An After-Work Dinner Beneath Euljiro

A cafeteria on the way home

I usually head straight home from Exit 2 of Euljiro 1-ga Station. There is a staircase that makes me slow down, an entrance to a restaurant below street level that you could pass without noticing. Downstairs is Premium Staff Cafeteria No. 8.

I first went after work, at dinner rather than at the lunch rush. I had pictured people eating quickly over the noise of a busy room. What I found was a quiet place to finish the day with a meal that fit the way my evenings actually go.

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One flight down from Euljiro

Coming from Exit 2 of Euljiro 1-ga Station, look for the steps down. The signs are easy to miss, and the first time I went I wondered whether I had the right entrance.

Past the door, the room is bright and orderly, somewhere between a café and a dining hall. If you come in the evening, there is space to settle in before getting up again.

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What ₩8,900 bought at dinner

At the time of the visit, dinner cost ₩8,900 per person. For a full meal in central Seoul, that caught my attention.

What mattered was how much care went into the meal at that price. The menus rotate through Korean, Western, Japanese and Chinese dishes. The theme changes, but the food I tried held together as a meal.

I kept thinking how seldom a meal at this price gives you this much range.

One menu might be soup with Korean side dishes, another pasta or steak, and another a Japanese or Chinese selection. The dishes I tried tasted balanced, with the ingredients still clear despite the scale of the service.

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The pace of an evening meal

Lunch puts fuel in the tank. Here, dinner felt like a chance to put the workday away. The room had the ease of people who could finish eating in their own time.

Coming alone felt natural. I liked the company of people doing the same thing at their own pace, without having to make conversation or hurry out.

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A fresh look at the staff cafeteria

The words “staff cafeteria” can bring to mind food cooked in bulk and a quick turnover at the tables. Here I noticed the bright room, the changing menus and the care in the cooking first.

There was nothing particularly showy about it. After eating, I found myself thinking that I had had a good dinner. That simple reaction explains why I remember the place.

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An address worth remembering

If you work around Euljiro or pass through on the way home, the cafeteria is a good place to keep in mind for an ordinary weekday meal.

• The menu rotates.
• Dinner was affordable on my visit.
• A table for one felt as natural as a table shared with someone else.

A few steps down from the street, there was a full meal at the right point in my commute. That is how a cafeteria becomes somewhere I go back to.