Top 5 Reasons to Try Take Buffet Jonggak: Affordable Dining in Seoul

With inflation still high, mid-price buffets are springing up everywhere.

Ourhome — famous for running corporate cafeterias —

has opened its first mid-range buffet brand, Take.

I stopped by the Jonggak location and here’s the lowdown.

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Take Jonggak is the buzz of the food scene right now.

It’s tucked on B2 of the Youngpoong Bookstore building, right by Cheonggyecheon.

The price is about 4,000 KRW (approximately 3 USD) cheaper than Ashley Queens — a small win for budget-minded diners.

Located in busy Jonggak, where office workers swarm at lunch and after work,

Take looks set to compete with Ashley Jonggak for weekday crowds and dinner crews.

Thanks to opening buzz and viral word-of-mouth, CatchTable slots filled fast and walk-in lines were long.

The timed-entry system is smart for a buffet — it keeps things moving.

If they paired CatchTable with a remote queue feature, the flow would be even smoother.

The entrance felt tidy and welcoming.

Some items are a la carte, but that porchetta roasting on the spit is seriously Instagrammable.

It’s a showpiece that grabs your attention the second you walk in.

1. Popup Station

The pop-up station collects seasonal dishes in one easy-to-scan spot.

Unlike big chains where new items pop up randomly and favorites disappear,

Take smartly dedicated a separate area for rotating collaborations and seasonal hits.

They keep bestseller staples on offer while rotating in fun new items,

so regulars always have favorites to return to.

Their current collab with Buldak-style stir-fried noodles kicks off a series of planned chef and brand tie-ins.

Expect more pop-up menus in the coming months.

2. Korean Food Station

Unless you’re at a hotel-level buffet, Korean sections can be hit-or-miss.

But Ourhome knows workplace menus inside out — they run cafeteria programs and sell ready-made meals and meal kits.

That expertise shows: the Korean lineup was diverse

and most dishes tasted genuinely good.

2. Sushi Zone

It doesn’t offer the sheer volume sushi buffets like KuuKuu do,

but the quality surprised me — the sushi corner was solid.

I used to expect more from Ashley, so I was pleasantly surprised here.

With a few additions like beef-topped nigiri or eel, positioned between a sushi buffet and Ashley’s style,

they could really win over more diners.

3. Asian Food

The Asian station focuses on Chinese and Thai dishes.

A live station served dongpo pork over rice, jjajang noodles, and sundubu stew,

giving off a special-meal vibe you might get from an upscale cafeteria.

3. Spanish Station

& Western Station

This might be the first time I’ve seen a Spain-focused corner inside a Western station.

They offered tapas, soups, baguettes, and gambas —

an offbeat but approachable take on Western cuisine that actually works.

The made-to-order tacos were a fun surprise — flavorful and well put together.

They looked and tasted like something from a good casual spot, not a generic buffet.

On the Western side they had pizza, mac and cheese, pork ribs, boneless roast chicken, plenty of sauces, and fries.

The pizza was surprisingly good for a buffet.

The boneless chicken had main-course vibes — tasty and well seasoned — and the ribs held up in both sauce and meat quality.

Since Ourhome develops many of these items as meal kits, the Western dishes felt thought-out and consistent.

The pasta sauces hit the right consistency — a small but meaningful win over many buffets.

The boneless chicken leaned toward a karaage style but came out more like nuggets; making tenders instead might lift it further.

Desserts were the weakest link — without an in-house bakery, options were limited.

Compared with bakery-backed chains like Vips or Ashley, Take’s sweets felt modest.

This is the area that needs the most improvement — adding Korean-style desserts would be a smart move.

These days, workplace cafeterias have pushed salad options hard,

so I wished Take had a few more fresh salad choices across the buffet.

That said, Ourhome’s long history in food service shows up in the balance and flavor.

Overall, the dishes were well-seasoned and balanced.

Japanese items like futomaki could use slightly bigger portions —

with that tweak they could even outshine saucier chains like KuuKuu.

Lasagna, mac and cheese, and the boneless chicken are standout value hits at this price point.

All in all, the Korean selections were among the best I’ve seen at buffets in this bracket.

Garlic baguette and soups paired nicely, and the appetizer combinations surprisingly clicked.

By my third plate, the tteokbokki tasted exactly like a street snack —

and that alone proved Take knows how to do Korean comfort food justice.

Sweet-and-sour pork was classic and satisfying,

The boneless chicken’s seasoning and juicy texture made it truly recommendable,

and the pork ribs beat Ashley Queens in my book.

That said, the boneless chicken sometimes veered into plain nugget territory.

Dessert options were slim — waffles and not much else.

Instead of a dozen cake varieties, they could lean into Korean rice cakes, pick one standout cake,

and add cream puffs — something that pairs perfectly with coffee.

That would make the dessert spread more satisfying.

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Compared to Ashley and Vips, Take feels cleaner and more confidently mid-priced.

Together with brands like Naturebyulgok, this might be the best combo of quality and value in its tier.

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