Boramae & Sindaebang: Eats Where Air Force Cadets Drilled

Most people only see Boramae through a bus window on the way to somewhere else. It is a stretch of southwest Seoul where Dongjak-gu, Gwanak-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu meet, with apartment blocks, a big public hospital and a weather agency. In the middle of it is a park of about 400,000 m² with fighter jets parked on the grass. For almost three decades this was the campus of the Korea Air Force Academy. The cadets’ parade ground is now a running track, and their chapel is an art gallery.

The streets around it never got polished. Near Sindaebang Samgeori station there is a traditional market selling holiday rice cakes, a machine-cut udon counter still charging ₩6,000, a briquette grill that locals say opened in 1980, and an alley of plastic tables that fills up when the evenings cool. This guide covers the history first and then where to eat.

Why go all the way to Boramae Park?

Because it is the only place in Seoul where you can walk an air force academy’s parade ground, look up at a Phantom fighter and then eat ₩6,000 noodles ten minutes away. Seoul’s other big parks were built on islands, landfill or old royal grounds. Boramae was built on a military campus, and the park still follows its layout.

It is also a working neighborhood that hasn’t been turned into a tourist area. You won’t find souvenir shops or English menus. You will find office workers at sundaeguk counters at 7 a.m., grandparents doing laps of the old parade ground, and on autumn evenings, every outdoor table at Sindaebang Samgeori taken by 7 p.m. Interest in the area jumped in 2025 when the Seoul International Garden Expo was held in the park. According to a CBS Nocut News report, it passed 10 million visitors that October, and card spending within a 20-minute walk of the park rose 238% on the year before. The expo moved to Seoul Forest in 2026, but the neighborhood is still busier than it was.

The name of the area is a small history lesson of its own. According to Dongjak-gu Office, the area was once two villages, Nopeunjeori and Beondaengi. Under Japanese rule it was 번대방리 (Beondaebang-ri), and after Liberation it became Daebang-dong. The Digital Dongjak Culture Encyclopedia explains that the part annexed to Seoul later, in 1949, could not take the same name. On 15 March 1950 it became 신대방동 (Sindaebang-dong), “new Daebang.” The junction that gives the Line 7 station its name, 신대방삼거리 (Sindaebang Samgeori), is where Sindaebang-dong, Daebang-dong and Sangdo-dong meet.

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What's left of the Air Force Academy in Boramae Park?

Quite a lot: the aircraft, the parade ground, a 1964 chapel, two monuments and a pond named after a superintendent. According to Seoul city’s media hub, the 공군사관학교 (Gonggun Sagwanhakgyo, Air Force Academy) moved here from Jinhae in December 1958 and stayed until it moved to Cheongju in December 1985. Park works started that same month, and the gates opened on Children’s Day, 5 May 1986.

The Air Park is the most obvious trace. Seoul city lists eight retired aircraft on loan from the military: F-4D Phantom, F-86F Sabre and F-5B fighters, a C-123K Provider transport, T-33A and T-37C trainers, an O-2A Skymaster spotter plane and a UH-1B Huey helicopter. The Ministry of National Defense’s newspaper, Kookbang Ilbo, says the display was set up in 2008.

The rest is easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there. According to a 2023 Kookbang Ilbo feature:

• The Seongmu (성무) tower was built in 1962 with cadets’ donations.
• The Chunghyo (충효) tower has a flying eagle on top. It was taken down in 2018 for the subway works and put back in 2022.
• Okmanho pond was dug in 1970 and is named after Ok Man-ho, the academy’s superintendent at the time. The final character is 鎬, not the 湖 that means “lake,” so the name is a pun.
• The Boramae Buddhist hall dates from 1971 and is described as the Air Force’s first.
• The big central lawn is the old parade ground.

The building that tells the story best is the Dongjak Art Gallery. It was the academy’s chapel, built in 1964 to a design by architect Choi Chang-gyu, with a steep, pointed roof. Aju Business Daily reported in 2019 that it was being listed as a national registered heritage building. It is now run by Dongjak-gu as a gallery space.

What does "Boramae" mean?

A boramae is a young hawk, taken before its first year and trained for hunting. That is the definition in the National Institute of Korean Language’s Standard Korean Language Dictionary. The word comes from Korea’s old falconry tradition. The Air Force adopted the fast, sharp-eyed young hawk as its emblem, and the academy used it as its symbol. When the cadets left in 1985, Seoul city kept the name for the park.

