Netflix’s Tastefully Yours turned Jeonju into one of Korea’s hottest K-drama filming destinations, with more than 80% of the series shot on real locations across this historic hanok city instead of a studio set. If you fell for the slow-burn romance between chef Mo Yeon-joo and food-conglomerate heir Han Beom-woo, the good news is that almost everything you saw on screen actually exists: the lantern-lit alleys of Jeonju Hanok Village, the pre-dawn stalls of Nambu Traditional Market, and the centuries-old food culture that inspired the whole story. Here’s where to walk in their footsteps and eat exactly like a local while you’re at it.
Jeonju Hanok Village: The Real “Miraek” of the Show
In the drama, Han Beom-woo and Mo Yeon-joo run their restaurant in the fictional small city of Miraek, but the production actually shot it in Jeonju Hanok Village, a real neighborhood of more than 700 traditional wooden hanok houses in Wansan-gu. Production crews confirmed that over 80% of the series was filmed here, using the village’s genuine cobblestone alleys, wooden eaves, and warm lantern light rather than a studio set. You can walk the exact lanes where the couple negotiated over kitchen space, rent a hanbok for photos, and feel the same cozy, lived-in atmosphere the show leaned on so heavily. The village is a short walk from Jeonju Station or a quick taxi from the KTX line, and it’s easily explored on foot in half a day, longer if you stop to eat at every stall that smells good (you will).
Nambu Traditional Market: Where Yeon-joo Shops Before Dawn
Nambu Traditional Market is one of the drama’s confirmed real filming locations, appearing in the early episodes where Yeon-joo sources her ingredients before sunrise, building her relationships with the vendors one bundle of vegetables at a time. It’s Jeonju’s oldest market, and today it still runs as a genuine, working market rather than a tourist set piece: produce stalls, fabric shops, and food vendors by day, and a lively night market with street food and live music on Friday and Saturday evenings. While you’re there, look for Hyundaiok, widely credited as the market’s original kongnamul-gukbap (bean sprout soup) stall, whose bowl uses a repeated hot-broth-pouring technique locals swear by. It’s a five-to-ten minute walk or a short bus ride from Hanok Village, so it pairs naturally with a Tastefully Yours pilgrimage.
Veteran Kalguksu: A Hanok Village Institution Since 1977
For an actual sit-down meal inside Hanok Village, Veteran Kalguksu (베테랑칼국수) has been serving hand-cut noodles from the same address since 1977, making it one of the neighborhood’s true old-timers rather than a shop that popped up for tourists. The kalguksu here is thick and chewy, dropped into a savory anchovy-and-chicken broth and topped with egg ribbons, minced garlic, and toasted seaweed powder, and a bowl runs around 7,000 won. Its long-running spot in the village has also made it a familiar backdrop for Korean drama and film shoots over the years, including scenes tied to the hit series Twenty-Five Twenty-One. Go right at opening or mid-afternoon if you can; the lunch queue stretches down the alley by noon, and the broth is best eaten hot and fast before it thickens.
Hankookjip: Taste the Original Jeonju Bibimbap
No trip to the show’s hometown is complete without the dish Jeonju is actually famous for: bibimbap. Hankookjip (한국집), open since 1952 and run by the same family for three generations, is the city’s oldest dedicated bibimbap specialist and has held a Michelin Guide listing since 2011. It’s set inside a renovated hanok with its own courtyard, a short walk from both Hanok Village and Gyeonggijeon Shrine. What makes Jeonju’s version different from bibimbap anywhere else: the rice is cooked in beef bone broth instead of plain water, the bean sprouts come from the city’s mineral-rich groundwater, and a proper bowl can carry twenty to thirty separately seasoned toppings. Hankookjip makes its own sesame oil, gochujang, and soy sauce in-house, so it’s worth ordering the bowl exactly as served before you start customizing.
FAQ: Visiting Jeonju as a Tastefully Yours Fan
How do I get to Jeonju from Seoul?
Jeonju is about two hours from Seoul by intercity bus from Seoul’s Central City Terminal, or a similar trip by train via Iksan with a short transfer. Direct express buses run frequently throughout the day, making Jeonju an easy day trip or overnight stop from the capital.
Are the restaurants in Tastefully Yours real places?
The specific restaurant sets built for Beom-woo and Yeon-joo’s story are not standalone real businesses you can dine at, but they were built and filmed inside the very real Jeonju Hanok Village, and surrounding scenes used genuine locations like Nambu Traditional Market. So while you can’t eat at their exact fictional restaurant, you can eat and walk in the same real neighborhood where it was filmed.
What should I order for an authentic Jeonju bibimbap experience?
Is one day enough to see Jeonju Hanok Village?
A focused day trip works if you start early and prioritize Hanok Village plus one market visit, but an overnight stay lets you catch the village lit up at night, which is when many of the drama’s most atmospheric scenes were filmed, plus the Nambu Market night market on Friday or Saturday.
Tastefully Yours works as a love letter to Jeonju precisely because so little of it is fake: the alleys, the market, the noodle shops, and the bibimbap houses were all there long before Han Beom-woo and Mo Yeon-joo showed up, and they’ll still be there long after the show fades from your watch list. Whether you’re chasing a specific scene or just chasing a good bowl of rice, Jeonju rewards slow walking and an empty stomach in equal measure.
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Check current hours on the Korea Tourism Organization’s Hankookjip page.
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