Say “Gangnam” and most people picture the neon at Gangnam Station or the glass roof of COEX. But walk ten minutes east along Teheran-ro and the air changes. At 11:50 sharp, people with ID badges on lanyards pour out of the towers all at once, and lines form at the top of basement stairwells in the side streets.

The 1.2 km between Yeoksam and Seolleung stations is one of the densest office stretches in Seoul. The restaurants here don’t run on tourists. They run on office workers who show up at the same time every day, and on taxi drivers who pull over for a fast meal. Menus are short, side dishes land in minutes, and on Sundays the shutters are down.

This guide follows that rhythm: 16 places, 11 restaurants and 5 cafés. We checked for signs of operation as of October 2026 using online sources and BC Card payment data (eat.pl), and where we couldn’t confirm a price or opening time, we say so.

The short answer

  • On Line 2, Yeoksam is one stop east of Gangnam, and Seolleung is two. Yeoksam to Seolleung is 1.2 km, about a 15-minute walk.
  • Lunch means pollock stew, beef bone soup, budae jjigae and baekban set meals. Around ₩10,000–15,000 is the going rate.
  • After work, two alleys turn into company-dinner streets: Nonhyeon-ro 85-gil south of Yeoksam and Seolleung-ro 86-gil southeast of Seolleung.
  • Avoid Sundays. In payment data, 62 of the top 100 set-meal restaurants in Yeoksam-dong record no transactions on Sundays.
  • The best cafés are office roasters that open around 7 a.m. and close at 5–6 p.m.

Where Are Yeoksam and Seolleung, and How Do I Get There?

Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, right in the middle of Teheran-ro. Teheran-ro is a ten-lane avenue running east–west from the Gangnam Station intersection to Samseong Bridge. Gangnam Station sits at the western end, Samseong Station (COEX) at the eastern end, and Yeoksam and Seolleung cover the middle stretch.

1977
The year Samneung-ro was renamed Teheran-ro, after a visit by the mayor of Tehran and a sister-city pact
3.2km
Length of Teheran-ro when it was named in 1977 (about 3,200 m)
1.2km
Distance between Yeoksam and Seolleung on Line 2. Gangnam to Yeoksam is 0.8 km
1982
Yeoksam and Seolleung stations both opened on December 23, with Line 2's Sports Complex–Seoul Nat'l Univ. of Education section

Which station to use

  • Yeoksam (Line 2) — The old-school lunch spots for pollock stew, gomtang and budae jjigae are all within about 300 m. The station sign reads "Yeoksam (Center Field)".
  • Seolleung (Line 2 and Suin-Bundang Line) — A Bundang Line transfer station since 2003. The pancake alley and the seolleongtang house are on this side. The sign reads "Seolleung (Acuon Savings Bank)".
  • The stretch in between — Home to the bus diner and the butcher-restaurant. It's an 8–10 minute walk from either station.
  • You can walk from Gangnam Station — It's 0.8 km to Yeoksam. Just follow Teheran-ro east.

Why Are Teheran-ro's Back Streets Full of Gukbap and Baekban Places?

Because tens of thousands of people here need lunch at the same hour. Teheran-ro was planned as an office corridor from the start, and the alleys behind its towers evolved to feed those workers fast, cheaply and every single day.

From Samneung-ro to "Teheran Valley"

  • 1972 — The Seocho-dong to Samseong-dong stretch is named Samneung-ro, "Three Tombs Road," after the three burial mounds at nearby Seonjeongneung.
  • June 27, 1977 — After a visit by the mayor of Tehran, the road becomes Teheran-ro. That November, Tehran gets a Seoul Street of its own.
  • 1984 to the 1990s — Designated a central business district, the road draws corporate headquarters and banks. The office-tower building boom runs into the mid-1990s.
  • After 1997 — When the Asian financial crisis emptied out the banks, venture startups moved into the space, earning the strip the nickname "Teheran Valley." Startups and big-company offices still share the road today.

