Seocho Pine Nut Samgyetang: The Michelin Samgyetang Story Behind 3rd Samgyetang

Seocho pine nut samgyetang has become the most distinctive calling card of 3rd Samgyetang, a Seoul restaurant listed by the Michelin Guide as a samgyetang specialist. If you are curious about Michelin Samgyetang beyond the familiar summer health-food image, this Seocho spot offers a source-backed example of how one classic Korean chicken soup can become a carefully defined house style.

The restaurant is located at 56-3 Banpo-daero 28-gil in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and the Michelin Guide introduces it through its deep broth and three representative samgyetang variations made with finely ground mung bean, pine nut, and mugwort pastes.¹ Among those, pine nut samgyetang stands out because it is both a named representative menu in travel information listings and the subject of a dedicated television segment.²³

Seocho Pine Nut Samgyetang and Its Signature Broth

At the center of 3rd Samgyetang is broth. The Michelin Guide describes the restaurant’s soup as a rich broth boiled with more than 40 ingredients, a detail that helps explain why this is not presented simply as boiled chicken with ginseng.¹ The broth is the base, but the restaurant’s identity comes from how it layers different pastes into that base: mung bean, pine nut, and mugwort.

That trio matters because it gives the restaurant a clear menu structure. Instead of treating samgyetang as one fixed dish, 3rd Samgyetang frames it through three flavors with different textures and aromas. Pine nut samgyetang is especially easy to understand for first-time readers: pine nuts are naturally associated with richness, nuttiness, and a smooth mouthfeel, and the source material identifies it as a representative menu rather than a side variation.²

MBC’s program “Today N” also gave the pine nut version its own spotlight. Episode 2533 included a segment titled “A Deep Flavor Continued for Three Generations, Pine Nut Samgyetang,” and Queen Economy Queen reported that the broadcast visited 3rd Samgyetang in Seocho-gu to cover the pine nut samgyetang cooking process as well as the mung bean and mugwort samgyetang menus.³ MBC’s official VOD page separately confirms the same episode segment title as part of “Today N.”⁴

For a reader planning around food culture rather than just a meal, that broadcast framing is useful. It shows how the dish is being presented publicly: not only as comfort food, but as a three-generation specialty built around a concentrated, carefully prepared broth.

Why Michelin Recognition Matters Here

The Michelin angle became more visible in 2026. Foodservice Economy reported on February 26, 2026, that the Michelin Guide Seoul & Busan 2026 Bib Gourmand list selected 71 restaurants in total: 51 in Seoul and 20 in Busan. 3rd Samgyetang was included among five newly selected Seoul restaurants.⁵

Bib Gourmand recognition is not the same as a Michelin star, but it is still meaningful for travelers and local diners because it points to restaurants that the guide identifies as notable within an accessible dining context. In this case, the recognition also aligns with what the restaurant already seems to emphasize: a traditional dish made specific through house recipes and ingredient choices.

The 2026 Bib Gourmand reporting described 3rd Samgyetang’s representative menu as three kinds of samgyetang with pine nut, mung bean, and mugwort, along with sous-vide dakbokkeumtang, a spicy braised chicken dish.⁵ That menu combination is interesting because it keeps chicken at the center while moving between restorative soup and a more contemporary cooking method.

The Michelin Guide’s own restaurant page keeps the focus even tighter. It identifies 3rd Samgyetang as a samgyetang specialist and highlights the deep broth made with more than 40 ingredients, then names the three paste-based samgyetang options.¹ For anyone searching “Michelin Samgyetang,” that combination of location, broth, and three signature bowls is the most concrete way to understand what makes this restaurant visible in the guide.

Foodservice Economy also included a Michelin Guide comment about the broader Bib Gourmand list, saying the year’s selection shows the “dynamism and diversity of Korean gastronomy” through a balance that ranges from tradition-based cooking to distinctive noodles and vegan food.⁵ Within that broader landscape, 3rd Samgyetang represents the tradition-based side without sounding static.

A Three-Generation Samgyetang House in Seocho

The restaurant’s backstory adds another layer to the pine nut samgyetang focus. Sports Seoul reported in 2023 that 3rd Samgyetang is a three-generation family samgyetang restaurant near Gyodae Station and the legal district in Seocho-gu. The same report said the founder opened the business in 1973, the signature recipes using pine nut, mung bean, and mugwort were developed in 1987, and representative Jeong Chang-won took over the family business in 2011.⁶

Those dates help place the menu in context. The pine nut samgyetang is not described in the sources as a one-off seasonal idea or a short-lived trend. It belongs to a recipe set that the source material traces back to 1987, with the broader business history reaching back to 1973.⁶ That gives the Michelin recognition a different feel: it is not only a guidebook discovery, but a newer layer of attention on a long-running Seoul restaurant.

Tripinfo’s listing further identifies 3rd Samgyetang as a “Baengnyeon Gage,” or Century Store, certified by Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and lists pine nut samgyetang, mung bean samgyetang, mugwort samgyetang, and sous-vide dakbokkeumtang among its main dishes.² While the available source material does not provide a full dining guide with prices or detailed tasting notes, it does give a consistent picture: the restaurant’s identity is built around nourishing chicken dishes, with pine nut samgyetang as a leading name.

For readers, the appeal of Seocho pine nut samgyetang is that it sits at a neat intersection: familiar Korean comfort food, a three-generation restaurant story, and Michelin Bib Gourmand visibility. The available facts point to a restaurant that has turned samgyetang into a focused specialty through a rich multi-ingredient broth and three signature paste-based variations, with pine nut samgyetang carrying much of the public attention. If you are mapping Seoul’s Michelin-recognized comfort food scene, 3rd Samgyetang’s pine nut samgyetang is one of the clearest bowls to know.

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joanna jang

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