Yurimmyeon Seoul: Bibim Memil and Naembi Guksu Near City Hall Station
Yurimmyeon Seoul is a small buckwheat noodle shop tucked into an alley near City Hall Station. I went on a Saturday afternoon, somewhere between 2 and 3 p.m., and ordered two bowls: the cold bibim memil and the hot naembi guksu. Here is what ordering looks like, what each dish is, and what I thought of them.
The sign out front says the shop has been around for 60 years. The MICHELIN Guide describes it as a family-run place that has served noodles for more than 50 years, and it lists Yurimmyeon as a Bib Gourmand. That is Michelin’s category for good food at a reasonable price, not a star.
Yurimmyeon Seoul: quick facts
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Korean name | 유림면 (Yurimmyeon) |
| Address | 139-1 Seosomun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (서울 중구 서소문로 139-1) |
| Nearest subway | City Hall Station (Lines 1 and 2), Exit 11, about 60 m |
| Hours | Mon–Fri 11:00–20:30, Sat–Sun 11:00–19:30. Last order 30 minutes before closing. Summer break July 27–29 |
| Ordering | No kiosk. You pay at the counter before you sit down |
| Payment | Card accepted (I paid by card) |
| Prices | Noodle dishes 11,000–12,000 won (about $8–$9) |
| My wait | 10–15 minutes on a Saturday around 2–3 p.m. |
For example, the glass door is covered in stickers. There are MICHELIN plates for 2019 through 2026, plus Blue Ribbon Survey stickers, a Korean restaurant guide. There is also a “NO FOOD BRING IN” sign, so leave your coffee outside.
How ordering works
This is the part that matters most if you don’t read Korean. Yurimmyeon does not use a kiosk. Instead, you order and pay first, and then you take a seat. The sign under the menu board, 선불입니다 (seonbul-imnida), means “we take payment up front.”
The dining room fills up fast, and the menu board hangs on the right wall, right above the pay-first sign.
The menu is a single wooden board, written only in Korean. However, it is short, so pointing works fine. Here is what it says:
| On the board | Romanized | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 메밀국수 | memil guksu | Cold buckwheat noodles with a dipping sauce | 11,000 won |
| 비빔메밀 | bibim memil | Cold buckwheat noodles mixed with a sweet-spicy sauce | 12,000 won |
| 냄비국수 | naembi guksu | Hot wheat noodle soup served in a small pot | 11,000 won |
| 비빔국수 | bibim guksu | Wheat noodles mixed with a spicy sauce | 11,000 won |
| 온메밀 | on memil | Buckwheat noodles in hot broth | 11,000 won |
Above the board, another sign says the shop uses only Korean buckwheat from Bongpyeong. Bongpyeong is a town in Gangwon Province that is famous for buckwheat. According to the MICHELIN Guide, the buckwheat noodles are made fresh every day.
Bibim memil (비빔메밀) 
Bibim means “mixed,” and memil means buckwheat. In other words, this is a bowl of cold buckwheat noodles that you toss with a thick red sauce. The sauce comes piled in the middle, with sesame seeds, thin strips of egg, cucumber and pickled radish around it.
The buckwheat noodles tasted clean, and the buckwheat aroma was strong. The sauce was slightly sweet, but it didn’t taste cheap or childish. It costs 12,000 won, which was about $9 when I checked the exchange rate.
Once mixed, every strand gets coated. So give it a good stir with your chopsticks before the first bite.
Naembi guksu (냄비국수)
Naembi means pot, and guksu means noodles. This one comes bubbling in a small metal pot. On top there were mushrooms, a soft egg, fish cake (eomuk), rice cake (tteok) and crown daisy (ssukgat), a fragrant green used a lot in Korean soups.
First, a note on the noodles. If you are expecting chewy Japanese udon, this is not that. It is an old-school Korean noodle soup instead. The broth was clean and refreshing, and the flavor wasn’t harsh. Breaking the soft egg into the broth was part of the fun.
Overall, it tasted like a nostalgic, gentle bowl of noodle soup. It costs 11,000 won, or about $8.30.
The small sides
Two small things also landed on my table. First, there was a dish of danmuji (단무지), yellow pickled radish. These pieces were cut thick, and I liked that. In Korean noodle shops, danmuji is the usual side, a bit like pickles with a sandwich.
Second, the bibim memil came with a small bowl of warm jangguk (장국), a light broth topped with sliced scallions. In Korea, a cup of warm broth like this often comes with cold buckwheat noodles. Honestly, though, I didn’t reach for it much. I kept going back to the naembi guksu broth instead.
Tips for your visit to Yurimmyeon
- Go before you are starving. I waited 10–15 minutes on a Saturday between 2 and 3 p.m.
- Have your order ready, since you pay before you sit. I paid by card at the counter with no problem.
- Use Google Maps or Naver Map to find it. From City Hall Station Exit 11, it is about a one-minute walk.
- Outside food and drinks are not allowed.
Also, the shop is close to Deoksugung Palace and the Seoul Museum of Art, so it fits easily into a day around City Hall.
The short version
Yurimmyeon is a decades-old buckwheat noodle shop near City Hall Station Exit 11, listed as a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand. You pay up front with no kiosk, bowls cost 11,000–12,000 won, and I liked the clean, fragrant bibim memil and the gentle, nostalgic naembi guksu.
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