That history explains what the food looks like. Menus run to three or four items, food arrives within minutes of sitting down, and when the office crowd goes home for the weekend, many places simply close. The basic units of this district are baekban, a set meal of rice, soup or stew and a spread of side dishes, and the gisa sikdang, a “driver’s diner” where taxi drivers park and eat fast.

You can see the rhythm in the numbers, too. We pulled the top 100 businesses by sales in each category for Yeoksam-dong addresses from eat.pl, BC Card’s payment-data service.

📊 Payment patterns of the top 100 Yeoksam-dong businesses per category (eat.pl, retrieved October 31, 2026)

CategoryBusiest at lunchNo Sunday paymentsNo Sat or Sun paymentsBusiest days
Baekban and set meals946232Thu, Wed
Stews and soups964112Wed, Thu
Cafés621510Wed, Thu
How to read this: Of the top 100 set-meal restaurants, 94 are busiest at lunch and 62 log zero card payments on Sundays. The figures also cover the slice of Yeoksam-dong just east of Gangnam Station, but the takeaway is clear: food in this neighborhood is a weekday-daytime thing. A "closed" day here means a day with no recorded payments, which may differ from what the restaurant officially posts.

What Do Yeoksam Office Workers Eat for Lunch?

Five places within 300 m of Yeoksam Station, plus one bus diner halfway to Seolleung. They share one thing: most of the customers work around the corner.

🐟
Yeoksamdong Bugeojip
Remembered for one dish, the braised pollock set meal. Regulars are hungover office workers and taxi drivers.
🍲
Ido Gomtang (main branch)
Hanwoo beef gomtang and a rice-noodle version. Described as a third-generation family business.
🥘
Daewoo Budae Jjigae
Army stew topped with minari. Reviewers call it an old-timer near Yeoksam Station.
🚌
Yeoksam Snack Car
A diner built inside a converted bus, described as a survivor of the 1980s snack cars.

Yeoksamdong Bugeojip (역삼동북어집) — One Tray of Braised Pollock

It’s no exaggeration to say this place is its bugeo-jjim: dried pollock split open and braised with onion and chili flakes until it’s spicy and saucy. There’s enough broth left at the bottom to mix into your rice, which is why office workers nursing the previous night’s company dinner come here to recover. Each portion arrives on its own tray.

When GQ Korea featured it in June 2025 as one of Seoul’s taxi drivers’ favorite restaurants, the braised pollock set meal cost ₩10,000. The restaurant moved from the main road into the alley, and there’s parking for only four cars. It sits at the start of Nonhyeon-ro 85-gil, south of Yeoksam Station, a 4–5 minute walk.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Ido Gomtang (이도곰탕) Main Branch — Beef Bone Soup With Rice Noodles

North of Yeoksam Station, tucked into Nonhyeon-ro 94-gil. The broth is simmered from Korean hanwoo beef shank and runs rich, and the ssalmyeon gomtang, with chewy rice noodles in place of rice, is what sets this place apart from other gomtang houses. Esquire Korea has described it as a third-generation family business.

It’s also one of the few places on this list with no closing day in the payment records, which makes it the safest bet if you’re passing through Yeoksam on a weekend. For more on how Korea’s many meat-and-broth soups differ, see our gukbap guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Daewoo Budae Jjigae (대우부대찌개) — Army Stew, Gangnam Style

On Teheran-ro 25-gil, northwest of Yeoksam Station. If you’re picturing the classic Uijeongbu-style army stew, this one is a little different: minced Korean beef deepens the broth, and a big handful of minari (Korean water parsley) keeps it clean-tasting. There’s enough minced meat that many people end up spooning it over rice. In the evening, tables order grilled sirloin and sausages and turn lunch into drinks.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Jeonbotdae (전봇대) — Rice Lunches by Day, Bossam by Night

Leave Yeoksam Station by Exit 7, walk past GS Tower and head uphill toward Choong Hyun Church; Jeonbotdae is across the street from the church. The headliner is pork bossam boiled the same day with medicinal herbs, and at lunch the kitchen serves noodles and rice bowls. A 2024 local newspaper article said it had been in business for 13 years.