The name has spread across the whole area since. Boramae is now the name of a hospital, three subway stations, a neighborhood on the Gwanak-gu side and plenty of shop signs. Few residents could tell you it was ever a bird, let alone a cadet’s badge.

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Where to eat around Sindaebang Samgeori and Boramae

Most of the food is in three clusters: Seongdae Market and the outdoor-table alley at Sindaebang Samgeori (Line 7), the sundaeguk streets near Boramae Station, and the office blocks by Boramae Hospital station on the Sillim Line. Below are four places worth planning a visit around, then a longer list.

Seoil Sundaeguk (서일순대국): The best-known restaurant in the neighborhood. Bloggers call it one of “Seoul’s top three sundaeguk” and say it has been serving here for more than 30 years. The broth is clean rather than heavy. What sets it apart is the vegetable sundae, packed with siraegi (dried radish greens) instead of glass noodles. A bowl was ₩11,000 in August 2026. It opens at 07:10 and closes at 23:00 (last order 22:15), and there is a queue at lunch. Season it yourself with the salted shrimp on the table. If you’re new to Korean soups, our guide to Seoul gukbap types explains how sundaeguk differs from the rest. Boramae Station (Line 7 / Sillim Line) Exit 2, about 5 minutes.

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Gigye Udong (기계우동): The name means “machine udon,” after the noodle machine that cuts the dough. Bloggers describe it as a 37-year-old shop, and the room looks it, with about 15 seats and an old menu board. There are three dishes: udon, jajangmyeon and jajang rice, each ₩6,000 (₩7,000 for a large) as of May 2026. It doesn’t serve alcohol. A late-2025 visit listed hours of 11:00–03:00, which makes it the neighborhood’s late-night stop. Sindaebang Samgeori Station (Line 7) Exit 2, 1 minute.

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Wonjo Sogeum-gui (원조소금구이): A briquette-fired pork grill that regulars say has been here since 1980. The menu is short: sogeum-gui (salted pork, ₩16,000 for 200 g), pork skin (₩8,000) and beef rib meat (₩18,000), according to a September 2026 visit. The briquettes give the meat its smoky flavor. Regulars say the best thing here is the sour-kimchi jjigae (stew) that comes free with the meat. Open 11:00–22:00. Sindaebang Samgeori Station Exit 2, a few minutes’ walk.

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Seopyeong Myeonok (서평면옥): The area’s best-known Pyongyang naengmyeon, in the basement of a construction-industry office building. It has a Blue Ribbon sticker on the door, and the owner-chef cooks every dish in an open kitchen. Mul-naengmyeon, bibim-naengmyeon and on-myeon (warm noodles) are each ₩12,000, cheaper than the famous central-Seoul shops. Families come for the eobokjaengban (a brass platter of sliced beef in broth) and dumpling hotpot. Open 11:00–21:00 with a 15:00–17:00 break; closed Sundays. Boramae Hospital Station (Sillim Line) Exit 2, 1 minute.

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🍢 More Boramae and Sindaebang spots (prices from 2025–26 visits; check hours before you go)

Place	What to order	Price guide	Hours / closed	Nearest station	Map
Sangdo Myeonok	Hoe-naengmyeon, beef head-meat soup	Soup ₩13,000	09:30–21:30 daily	Sindaebang Samgeori Exit 1, 5 min	📍 Naver Map
Nagwon Tteokjip (market stall)	Songpyeon, kkultteok (rice cakes)	Songpyeon 1 kg ₩16,000	06:30–20:00 daily	Sindaebang Samgeori Exit 1, 5 min	📍 Naver Map
Daeseong Dakgangjeong	Honey-glazed fried chicken to take to the park	Check on Naver	11:30–24:00, closed Mon	Sindaebang Samgeori Exit 1, 5 min	📍 Naver Map
Mapo Galbi	Charcoal pork galbi, lots of side dishes	Check on Naver	11:00–22:00, closed Mon	Sindaebang Samgeori Exit 1, 5 min	📍 Naver Map
Hanul Jeonjip	Jeon (savory pancakes), makgeolli	Check on Naver	16:00–01:00, closed Sun	Sindaebang Samgeori Exit 1, 3 min	📍 Naver Map
Meokgeori Jangteo	Outdoor-table pocha: odolppyeo, salt-grilled shrimp	₩11,000–13,000 per dish	Evenings, hours vary	Sindaebang Samgeori Exit 2, 1 min	📍 Naver Map
Hoeseunggwan	Old-school ganjjajang, gogi-twigim, handmade gun-mandu	Gun-mandu ₩10,000	Phone ahead	Sindaebang (Line 2), short walk	📍 Naver Map
Deungnamujip	Oxtail jjim, kkori-gomtang (splurge)	Oxtail jjim (medium) ₩112,000	11:00–22:00, closed holidays	Sindaebang (Line 2), on Daerim-ro	📍 Naver Map
Yeouido Sujebi	Hand-torn sujebi, kalguksu, free boribap	Everything ₩8,000	11:00–19:30, closed Sun	Boramae Hospital Exit 2, 3 min	📍 Naver Map
Passero Espresso	Italian-style espresso, tiramisu	Americano ₩4,000	Mon–Tue 12:00–19:00, Wed–Sun 11:00–19:00	Boramae / Sindaebang Samgeori	📍 Naver Map
Bravo Coffee	Einspänner, house-roasted beans	Iced Americano about ₩2,800	Weekdays only, about 11:00–15:00	Sindaebang Samgeori, 5 min	📍 Naver Map
Mongso	Natural-starter loaves, rice bread	Loaves about ₩6,000	Early morning to late night	Sindaebang Samgeori, in front of the station	📍 Naver Map

