For all of our tteokbokki and pork cutlet lovers out there, we found the perfect place for you! Happy Cheese Smile is a popular restaurant in Yeonnam-dong that specializes in pork cutlet and tteokbokki. The restaurant is very popular due to their aesthetics, and affordable yet delicious food!
The name itself is very welcoming and gives off a positive energy that makes us want to venture in to the restaurant!
Information
Address: 서울 마포구 동교로 228-64 2F
228-64 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Hours: 11:30-21:30
Why We Recommend It
Happy Cheese Smile is a place where you eat with both your eyes and mouth! The atmosphere and the food is very aesthetic making it pleasing to the eye!
The clean and vibrant interior makes it a great place to take aesthetic photos.
It is a casual dining restaurant with friendly and lively service.
There are many diverse and special menu items such as rose tteokbokki, Chinese vermicelli tteokbokki and mozzarella tempura! It is also an affordable restaurant.
Our Visit
Happy Cheese Smile, a tteokbokki restaurant in Yeonnam-dong is about a ten minute walk from Exit 3 of Hongik University Station. It is located on the second floor across from Randy's Donut in Yeontral Park. We heard that during busy times there is always a line so we tried to come at an awkward time to avoid crowds, but there was still a lot of people at the restaurant.
However, there is a sign on the front of the store that contains information about the different menus, so you can decide what you want to eat while waiting!
You can also take a photo in front of this 'Happy Cheese Smile' sign! 😋
The windows are large so the atmosphere of the inside is very airy and bright. When the sun comes in the lighting is perfect for taking photos! That might be why this place is rumored to be a photo restaurant.
The exterior and interior are all painted white which gives off a clean and hip atmosphere! However the little touches of red, blue, and yellow here and there also make the atmosphere cozy and cute!
Once you are seated, they will bring out water cups, and utensils. The cups even match the theme of the restaurant with the cute red lettering. The menus also fit into the color scheme and everything about it is so cute that we couldn't resist taking photos of everything!
When you decide on the tteokbokki you will eat you should also keep in mind that the spiciness levels come in three different levels, so you can adjust it to how much spice you can handle.
After about ten minutes, the food that we ordered came out! As you can tell, they are very generous with the portion sizes. We were really shocked when we saw how much food came out and began to wonder if we would be able to eat everything!
But the food looked so delicious so we were ready to dig in!
We got the Smile Tteokbokki (9,000 won) which was filled with lots of fish cakes, green onions and topped with a delicious fried rice cake. The fried rice cake was a delicious touch as it added a crunchy texture to the tteokbokki. We suggest dipping the fried rice cakes in the tteokbokki sauce for a tastier way to eat it!
We also got the Pork Cutlet Plate (14,000 won) which consists of a variety of cuts of meat including tenderloin and sirloin, as well as a mozzarella tempura. It also comes with a side salad, rice and a variety of dipping sauces. The sauces were a traditional pork cutlet sauce, wasabi sauce, and salt! The visuals and plating of all the food was beautiful, making us more hyped to eat!
If you taste the pork cutlet, you will know why this place is not just a tteokbokki place but rather a tteokbokki and pork cutlet restaurant! The pork cutlet was so moist and tender. Because there are a variety of sauces, you can alternate dipping them in various sauces so that you can enjoy a different flavor each time!
We were worried that it might be overly oily or greasy as it was all fried, but when dipped in the wasabi sauce it was delicious and not oily at all.
The Mozzarella Cheese Tempura, as the name suggests is a dish served with a whole mozzarella fried! The mozzarella cheese flavor is absolutely amazing. You can also try dipping it in the tteokbokki sauce. The cheese pairs perfectly with the sweet and spicy sauce. The cheese is also really stretchy and gooey, perfect for a gorgeous cheese pull! We didn't get a photo so take one for us and tag us in it if you do go!
They also have cute stickers at the exit so you can take one home as a nice souvenir! We like to collect these and decorate our calendar with it as a way to remember the delicious meal!
For all of you that are looking for a delicious and aesthetic place to munch on some pork cutlets and tteokbokki, we recommend Happy Cheese Smile! If you do make it out there, make sure to tag us in your cheese pull photos! Also make sure to follow our Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook to stay updated on everything related to Korea!