In the payment data, its number-one customer group is men aged 60 and over. In other words, this is a place where older regulars outnumber the young office crowd.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Namho Sikdang (남호식당) — Country-Style Lunch, Pork Belly at Night

In a basement on Nonhyeon-ro 85-gil, south of Yeoksam Station. At lunch it serves a “country table” set and a “menu of the day” that changes daily; by evening, the same tables are grilling fresh pork belly. One room, two personalities a day: a textbook Teheran-ro back-alley restaurant.

Payment data puts it in the top 4.8% of Yeoksam-dong barbecue restaurants by local sales, and it records no payments on Saturdays or Sundays. Think of it as weekdays-only.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Yeoksam Snack Car (역삼스낵카) — Doenjang Bibimbap Inside a Bus

The strangest restaurant on this list: a diner built inside a decommissioned bus. Snack cars were mobile snack stands that appeared in the late 1970s to feed construction workers, and most of them disappeared after the 1990s. In a June 2025 article, GQ Korea described this one as a survivor of the snack cars rolled out ahead of the 1986 Asian Games.

It used to run 24 hours and sell udon, but as of the 2025 article it was open until around 10 p.m. with a rice-focused menu. Kakao Map files it under gisa sikdang. It sits roughly halfway between Yeoksam and Seolleung, at lot number 721-24, Yeoksam-dong.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Where Should I Eat Lunch Near Seolleung Station?

The buildings around Seolleung are bigger than around Yeoksam, and so is the lunch crowd. But step a few paces off the main road and you’ll find places still held down by regulars in their 50s and 60s.

Seolleung Seolleongtang (선릉설렁탕)

Four minutes west of Seolleung Station on Teheran-ro 51-gil. Seolleongtang (milky ox-bone soup), spicy jang-kalguksu noodles and potato pancakes are the mainstays, and reviews mention “over 30 years in business” and “open 24 hours.” We couldn’t confirm either from an official source. Reviewers split between “consistent, with great fresh kimchi” and “the broth is thin.” Don’t expect a showpiece; this is office-lunch seolleongtang for a little over ₩10,000.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Gamja Boribap (감자보리밥) — A Weekday-Only Barley Rice Lunch

The name says it: barley rice. Payment data shows its top two customer groups are men and women aged 60 and over, and it records no payments on Saturdays or Sundays. In the office blocks right by Seolleung Station, it’s where the people who’ve worked in these buildings for decades go for lunch.

It sits at 406 Teheran-ro, in the office block right outside Seolleung Station (payment data lists B1, 519 Seolleung-ro instead, so double-check on a map app). The namesake gamja boribap is barley rice topped with a steamed potato, mixed with namul and thick doenjang sauce, with a taster of spicy pork and a bowl of doenjang stew on the side. There is also siraegi-mushroom rice, sugure gukbap and a bossam set. Polle reviews put a meal at around 9,000 won, and on weekdays a queue forms from 11:45. The room is small, but solo diners are welcome.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Hwanggeum Jeongyuk Sikdang (황금정육식당) — Beef Soup at Lunch, Ribeye at Night

A butcher-restaurant on Teheran-ro 38-gil, between Yeoksam and Seolleung. A jeongyuk sikdang is a barbecue restaurant that doubles as a butcher, which keeps meat prices down. This one also sells hanwoo gukbap (beef and rice soup) and bulgogi hot pot at lunch to catch the office crowd; one review mentions a ₩16,000 lunch bulgogi hot pot. Private rooms make it a go-to for small company dinners.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Where Do Office Workers Go for After-Work Drinks?

In Yeoksam it’s Nonhyeon-ro 85-gil; in Seolleung it’s Seolleung-ro 86-gil. Both alleys are a single block off the main road, lined with barbecue joints, pancake houses and beer halls. After 6:30 p.m., groups with loosened ties fill the alleys, and Thursday evenings are the busiest. If you’re curious about Korean hoesik, the company dinner, read Hoesik and Overtime first; the scene will make a lot more sense.

