Western
Chotbul 1978
촛불1978 Chotbul means candlelight, and 1978 is the year the restaurant opened; the house still dims the room for a short nightly 'candle time'.
Compiled from 17 blog posts read in fullSources →
Chotbul 1978 is a Korean-Western-style restaurant in the building at 95 Sopa-ro, next to the Namsan cable car station, with a different restaurant (Namsan Sanchaejip) on the ground floor. Most posts put the dining room on the 3rd floor, a cafe of the same name on the 2nd and a rooftop on the 4th. We read 30 posts from December 2025 to October 2026; 17 describe an actual visit. Visitors split between the T-bone course (six posts, 200,000 won for two) and à la carte cutlets such as the original Namsan pork cutlet. Five went on a date or anniversary, and several describe 'candle time' — around 6:15 pm the lights go down for about ten minutes — and a letter the house mails back a year later. The place was remodelled and its menu revised around spring 2026; only two visits predate that.
Data as of · Published ·
Location & hours
- Address서울특별시 중구 소파로 95, 2층,3층 (예장동)95 Sopa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
- Phone02-0755-1777
- Typical spend₩500 – ₩258,000
- From the station2 posts say it is walkable from the station.
- Floor areaFloor area 306 m² · Status In business
When it opens
Of 10 posts: 6 wrote 11:30–21:30, 2 wrote Daily 11:30–21:30.
| No day given | 11:30–21:30 | 6 of 10 posts |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | 11:30–21:30 | 2 of 10 posts |
| Break | 16:00–17:00 | 2 of 2 posts |
| Last order | 20:00 | 5 of 5 posts |
Counted from what bloggers wrote in their posts; we did not confirm it with the restaurant. Where the values differ, it may be a change over time rather than a disagreement, so we show when each one was written.
What sets it apart
- After the meal people go up to the 4th-floor rooftop: nine posts did, most mentioning the view of N Seoul Tower, and several say the coffee or tea from the course can be taken up there. Two posts wrote the 'letter in a year' and dropped it in the rooftop mailbox.
- Six posts sat by the window. One explains that window seats face the glass side by side and just fit two, while the other tables face each other with more room. One walk-in at about 6 pm found every window seat taken.
- Seven posts booked ahead. One paid a 50,000-won deposit through Naver that was refunded at the restaurant; another booked the Christmas course on 13 November, a month early. That Christmas post also noted a 1 hour 45 minute time limit.
- Six posts found the portions large — one could not finish the Namsan cutlet, others say the 600 g T-bone was plenty for two.
1 more
- Two posts came by public transport: one walked 13 minutes uphill from exit 3 of Myeongdong station, the other took a bus to the cable car stop. A third, walking up from Myeongdong, was out of breath on the stairs and warned against heels.
What 17 bloggers said
Tibon seuteikeu koseu
Large portions
We read all 17 in full. The most common claims are “Large portions” (6) and “Returning customer” (4).
What they liked
What they struggled with
Things you can check on site
- Rooftop seating 9 of 17 posts
- Second floor 8 of 17 posts
- Lift to the floor 7 of 17 posts
- Takes reservations 7 of 17 posts
- Large windows 6 of 17 posts
- Private room 4 of 17 posts
- Outdoor terrace seating 4 of 17 posts
- Wine served 3 of 17 posts
- Reachable by transit 2 of 17 posts
- Self-order screen 2 of 17 posts
- Flowers to take home 2 of 17 posts
- Coffee served 2 of 17 posts
- Beer served 1 of 17 posts
- Separate restrooms 1 of 17 posts
- Review event 1 of 17 posts
- Time limit on the table 1 of 17 posts
- Takeout 1 of 17 posts
- Foreign customers in the room 1 of 17 posts
- No menu — the bar chooses 1 of 17 posts
These are raw counts, not percentages. Someone who did not mention something is not someone who disagreed.
Parking
1 posts say you can park. None say you cannot.
| Posts saying you can park | 1 of 17 posts |
|---|
Only one post describes actually parking (in front of the restaurant, without trouble). 'Free valet' appears only in copied info blocks, and one post repeats hearsay of a 3,000-won fee, so we don't rely on either.
Who came, and with whom
- Date 5 of 17 posts
- Family visit 2 of 17 posts
- With a friend 2 of 17 posts
- Came by car 1 of 17 posts
Where it is
We could not find this shop’s own listing on Naver Map, so the link searches for its Korean name around this spot instead.
From the station
Two posts came by public transport: one walked 13 minutes uphill from exit 3 of Myeongdong station, the other took a bus to the cable car stop. A third, walking up from Myeongdong, was out of breath on the stairs and warned against heels.
Getting inside
| Second floor | 8 of 17 posts |
|---|---|
| Lift to the floor | 7 of 17 posts |
| Separate restrooms | 1 of 17 posts |
Eight posts mention the 2nd floor. Most say it is the same-name cafe with the restaurant on the 3rd, but two place the dining hall on the 2nd, so the floor numbering is inconsistent. One adds that after taking the lift to 3 you walk half a flight down to reach the restaurant.
No post mentions a basement; several note the ground floor is a different restaurant.
Seven posts say there is a lift, but one says you still walk half a flight down from it and another that it sits by a half-landing. No one mentions a step at the door or arriving with a wheelchair or stroller, so we don't know whether it can be reached step-free.
