Yeoksam-dong Korean restaurant for spicy bone stew set: Haeseonok

I don't know why I've been craving spicy, hearty food so much lately. I had some just recently but was already thinking about it again. So this time I decided to properly dig into something spicy and visited Haeseonok, a well-known gamjatang (pork bone soup) spot in Yeoksam-dong.

What kind of restaurant is Haeseonok Seolleung Branch? Gamjatang to blue crab soup

Haeseonok Seolleung Branch wasn't just about gamjatang. Their signature meal menu includes neungi herbal gamjatang, boneless gamjatang, gamjatang, and charcoal-grilled spicy bone stew.

When I visited, it looked like a company dinner had just swept through — there was quite the pile of empty bottles around. I guess gamjatang really is both a solid meal and a fantastic drinking-food pairing.

Their simmer-and-eat hot pot menu wasn't limited to gamjatang and bone stew either — they also had crab soup and steamed crab.

So it turns out this is a place where you can enjoy both meat dishes and seafood dishes at once.

Haeseonok's sides and set menu options

The side menu was pretty diverse too, with options like shrimp jeon (pan-fried shrimp pancake) and seafood jeon. They also sold set menus in half portions meant to be ordered alongside a meal. If you're a big eater, adding jeon to your main dish sounds like a great way to eat hearty.

They also sold varieties of chogye naengmyeon, so it seems like a fine option even on a day when you're craving noodles over rice.

The menu was so varied that I took a photo of the simple menu board so you could see it all at a glance.

Boneless gamjatang: no bones to pick at Haeseonok

We ordered the charcoal spicy bone stew + shrimp jeon (2 pieces), and the boneless gamjatang.

I'd heard of boneless gamjatang before but this was actually my first time trying it, and not having to pick bones apart one by one made it incredibly convenient. Honestly, part of the appeal of gamjatang is gnawing meat off the bone, but that day I was in a particularly lazy mood, so I gave the boneless version a shot. Turns out it was way more convenient than I expected, and I liked it. If you just want to eat clean meat without the hassle, boneless gamjatang seems like a solid choice.

Why Haeseonok's broth tastes nutty with soybean powder

Here's another thing that stood out about Haeseonok's gamjatang — it seemed to have soybean powder mixed into the broth. That gave it a fairly strong nutty flavor alongside the spicy kick. Rather than a typically spicy-style gamjatang, it leaned more toward the thick, nutty style of soybean-curd stew. That familiar yet nutty flavor blending into the gamjatang made it a broth I kept coming back for spoonful after spoonful — and it paired really well with rice.

How spicy is the charcoal-grilled spicy bone stew?

And then, the dish I was especially looking forward to that day — the charcoal spicy bone stew! It came with about three big chunks of bone. True to its name, the sauce was really spicy. Spice novices should brace themselves before digging in. But strangely enough, it was the kind of sauce that kept popping back into my mind.

It was spicy but full of savory depth, the kind of addictive sauce you could mix into rice and easily polish off two bowls with. If you're craving both a spicy soup dish and a fiery bone stew on the same day, ordering both together seems like a great idea.

Two shrimp jeon with the spicy bone stew: how the set works

We happily split the two pieces of shrimp jeon that came with the set, one each. Pairing the plump, non-spicy shrimp jeon between bites of the spicy bone stew turned out to be just as good a combo as I'd hoped. Eating only the main dish can end up feeling monotonous or overwhelmingly spicy, but the jeon worked to reset your palate in between. If you're visiting with a group, ordering one gamjatang or bone stew dish plus a side to share sounds like a great idea. If you're looking for a hearty gamjatang restaurant near Seolleung Station, Haeseonok in Yeoksam-dong is well worth a visit :)