Getting a table in the hoesik alleys

  • Get in before 18:30. At popular places, group bookings fill the big tables first after 7 p.m.
  • Two or more people is easier. Most barbecue places require a two-portion minimum.
  • Nonhyeon-ro 85-gil is worth a lunchtime walk, too. Bugeojip and Namho Sikdang sit near the mouth of this alley.
  • Seolleung-ro 86-gil runs late. Payment records show several places taking orders until 1–2 a.m.

Seowon Jeongyuk Sikdang (서원정육식당) — A 30-Year-Old Beef Brisket House

About ten minutes south of Yeoksam Station, toward the residential streets around Nonhyeon-ro 72-gil. The menu has exactly three items: hanwoo chadolbagi (thin-sliced brisket), fresh pork belly and doenjang jjigae. It’s been described as a place that has grilled nothing but brisket for over 30 years, and many say the side dishes cut through the richness of the meat. It only opens for dinner, so you’ll find it shut at lunchtime.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Ssarigol Bindaetteok (싸리골빈대떡) Main Branch — A Basement Pancake House

In a basement on Seolleung-ro 86-gil, on the Daechi-dong side southeast of Seolleung Station. The same alley is lined with chain bars selling dried pollack snacks and draft beer, but this is a mung bean pancake house with “main branch” on its sign. Payment data shows its top customers are men in their 50s, and its busiest time is Thursday evening. Payments start around noon and run until nearly 2 a.m.

📍 Open in Naver Map

🍚 11 Yeoksam and Seolleung restaurants at a glance (online sources as of October 2026, not verified in person)

RestaurantSignature dishPrice rangeNearest station
Yeoksamdong BugeojipBraised pollock set meal₩10,000 (2025)Yeoksam, 4–5 min walk
Ido Gomtang main branchHanwoo gomtang, rice-noodle gomtang₩14,000–17,000Yeoksam, 5–6 min walk
Daewoo Budae JjigaeBudae jjigae₩15,000–16,000Yeoksam, 4–5 min walk
JeonbotdaeBossam, noodlesUnconfirmedYeoksam, 5–6 min walk
Namho SikdangCountry table set, pork belly₩10,000–18,000Yeoksam, 4 min walk
Yeoksam Snack CarVegetable doenjang bibimbap₩10,000 (2025)Between stations, 8–10 min walk
Seolleung SeolleongtangSeolleongtang, jang-kalguksu₩10,000–15,000Seolleung, 4 min walk
Gamja BoribapPotato barley riceabout ₩9,000406 Teheran-ro
Hwanggeum Jeongyuk SikdangHanwoo gukbap, bulgogi hot pot₩12,000–18,000Between stations, 8 min walk
Seowon Jeongyuk SikdangHanwoo brisket₩30,000 per portionYeoksam, 10 min walk
Ssarigol Bindaetteok main branchMung bean pancakeUnconfirmedSeolleung, 4–5 min walk

Which Cafés in Yeoksam and Seolleung Are Worth It?

The stars here are cafés that open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. They exist for people grabbing beans before work and people lining up right after lunch, so they won’t suit an evening or weekend café crawl. But if you want to see Teheran-ro on a weekday morning, there’s no better seat.

☕
Coffee Giup, Gangnam GFC
Second floor of Gangnam Finance Center, right by Yeoksam Station. One of the busiest non-chain cafés in the area by card sales.
🔥
Roastery Lak-on, Yeoksam
A roaster with branches in office districts like Yeoksam, Samseong, Yeouido and Pangyo. Closes at 5 p.m. on weekdays.
🏢
Yeoksam Coffee Roasters
A tiny roaster on the second floor of a "Venture-tel" building, whose top customers are men over 60.

