Woo Lae Oak () is a historic Pyongyang ''naengmyeon'' restaurant in

Jung District, Seoul Jung District () is one of the 25 List of districts of Seoul, districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 131,452 (2013) and has a geographic area , making it both the least-populous and the smallest district of Seoul, and is divided ...

, South Korea. It is the oldest active Pyongyang ''naengmyeon'' restaurant in Seoul. The restaurant is listed on the

Michelin Guide The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...

as a Bib Gourmand restaurant. The restaurant had a predecessor called Myeongwolgwan () in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, North Korea. That restaurant's owner, Jang Won-il (), moved to Seoul and opened Seobukgwan () in 1946 on the street Euljiro. During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, he fled for safety, and returned and changed the restaurant's name to Woo Lae Oak. By 2024, Jang's twin granddaughters were running the business. The restaurant reportedly has a reputation of being pricy, especially for ''naengmyeon'', but popular and among the finest ''naengmyeon'' offered in Seoul. It reportedly has a longtime loyal fanbase that consistently visits. The restaurant had other branches in

Daechi-dong Daechi-dong () is an affluent ''neighborhood'' in Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea. Daechi-dong is divided into three different "dongs" which are Daechi 1-dong, 2-dong, and 4-dong. Daechi-dong is predominantly considered the residential are ...

and in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in the United States, but both those branches were closed by 2024. It also had a

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

location that opened in 1993 but closed in 2012, as well as a

SoHo, Manhattan SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall (SoHo), and ha ...

branch that closed in 2011. In 2017, a rebranded Woo Lae Oak entitled The Woo was opened in SoHo, Manhattan.

References

External links

Michelin Guide page
(in English)
The Woo homepage
(in English) {{Historic restaurants in South Korea 1946 establishments in South Korea Jung District, Seoul Korean restaurants Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand restaurants in South Korea Restaurants in Seoul