Jongno 3-ga & Seosulla-gil: Cheap Eats by Jongmyo's Wall

Jongno 3-ga is where three subway lines cross, where Seoul’s elderly men come to get a 6,000-won haircut, watch a 2,000-won movie and eat a 3,000-won bowl of soup. It is also where a 1960s shopping arcade sits on top of a four-lane road, where a street is named after a television host, and where a quiet lane runs along the stone wall of Jongmyo, the royal ancestral shrine, past hanok cafés that would be packed if they were in Ikseon-dong, two blocks away.

It’s one of the most layered square kilometers in Seoul, and one of the cheapest places to eat.

What is Seosulla-gil?

The lane along Jongmyo’s west wall, named after the soldiers who walked it at night. Joseon-era Seoul had a curfew, enforced by night-patrol soldiers called 순라군 sullagun. The road they patrolled outside the west wall of Jongmyo became 서순라길 Seosulla-gil — “the west patrol road.” Seoul city’s media hub describes it running north from Jongno 3-ga, with the shrine’s stone wall on one side and a row of low buildings on the other.

For decades the other side was jewelry workshops serving the gold and gem trade around Jongno 3-ga. Seoul opened its Jewelry Support Center here in 2017, and between 2018 and 2020 the city rebuilt the lane as part of a downtown street-improvement project, widening the sidewalk and paving it in stone. Hanok cafés and small wine bars followed. Since December 20, 2025, the lane has been closed to cars on weekends from 10:00 to 22:00, according to Seoul Shinmun.

The best thing about Seosulla-gil is what it isn’t: the shrine wall means there is nothing tall on one side, so in the afternoon the sun comes straight down the street. For the shrine itself, see our Jongmyo visit guide.

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Why is Jongno 3-ga called the old people's Hongdae?

Because everything here is priced for people living on a pension and a free subway pass. Seoulites over 65 ride the subway free, Jongno 3-ga is where three lines meet, and Tapgol Park, where the March 1st independence declaration was read in 1919, has been a gathering place for elderly men for decades. Korean media have long called the area “the Hongdae of the silver generation.” A 2026 Daum feature counted the economy: haircuts and dye jobs for 6,000 won, a 2,000-won senior ticket at the cinema in Nagwon Arcade, and a 3,000–4,000-won bowl of soup.

📈 What a bowl of haejang-guk cost in Nagwon-dong (one shop, as reported)

Year	Price	Source
1970	400 won	Money Today (2022)
2010	2,000 won	Money Today (2022)
May 2022	2,500 won	Money Today (2022)
October 2026	3,000 won	Shop’s Naver Place listing

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Where to eat in Jongno 3-ga and Nagwon-dong

Prices and hours below are from Naver Place listings, checked on October 1, 2026.

Somunnanjip (Supyo-ro 131) — The famous cheap bowl. Ugeoji haejang-guk is a hangover soup of soybean-paste broth and dried cabbage leaves, served with rice, kimchi and nothing else. It is 3,000 won; an extra bowl of rice is 1,000 won. The shop is associated with Song Hae, who ate here; Money Today reported in 2022 that the long-time owner had retired and a younger sister had taken over. We listed it at 2,500 won in our cheap eats guide; the price has gone up since. It opens early and fills with regulars from mid-morning. Pay in cash if you can.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Nagwon Tteokjip (Samil-daero 438) — Right beside Nagwon Arcade. Seoul city dates the shop to around 1920, and explains that Nagwon-dong’s rice-cake trade grew out of palace-style recipes after the Joseon court dissolved; the shop is now run by the founding family’s later generations and is listed as one of Seoul’s “Oraegage” long-running shops. Try duteop-tteok, a soft, cinnamon-scented rice cake coated in red-bean crumbs: 3,000 won for a house piece, 4,000 won with black sesame. Most single cakes are 2,000–2,500 won. Segye Ilbo reported in 2025 that the rice-cake street here once had about 20 shops and is down to about five.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Hoban (Samil-daero 26-gil 20) — A loud, crowded Korean pub in the alleys north of Nagwon Arcade, where the menu runs from a 10,000-won sundae-guk and 9,000-won cabbage soup at lunch to sharing plates at night: house sundae (25,000 won for a medium plate), braised pomfret, ox tongue, boiled pork. Go at lunch for the soup, or with friends after dark. Reviewers note the service is brisk.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Masan Agu Tongnamu Sikdang (Samil-daero 436-1) — Nagwon-dong’s agu-jjim alley, where monkfish is braised with bean sprouts in a very hot chili sauce, has been a thing since the 1970s. Our Insadong guide already covers the alley’s best-known name; this is the other one locals argue for. Recent menus: medium (for two) about 48,000 won, large about 56,000 won. Weekday hours start at 16:00; Sunday from 11:00.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Heritage Club (Seosulla-gil 75) — A hanok turned café by day and bar by night, with the courtyard glassed over so you can sit in the middle of the house in any weather. Coffee and small plates in the afternoon, beer, wine and whisky in the evening. Vogue Korea picked it as a palace-side café in 2025, and its Naver listing has around 1,000 reviews.