A few notes on the list. Sangdo Myeonok sits at the entrance to Seongdae Market. Its sign advertises galbitang, but everyone around you will be eating hoe-naengmyeon (cold noodles with spicy raw fish). Nagwon Tteokjip has a queue before Chuseok and Seollal and sells only what it makes that day. Hoeseunggwan is an old Chinese restaurant tucked into a residential lane, with round tables and floor seating. Bloggers rate its ganjjajang and the gogi-twigim (salt-and-pepper pork fritters, like tangsuyuk without the sauce). Deungnamujip is the neighborhood’s big-occasion restaurant. Bloggers say it has been open since 1975, and it serves oxtail plainly boiled with a stack of scallions.

Is there an outdoor-table pocha scene here?

Yes, two of them, and they’re why people from other districts make the trip here in spring and autumn. Koreans call it 야장 (yajang): eating and drinking at plastic tables set out on the street. At Sindaebang Samgeori, the alley a minute from Exit 2 fills with tables from late afternoon. Meokgeori Jangteo, run by a couple, is the anchor. Every table gets free cucumber sticks, and the menu is pocha standards like odolppyeo (spicy pork cartilage), kimchi-jeon and rice balls, mostly around ₩11,000.

The second scene is the pocha strip along the Dorimcheon stream outside Sindaebang Station (Line 2) Exit 3. It is a short row of tent-style bars facing the water, known for chicken skewers grilled over charcoal (salt-grilled skewers were ₩12,000 in August 2026) and clam stews. Several of the stalls don’t show up on Naver Map under their own names, so search for the area instead: 📍 Sindaebang Station pocha on Naver Map.

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Half-day route: Boramae Hospital to Sindaebang Samgeori

Start around lunchtime and finish at an outdoor table. Allow about five hours. Avoid Sunday if you want Seopyeong Myeonok.

• 12:00, Boramae Hospital Station (Sillim Line) Exit 2: Pyongyang naengmyeon at Seopyeong Myeonok, or ₩8,000 sujebi at Yeouido Sujebi.
• 13:00, Boramae Park, south side: the eight aircraft in the Air Park, then the Chunghyo and Seongmu towers.
• 14:00, the old academy core: Dongjak Art Gallery (the 1964 chapel), Okmanho pond and a lap of the old parade-ground lawn. In season, catch the 17:00 fountain show instead and shift everything later.
• 15:30, exit north toward Boramae Station: espresso at Passero Espresso, or Bravo Coffee if it's a weekday and still open.
• 16:30, Seongdae Market via Sindaebang Samgeori Exit 1: rice cakes at Nagwon Tteokjip and a box of Daeseong dakgangjeong for later.
• 18:00, dinner: briquette-grilled pork at Wonjo Sogeum-gui or ₩6,000 udon at Gigye Udong, then an outdoor table at Meokgeori Jangteo. Line 7 runs back toward Gangnam; for the stream-side pocha instead, take a short taxi ride to Sindaebang Station on Line 2.

Early riser? Swap lunch for a 7 a.m. bowl at Seoil Sundaeguk and walk the park while it’s still cool.