Birthday dinner at a Hyangnam kalguksu restaurant: Jedam Kalguksu

Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch's spicy seafood kalguksu (kalguksu: knife-cut noodle soup) & seafood pajeon (savory seafood pancake) review

Ten years as regulars: why Dad's birthday meal is seafood kalguksu

Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch is a seafood kalguksu place at 10 Pyeong6-gil, 2nd floor, Hyangnam-eup, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi, and this time we had spicy seafood kalguksu for four plus seafood pajeon as Dad's birthday meal. I haven't even been blogging for a year yet, but this is already a place I've written about before — a genuine, genuine regular spot of mine!

It was Dad's birthday, so I went to my parents' house for a meal expecting he'd want beef or eel, but I asked what he wanted to eat and he surprisingly said seafood kalguksu haha

I honestly don't even know how many years I've been coming here. It's been a whole ten years, and it's not a place I went to once or twice and stopped — I keep coming back whenever it crosses my mind, again and again, to the point I've lost count of how many point discounts I've used. So for me it's basically the 'again and again and again' place 🤣

Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch: location, hours and parking

• 10 Pyeong6-gil, Hyangnam-eup, Manse-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 2nd floor
• Daily 10:30–21:00, last order 20:30
• Open year-round, no break time
• Lot in front of the restaurant, plus parking anywhere around the back of the building

Always bustling inside! The place fills up with family groups and friends alike.

The spacious, comfortable interior and easy parking made it look perfect for family meals or gatherings.

What we ordered: seafood kalguksu for 4 plus the seafood pajeon set

We ordered seafood kalguksu for four and the seafood pajeon set.

• Spicy seafood kalguksu
• Seafood pajeon

Something to read while waiting: how to eat it the tasty way, haha 😆

How much seafood do you get if you add octopus and baby octopus?

Jedam Kalguksu's spicy seafood kalguksu already comes with an insane amount of seafood as standard, but this time, since it was Dad's birthday, we added octopus and baby octopus on top. After the wait, the food arrived. Wait, is it really okay to put in this much seafood...? The amount inside the kalguksu was genuinely enormous.

It honestly felt like there was more seafood in this than in an entire order of jjim (steamed seafood dish)..!!!!!! haha When it arrived with everything added, I was stunned all over again haha

I already knew going in that the seafood portion was massive, but once we added octopus and baby octopus, there was a full lineup of everything — octopus, baby octopus, squid, shrimp, mussels, clams, scallops.

The octopus and baby octopus we added this time were especially amazing! The octopus was genuinely huge. Who knew you'd run into an octopus this big at a kalguksu restaurant, haha. And the baby octopus was so big it could practically pass for a full-grown octopus (nakji).

Cutting up the octopus, baby octopus, and squid into bite-sized pieces took quite a while, haha

There was so much seafood you had to keep cutting and prepping it before eating! But eating seafood this fresh right away really makes a difference in texture. The octopus was tender yet chewy, and the baby octopus wasn't tough at all — springy and bouncy!

The squid was chewy too, and we fished out the mussels, clams, and scallops one by one. No matter how much we ate, more seafood kept coming, haha. Anyone who genuinely loves seafood would be happy just looking at this visual 🥹

What the spicy broth tastes like

And the broth! Since it's spicy seafood kalguksu, the broth was properly spicy yet had that clean, refreshing flavor that comes from seafood. The depth and clean finish unique to a broth loaded with seafood had me spooning up the broth before I'd even touched the noodles, haha

It felt like a hangover cure even without drinking, but if you added a shot of soju to it... soju would just go down so easily 🤣🍶 Two bottles minimum!!! The broth alone was tasty enough that I kept spooning it up while eating the seafood.

Kalguksu noodles and sujebi after the seafood is gone

And here's another fun part of Jedam Kalguksu! Once you've mostly finished the seafood, that's when you add the kalguksu noodles and sujebi (hand-torn dumpling dough) and cook them in the broth.

Rather than having the noodles in from the start, you eat your fill of seafood first and then add the noodles and dumplings, so you get to enjoy it fully right to the end. Finishing the seafood doesn't mean you're done!!! haha Now it's real kalguksu time!

And here I was reminded again — this place is genuinely a kalguksu specialist. You might think it's only famous for the seafood, but honestly the noodles and dumplings I ate at the end were so good I kept wanting more. The noodles were chewy yet soft, and the broth soaked in so well that slurping them just kept going and going.

The sujebi was chewy yet soft too, and it was fun alternating between the noodles and dumplings. My stomach was clearly already full from the seafood, but adding the noodles and dumplings meant I could keep eating, haha. So strange... full stomach, but chopsticks keep moving.... hahahaha 🤣

Geotjeori refills at the self-serve side dish station

Jedam Kalguksu is also a place with delicious geotjeori (fresh, lightly seasoned kimchi) that pairs perfectly with the noodles.

So I couldn't help going back and forth to the self-serve station for refills multiple times. It pairs great with the seafood too, but kalguksu with geotjeori is really something ....👍

A good kalguksu restaurant needs good noodles, but the geotjeori has to be good too, for real..!

Why the seafood pajeon at Jedam Kalguksu is a must-order

The one thing you absolutely cannot skip at Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch is the seafood pajeon. I'm not usually the type to always order a side dish at a restaurant. A lot of the time I just eat the main and call it done, but here, there's no way I can skip the seafood pajeon, haha

The visual alone is different from the start. It's genuinely packed with seafood, and the outside is almost as crispy as fried food. It's a pajeon, but it doesn't feel soggy or oil-soaked at all — the outside is cooked crispy, so one bite gives you a proper crunch!

And inside, it's full of seafood. Chunky pieces of squid and other seafood mean every bite of the pancake comes with seafood mixed in. Eating a crispy, fried-like pancake while chewing on the chewy seafood at the same time is just so good...

Honestly, this is the best seafood pajeon I've ever had in my life.

I'm not normally someone who gushes this much over a single pancake, but this one is genuinely so good I end up ordering it every time, haha

After the spicy seafood kalguksu with added octopus and baby octopus, plus the seafood pajeon, I felt like my stomach was about to burst, haha. But the problem is it's so good I keep eating anyway... The seafood portion is massive, each piece is fresh so the texture is great, the broth is refreshing, the noodles and dumplings at the end are delicious, and on top of it all, the seafood pajeon is perfect..🤍

Packing up leftovers yourself, plus delivery

The portions were so huge we had more than half the seafood pajeon left over. I asked the owner if it could be packed to go, and she said we could just pack it ourselves — so convenient!

I had no idea celebrities had come here, but as we were paying and heading out, I noticed it had also been featured in food guides.

On the way out, I also noticed delivery is available! Perfect for when going out feels like too much hassle, or for eating while camping or out on a trip!!

Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch: the verdict

Jedam Kalguksu is a place where you're first surprised by the amount of seafood, surprised again by the size of it, surprised once more by the noodles and dumplings at the end, and then completely won over by the seafood pajeon, haha

The seafood pajeon in particular is a must-order. Even I, who doesn't usually order sides, always order it whenever I come here. Crispy like fried food on the outside and packed with seafood inside — my personal best seafood pajeon ever 🥹

Maybe it's because I've been a true regular here for ten years, but eating here again this time was just as satisfying as ever! I'll definitely be back to Jedam Kalguksu again and again and again, haha. If you love kalguksu loaded with seafood in a spicy broth and crispy seafood pajeon, this is a place where you'll understand exactly why people keep coming back, once you try it 🐙🦐🔥