Gangseo Japanese diner: à la carte salmon bowl, level-4 cutlet, Hekbap

I think I'm possessed by a salmon spirit lately… all I see in the world is salmon, so I went to <Hekbap Kkachisan Branch> (핵밥 까치산점), a great spot near Kkachisan Station, for a salmon rice bowl. I'd seen the Hekbap chain around a lot, but I'd never actually eaten there!

Getting to Hekbap Kkachisan Branch from Kkachisan Station, and the vibe inside

Hekbap Kkachisan Branch is on the 2nd floor near Kkachisan Station, so it's easy to reach and easy to find. The weather has been so hot that I thought I was going to die walking there, but the moment I stepped inside it was so cool I felt revived.

You can check the whole menu outside, too.

The inside was wonderfully cool and comfortable. It's quite spacious and neatly kept. Besides the cushy sofa seats, there are also window-side solo seats, which are great if you're visiting alone and want to eat without any pressure.

Hekbap Kkachisan Branch menu: what's the difference between à la carte and set?

Sitting down and looking carefully through the menu, I found far more variety than I'd expected. Besides rice bowls, there are noodle dishes like cold soba, zaru soba (cold buckwheat noodles with dipping sauce), various udon and ramen…

There are also fried chicken and crispy tonkatsu (pork cutlet) options. You can freely choose between the basic à la carte menu and the set menu. If you order the set, it looks like you get a mini udon and karaage (Japanese fried chicken) along with the à la carte dish.

• Salmon bowl ₩15,900
• Spicy Western-style king cutlet ₩11,900
• Mini curry ₩4,000
• Total ₩31,800

A full table even when ordering à la carte: the side dishes

Such a generous spread, right? And this is only à la carte!

Even if you order à la carte, the table comes out looking this nice. The mini curry on the side was ordered separately as a side dish.

Hot soup and a nutty salad! Perfect for cleansing your palate.

There's also crunchy kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) and pickled yellow radish.

You also get a syrup-drizzled rice cake, nice as a dessert.

Salmon bowl ₩15,900: thick salmon with flying fish roe and egg yolk

The salmon bowl at Hekbap Kkachisan Branch is ₩15,900. It's a good-value chain, so I didn't expect much from the salmon, but it was thick and the portion was quite generous. On top of the salmon are an egg yolk, the popping flying fish roe I love so much, and refreshing pickled onion.

The wasabi is individually packaged fresh wasabi on the table, so it's easy to take as much as you like. The rice itself is seasoned sweet-and-salty, so piling wasabi and salmon on top and eating it all together is absolutely delicious~

There was no fishy smell or off taste at all, and the texture was super soft, which I loved. The sharp wasabi, rich egg yolk and sweet-tangy pickled onion go together perfectly, so I properly stuffed myself. The salmon melted away the second it hit my mouth...

Spicy Western-style king cutlet ₩11,900: how hot is level 4?

The spicy Western-style king cutlet is ₩11,900 and comes at spice level 4.

It's about the size of two palms put together, so the portion is no joke and my friend and I were both taken aback, lol. You can choose whether the cutlet sauce is poured on or served on the side when you order, and we went with the default, poured on.

A huge cutlet came out covered in a generous amount of bright red spicy sauce. Despite all that sauce, the breading stayed crispy, and it was piping hot since it was freshly fried, which I liked. Curious how spicy level 4 would be, I took a bite…

The first taste was like, hm? It's sweet? A sweet-and-spicy Western-style sauce flavor. But as you keep eating, the heat starts building up in your mouth bit by bit. It starts as a gentle kick, but as you go on it gets seriously spicy, up to Buldak level (like the Korean fire noodles). I sweated a little, but it was an addictively tasty spicy sauce and perfect for our taste, since we love spicy food, so we wiped it out in no time.

Mini curry ₩4,000: mini in name only

The mini curry is ₩4,000, and even though it's "mini," the portion is pretty big. It had a rich, nutty Japanese curry flavor and was delicious. It goes perfectly with the cutlet,, and I liked that it came with loads of curry sauce.

There was really a lot though…

Hekbap Kkachisan Branch near Kkachisan Station: overall verdict

<Hekbap Kkachisan Branch>, a great spot near Kkachisan Station! The salmon bowl with thick, soft salmon, flying fish roe, egg yolk and sweet-salty rice seasoning; the spicy Western-style king cutlet with its crispy, huge cutlet and plenty of deliciously spicy sauce; the mini curry with its rich, nutty flavor that goes perfectly with rice or the cutlet: everything we ordered was really good. Above all, the portions are big for the price.. and the quality is solid too, so I highly recommend it if you're looking for a good place near Kkachisan Station!