Restaurant in Seoul, South Korea
Classical Korean cooking, easy to book.
A collaboration between chef Park Ju-eun and senior sommelier Juyong Kim, Restaurant Jueun is Seoul's clearest case for traditional Korean cuisine paired with serious wine expertise. Holding a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025 and ranked #272 in OAD Asia, it earns its ₩₩₩₩ price point. Book here for special occasions where substance matters more than spectacle.
Restaurant Jueun holds a 4.9 Google rating from 59 reviews — a score that, at this sample size, signals genuine consistency rather than statistical noise. Ranked #272 in Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in Asia (2025) and holding a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, this Jongno District address is not a casual discovery. It is a deliberate, considered project built around traditional Korean cuisine and serious wine knowledge. The question is whether that combination justifies booking it for your Seoul visit over the dozen other ₩₩₩₩ options in the city.
The short answer: yes, if traditional Korean cooking executed with sommelier-level attention to what you drink alongside it is the experience you're looking for. If you want creative Korean-contemporary fusion or a flashier tasting menu format, there are better fits in Seoul. But for a deeply rooted, ingredient-respecting Korean meal paired with expert guidance on what's in your glass, Jueun is one of the clearest choices in the city.
Restaurant Jueun is a collaboration between chef Park Ju-eun, who works in the tradition of classical Korean cuisine, and Juyong Kim, described in available records as one of Korea's most respected senior sommeliers. That pairing is the structural logic of the entire restaurant: the food comes from a place of deep culinary heritage, and the beverage program is built to match that register rather than overlay it with imported wine-list conventions.
This is worth understanding before you book. Traditional Korean cuisine — hanjeongsik in its full expression , is built on fermented, aged, and seasonal ingredients. The sourcing philosophy that underpins this style of cooking is not about novelty ingredients or theatrical presentation. It is about the quality of foundational materials: grains, vegetables, fermented pastes, and proteins handled with patience. When a restaurant commits to this register at the ₩₩₩₩ price point, the cost is justified not by spectacle but by the sourcing depth required to do it well. Expect the meal to reflect that , restrained in visual drama, demanding in ingredient quality.
The Gyeonghuigung-gil address in Jongno places the restaurant in one of Seoul's most historically significant districts, near the Gyeonghuigung Palace. For a special occasion dinner, that context adds something real: the neighbourhood itself carries weight that newer dining districts don't. It also means the restaurant operates in a part of the city that rewards arriving early to walk before your reservation, rather than rushing in from elsewhere. See our full Seoul restaurants guide for neighbourhood context across the city.
Restaurant Jueun is the right call for special occasions where the experience should feel grounded and substantive rather than trend-chasing. A significant birthday dinner, a business meal where you want to show genuine knowledge of Seoul's food culture, or a date where the conversation matters as much as the food , these are the contexts where this restaurant delivers. The sommelier pedigree of Juyong Kim means the pairing component of your meal is taken seriously, which adds a layer of engagement that direct tasting menus don't always provide.
It is a less obvious choice if your priority is Instagram presentation, a louder and more social atmosphere, or Korean cuisine through a contemporary or fusion lens. For that profile, Mingles or Kwonsooksoo will likely be more satisfying. For a purely traditional Korean fine dining experience at a comparable price point, also consider Onjium and La Yeon before deciding , the traditional Korean category in Seoul is competitive enough that it pays to be specific about what you want from the meal.
If you are visiting Seoul from abroad and want to anchor your trip in Korean culinary tradition rather than its contemporary evolution, this restaurant belongs on your shortlist alongside Bicena. For Korean dining outside Seoul, Mori in Busan and Baegyangsa Temple in Jangseong-gun offer different regional angles worth knowing about.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which is relevant at this level of the market , many comparable Seoul fine dining addresses require weeks of advance planning or navigating difficult reservation systems. Restaurant Jueun appears more accessible, though the absence of published hours and booking method in available records means you should confirm current reservation procedures directly. The Jongno location is accessible from central Seoul; the full address is 36, Gyeonghuigung-gil, 8th floor, Jongno District.
Price range is ₩₩₩₩, Seoul's top tier. At this level you are typically looking at a per-person spend that warrants treating the evening as a planned occasion rather than a spontaneous choice. The upside is that the sommelier involvement of Juyong Kim means the pairing guidance you receive is likely to be among the most informed available in the city at this price point. Spending that money with a senior sommelier at the table is a different proposition than spending it at a restaurant where wine is an afterthought.