Only one post mentions the toilets: separate men's and women's, shared with the 2nd-floor cafe. We don't know whether the restaurant floor has its own.
No one mentioned: In a basement · Ramp at the door · Step at the entrance · Step-free access · Toilet inside · Accessible toilet. That is not the same as there being none — it means we could not confirm it. Worth calling ahead, and do tell us: we will put it here.
How to read these posts
- Posts saying they paid themselves5 of 17 posts
- Posts saying nothing either way12 of 17 posts
Posts that followed a TV spot
Of the 24 posts we gathered, 7 went up on a single day right after a TV spot and show no sign of a visit. They retell the broadcast, so we left them out of the counts.
We do not discard them. That a TV spot produced a burst of posts is itself something worth knowing about a place, and a star rating will not show it.
When the posts appeared
Month by month
| Month | Posts |
|---|---|
| 2026-01 | 1 |
| 2026-02 | 1 |
| 2026-05 | 1 |
| 2026-06 | 1 |
| 2026-08 | 5 |
| 2026-09 | 2 |
| 2026-10 | 6 |
What we do not know
- Only two posts mention waiting, and they differ: one waited about ten minutes outside lunch hours, the other walked straight in on a weekday afternoon. Most visitors had booked, so we don't know how long a walk-in usually waits.
- Ten visit posts give opening hours, nearly all copied from listings: eight say 11:30–21:30, one 21:50, one 22:00; five give a last order at 20:00 and two a 16:00–17:00 break. A December 2025 visit lists Wednesday–Sunday with Mondays and Tuesdays closed, while posts from August 2026 on say open daily.
- Most prices are for courses: three posts give the T-bone course at 200,000 won for two, one at 100,000 won per person; the 2025 Christmas course was 230,000 won for two and the 'love package' 258,000 won. À la carte prices (12,800 won for the original cutlet, etc.) come only from one post copying the Naver listing. One visitor called it expensive; another found prices reasonable.
- Five posts give the phone number as 0507-1326-1978 and one as 02-757-1978; several booked through Naver Reservations.
- Six T-bone course posts from August–October 2026 describe the course in the same order and wording, and two more repeat identical lines about the remodel and new dishes; none discloses sponsorship. Five posts say they paid themselves.
- A January 2026 post moved its booking forward because of planned construction in February; posts from August and September say a recent remodel brightened the hall and added a beef cutlet and omurice. Only two visits predate the work, too few to compare before and after.
Sources (17)
Every number above was counted from the posts below.
- 남산타워맛집 촛불 1978 데이트 코스로 추천 2026-10-17 · 은탱따라 세계일주
- 남산 기념일 맛집 촛불1978 솔직 후기｜분위기 좋은 남산 데이트 코.... 2026-10-15 · Roya.O
- 남산 산책 코스 | 남대문시장 남산케이블카 남산돈까스 남산숲산책 2026-10-15 · 어쩌다 산책...….. · via Daum
- 명동맛집 남산 촛불1978 브런치부터 돈까스까지 2026-10-14 · 블리가 살아가는 세상 ❤️
- 남산하늘숲길(feat.촛불1978 내돈내산) 2026-10-14 · ☆★ZZIN 일상★☆ · via Daum
- 남산타워맛집 촛불1978 스테이크 코스 먹기 2026-10-13 · 취미부자수토리 · via Daum
- 남산타워맛집 촛불1978 레스토랑 남산데이트 코스 추천 2026-09-22 · 리윤의 여행같은 일상
- 명동레스토랑 촛불1978 남산데이트 남산타워 맛집후기 2026-09-19 · 붕장군
- 명동 맛집 남산 촛불1978 원조 왕돈까스 분위기 뷰 좋은 레스토랑 2026-08-19 · 엘리의 작지만 큰 이야기 *
- 남산데이트 남산타워맛집 촛불 1978, 티본스테이크 코스 이용 후기 2026-08-19 · 우렁색시의 여행톡톡 · via Daum
- 명동 맛집) 명동 남산타워맛집 촛불1978 2026-08-19 · 그래도 삶은 계속된다 · via Daum
- 남산데이트 코스 가볼만한 곳 촛불1978 서울 남산 타워 인근 맛집 후.... 2026-08-14 · 스윗콩 Sweet홈 같은 홍Kong 여행
- 남산돈까스 최애 메뉴가 너무 많은 촛불1978 2026-08-13 · 삥키의 여행리스트
- 주말에 남산공원 산책하고 촛불1978에서 점심 먹고 온 후기 🍃🕯️ 2026-06-04 · 단풍국 하늘이 · via Daum
- [남산] 촛불 1978 - 나무, 테라스 뷰가 있는 분위기 좋은 레스토랑 2026-05-21 · 먹고마시는사람 · via Daum
- [답프로포즈] 레스토랑-촛불1987(내돈내산) 2026-02-03 · nar.zip · via Daum
- [남산/식당] 촛불1978 크리스마스 2인 코스 구성, 금액 및 솔직후기 2026-01-05 · 빛나는 것은 언제나 여기에 ᥫ᭡ · via Daum
Of 394 candidate posts we opened 89 and kept 17 as evidence. We stop once 30 are confirmed: beyond that the counts grow in proportion without changing the answer.