Coffee Giup (커피기업), Gangnam GFC Branch

On the second floor of Gangnam Finance Center (GFC), right by Yeoksam Station. It’s a small brand with another shop in Apgujeong, and in payment data it ranks in the top 7% of Yeoksam-dong cafés by local sales. The crowd is mostly office workers in their 30s, and no payments are recorded on Saturdays or Sundays. On a rainy day, it’s also a good way to get coffee without walking far in the wet.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Roastery Lak-on (로스터리 락온), Yeoksam Branch

On Gangnam-daero 94-gil, northwest of Yeoksam Station. Other shops under the same name sit in Samseong-dong (Seolleung-ro 92-gil), near Gangnam Station, in Yeouido and in Pangyo: office districts, every one. Payment records show it opening around 07:15 and closing around 17:00 on weekdays, with weekends off. It’s in the top 4% of Yeoksam-dong cafés by local sales, which makes it one of the busiest non-franchise cafés in the area.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Yeoksam Coffee Roasters (역삼커피로스터스)

Right across from Daewoo Budae Jjigae, on the second floor of the Yeoksam Hyundai Venture-tel building on Teheran-ro 25-gil. It’s a small café roasting beans inside a building that still carries its venture-boom-era name, and in payment data its number-one customer group is men aged 60 and over. That’s an unusual crowd for a Teheran-ro café. Payments are recorded on weekdays from about 08:00 to 17:00.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Alexander Coffee Studio (알렉산더커피스튜디오)

On the same Teheran-ro 51-gil as Seolleung Seolleongtang. Payment records show it opening around 07:00 and closing before 18:00 every day; it’s one of the few cafés here with no gap in the week. Customers are mostly people in their 30s, followed by women in their 20s. It’s a natural next stop after a bowl of seolleongtang.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Arista Coffee (아리스타커피), Seolleung Branch 2

On Teheran-ro 43-gil, west of Seolleung Station. As “Branch 2” suggests, it’s a small brand with more than one shop. Payment records show it open from about 07:10 to 17:40, closed Sundays. It’s a handy halfway break if you’re walking between Yeoksam and Seolleung.

📍 Open in Naver Map

☕ 5 Yeoksam and Seolleung cafés: operating patterns from payment records (eat.pl, retrieved October 2026)

CaféLocationPayment hoursWeekends
Coffee Giup, Gangnam GFCGFC 2F, by Yeoksam StationAbout 07:00–20:00No Sat or Sun payments
Roastery Lak-on, Yeoksam5 min northwest of YeoksamAbout 07:15–17:00No Sat or Sun payments
Yeoksam Coffee Roasters2–3 min northwest of YeoksamAbout 08:00–17:00No Sat or Sun payments
Alexander Coffee Studio4 min west of SeolleungAbout 07:00–18:00Payments every day
Arista Coffee, Seolleung Branch 26–7 min west of SeolleungAbout 07:10–17:40No Sunday payments

When Should I Go? A Weekday Route

Weekdays, and ideally a Tuesday or Friday. Payment data shows Wednesday and Thursday are the busiest days here, and many places close on weekends. As for timing, just dodge the lunch peak, roughly 11:50 to 12:40.

A weekday on foot, from Yeoksam to Seolleung

  • 08:00 — Coffee at Coffee Giup, GFC 2F by Yeoksam Station, watching Teheran-ro's morning commute below.
  • 11:20 — Beat the line for braised pollock at Yeoksamdong Bugeojip, or rice-noodle gomtang at Ido Gomtang.
  • 13:30 — Stroll east along Teheran-ro. Stop for a cup at Yeoksam Coffee Roasters or Arista Coffee.
  • 15:00 — Walk the Joseon royal tombs at Seonjeongneung, north of Seolleung Station: a World Heritage site wedged between office towers (details in our Samseong-dong guide below).
  • 18:30 — Finish with mung bean pancakes at Ssarigol on Seolleung-ro 86-gil, or head back to Yeoksam for brisket at Seowon Jeongyuk Sikdang.

Visiting details for Seonjeongneung and the story of Bongeunsa are in our Samseong-dong complete guide. Starting from the Gangnam Station side? Pair this walk with Gangnam Station’s 10 local favorites.

Honest take: Yeoksam and Seolleung have almost no landmarks to photograph. English menus are rare, and on weekends the alleys are empty. But if you want to see how Seoul's office workers actually eat, no neighborhood does it better. At 11:50 on a weekday, when badge-wearing crowds flood out of the towers all at once, the street itself is the show.

Sources

Popular in Seoul right now

Klook.com

Affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Details →