For broader Seoul planning, explore our full Seoul hotels guide, our full Seoul bars guide, our full Seoul wineries guide, and our full Seoul experiences guide. If you are curious about how this style of Korean cooking translates internationally, bōm in New York City and DOSA in London offer useful reference points. For other Korean dining in the broader region, Kwon Sook Soo in Gangnam-gu, The Flying Hog in Seogwipo, Double T Dining in Gangneung, and Market Café in Incheon round out the national picture.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy relative to Seoul's fine dining category. Specific reservation channels are not published in available records , confirm current methods via the restaurant directly. Given the 8th floor location on Gyeonghuigung-gil, it is worth confirming the entrance and building access details when you reserve, particularly if arriving for an evening occasion.
Seating configuration details are not available in current records, so we cannot confirm bar seating options. Contact the restaurant directly when reserving , given the collaborative nature of the project between chef and sommelier, any counter or bar seating, if available, would likely still offer the full pairing experience rather than an abbreviated menu.
Specific menu items are not published in available records, so dish-level recommendations are not possible here without risking outdated guidance. What the available data does tell you: the kitchen works in traditional Korean cuisine under chef Park Ju-eun, and the beverage program is shaped by senior sommelier Juyong Kim. Your leading move is to follow the pairing recommendations , that's the structural strength of this restaurant and what distinguishes it from other traditional Korean addresses at the same price tier.
At ₩₩₩₩, yes , provided traditional Korean cuisine with expert wine guidance is what you're after. The combination of a Michelin Plate (consecutive years), an OAD Asia top-300 ranking, and a 4.9 Google score across 59 reviews gives you a strong evidence base for booking with confidence. If you want contemporary Korean or fusion at the same price, Mingles is likely a stronger match. But for traditional Korean cooking taken seriously, the value case here is solid.
The format aligns well with the restaurant's project: a tasting structure lets the sommelier's expertise work properly across courses, which is the point of having Juyong Kim involved. The Michelin Plate recognition and OAD ranking suggest the kitchen executes at a consistent level. If you are comfortable with a set menu format and interested in the pairing dimension of the meal, this is one of the stronger arguments for a tasting format in Seoul's traditional Korean category , more purposeful than choosing it at a restaurant where the sommelier role is generic.
No specific dietary accommodation policy is available in published records. Traditional Korean cuisine can involve fermented ingredients, seafood-based stocks, and animal proteins at multiple points in a meal, so if you have significant restrictions, it is worth raising them explicitly when you reserve rather than at the table. Contact the restaurant in advance , at this price point and with this level of culinary intentionality, most kitchens at this standard will work with you if given adequate notice.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Jueun | Korean | A collaborative project between Korea’s most respected senior sommelier Juyong Kim and the traditional Korean cuisine chef Jueun Park, this space offers a deeply authentic expression of Korea’s essent...; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Asia Ranked #272 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Solbam | Contemporary | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Onjium | Korean | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| 7th Door | Korean, Contemporary | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| L'Amitié | French | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Zero Complex | Korean-French, Innovative | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
No bar seating is documented for Restaurant Jueun. The format is structured around chef Park Ju-eun's classical Korean tasting experience, so expect a seated dining arrangement rather than a walk-in counter. If bar-format dining is your preference, venues like Zero Complex offer a more casual entry point into Seoul's contemporary Korean scene.
Restaurant Jueun operates as a tasting-format kitchen, so ordering à la carte is unlikely to be an option — the menu is guided by chef Park Ju-eun's interpretation of classical Korean cuisine. The sommelier pairing led by Juyong Kim, Korea's most respected senior sommelier, is the clearest differentiator here and worth including if budget allows at the ₩₩₩₩ price point.
At ₩₩₩₩, Restaurant Jueun delivers a combination that's genuinely rare in Seoul: a classically trained Korean cuisine chef working alongside one of Korea's most credentialed sommeliers, backed by a Michelin Plate and an OAD Asia ranking of #272 in 2025. Compared to peers like Onjium, which occupies similar traditional-Korean territory, Jueun's booking difficulty is rated Easy — meaning you're not paying a premium for access scarcity on top of the food cost.
Yes, if classical Korean cuisine is the format you want. The collaboration between chef Park Ju-eun and sommelier Juyong Kim is the core proposition — this isn't a trend-chasing menu but a structured expression of Korean culinary tradition with serious beverage credentials behind it. For guests who prefer a more contemporary or experimental Korean format, 7th Door or L'Amitié would be closer fits.
No specific dietary restriction policy is published in available records. Given the classical Korean tasting format and the precision required to balance chef Park Ju-eun's cooking with Juyong Kim's wine programme, check the venue's official channels before booking if you have significant dietary requirements — substitutions in structured tasting menus at this level vary considerably by kitchen.
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