📍 Open in Naver Map

🍽️ More around Jongno 3-ga and Seosulla-gil (Naver Place, Oct 2026)

Place	What	Price guide	Hours / closed	Map
Jongno Jin Nakji	Spicy stir-fried octopus, a Jongno classic since the elders’ heyday	Field check	11:00–24:00 (Sun to 22:00)	📍 Open in Naver Map
Ojukine	Spicy braised chicken by the pojangmacha street	Small ~30,000 won	11:30–21:50 (break 14:50–16:00), closed Sun	📍 Open in Naver Map
Fikee	Book café on Seosulla-gil, open from breakfast	Field check	08:00–19:00 (Fri–Sun to 22:00)	📍 Open in Naver Map
Roi Garden	Small hanok wine bar facing the shrine wall	Field check	From 15:00–16:00 to 23:00, closed Mon–Tue	📍 Open in Naver Map
Cafe Sunri	Café at the north end of Seosulla-gil	Americano 6,000 won	Field check	📍 Open in Naver Map
W/ Seosulla-gil	Brunch and pasta on Yulgok-ro 10-gil, near the lane	Pasta ~22,000–23,000 won	Field check	📍 Open in Naver Map
Jongno 3-ga pojangmacha street	Evening tent bars along Donhwamun-ro: live octopus, sea squirt, whelk salad	Dishes ~10,000–30,000 won	From around 17:00	📍 Open in Naver Map

Is the Jongno 3-ga pojangmacha street worth it?

Yes, for one round on a warm evening. Around 2009–10, Seoul and Jongno-gu moved street vendors onto Donhwamun-ro near the station as part of a street-environment project; Korean media date it to different years. Every evening from about 17:00, rows of orange tents and plastic tables go up, and by 20:00 the street is full of office workers, students and older regulars. Hankyung counted about 500 tables in 2023. Expect live octopus, sea squirt, whelk salad and fish-cake soup for roughly 10,000–30,000 won a plate, no air conditioning, and some cash-only stalls.

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A half-day route: Nagwon-dong to Seosulla-gil

• 11:00 — Jongno 3-ga Station Exit 5. Walk Songhae-gil toward Nagwon Arcade (3–5 minutes).
• 11:15 — Nagwon Arcade. Walk the road that passes underneath, then up to the instrument floors; the arcade's shops close on Sundays.
• 11:45 — Nagwon Tteokjip next door for a rice-cake snack, then a look at Tapgol Park's ten-story stone pagoda.
• 12:30 — Lunch. 3,000-won haejang-guk at Somunnanjip, or sundae-guk at Hoban.
• 14:00 — Seosulla-gil (10–12 minutes east). Walk the shrine wall north; coffee at Heritage Club or Fikee. The Seoul Jewelry Support Center's galleries are on the lane.
• 16:00 — Jongmyo, if you want the shrine itself.
• 18:00 — Pojangmacha street on Donhwamun-ro, or monkfish in the Nagwon alley if you're a group.