and you will be caught out. Booking is also possible through AutoReserve (autoreserve.com), linked from Google Maps.

The rating gets stated honestly. This site uses Google Maps ★4.5 with 100 or more reviews as its threshold for a recommendation. As of September 2026, the Nonhyeon main branch has ★3.9 across 968 reviews. The review count is very large, but the score falls short of the threshold.

A place whose name and reality diverge tends to score low. Someone who came for kalguksu and left having eaten only kalguksu cannot rate it the same way as someone who drank over a plate of boiled pork. That is precisely why this article says up front that it is a drinking house under a noodle shop sign.

FAQ

Is it open on Saturdays?

No. It closes on Saturdays, and on the other days it also shuts between 14:00 and 17:00. The evening last order at 19:45 is early.

Is the kalguksu good?

This article says so honestly: the boiled pork and the drinking dishes were far more impressive than the 12,000 won kalguksu itself. Treating the kalguksu as the bowl that fills you up at the end gives you a better experience.

What should two of us order?

One small boiled pork at 33,000 won (or the small boiled pork leg at 30,000 won), plus a stir-fry or a jeon, and kalguksu at 12,000 won to finish works well.

Where is it?

2nd floor, Building Ga, Cheongho Arcade, 14 Eonju-ro 148-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The second floor of Building Na in the same block holds the Thai restaurant Yeongdong Pochana.

Why is the rating low?

The sign says noodle shop while the real strengths are the drinking dishes and the boiled pork, so ratings split easily between those who arrive expecting one thing and those who do not. As of September 2026 it stands at ★3.9 (968 reviews) on Google Maps, short of this site’s threshold.