Sinyongsan tteokbokki shop after a picnic, sundae & egg: Hyeonseonine

After a Yongsan picnic, off to Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch

After a picnic in Yongsan I was wondering what to have for dinner, and ended up at Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch (현선이네 용산본점) near Sinyongsan Station! Everyone seems to eat tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes in spicy sauce) at picnics, and I was so jealous T_T so I went straight off to eat some, hehe.

Hyeonseonine kept popping up whenever I searched for Yongsan tteokbokki spots, so the name was familiar, and I was craving instant tteokbokki (the kind you boil at your table) so badly that I just went for it, haha.

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch: hours and how to get there

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch is open daily from 11:00 to 24:00, with a break time of 14:30-16:00 on Mondays only. Last order is at 22:40.

It's within walking distance of Sinyongsan Station, so it wasn't hard to find! There's a tall yellow chimney behind the building with "현선이네" (Hyeonseonine) written big on it, so you can spot it from far away 👀 The front has a red and yellow striped awning and string lights, so the mood is really good around sunset 🔥 There was even a vending machine next to the entrance, lol. So cute...

How long was the wait at Hyeonseonine?

You register your name on the waitlist through Catch Table (a Korean reservation app), and you can wait on the benches in front of the shop! I got there around 5 PM, I think? By about 5:30 the waiting was crazy. Everyone had registered on Catch Table and was sitting huddled together on the benches, haha.

Kiosk ordering and the Naver review event

You order at the kiosk by the entrance! It supports Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, so it'd be easy to come with a foreign friend 😲 I wondered if that's why so many foreign guests come here.

They were also running a Naver Place review event: leave a photo review and tap save (⭐) for the place on Naver Map, and you get a free cold slush or a tteokbokki size-up, your choice. I joined right away 😎

What we ordered: mild instant tteokbokki for two and sundae

What I ordered at Hyeonseonine was instant tteokbokki for two and sundae (Korean blood sausage)!

The menu has set menus and lots of à la carte items too, but I was craving instant tteokbokki so much that I didn't even think twice. The spice levels are mild, medium and hot, and the hot one is described as "ultimate heat", which scared me a little... 🥲 So I picked mild, haha.

What can you grab at the self bar?

After ordering, you go get what you need from the self bar! They have small plates, bowls, aprons, utensils, and salt and soy sauce for dipping the sundae, plus plenty of yellow pickled radish. The radish is perfect for cleansing your palate while eating tteokbokki, so I went back for it twice, lol.

How was the instant tteokbokki?

You put the pan on the induction burner at your table and boil it right there. It comes with rice cakes, square fish cake, green onion and boiled eggs, with a heap of jjolmyeon (chewy wheat noodles) piled on top, and the look of it is just... ah, I can't resist this,,,,, 🤤🤤🤤

Usually the egg doesn't go in whole, right? It's cut in half? At Hyeonseonine you get one whole egg per person... I'm so touched ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

The sauce isn't too sweet, it's spicy-sharp with a surprisingly deep flavor, so I kept reaching for more. The rice cakes are chewy, the broth gets richer as it bubbles, and the jjolmyeon soaks up the broth and goes soft and silky, which is another highlight!

Dunk the fried dumplings and boiled egg in the broth

The fried item that came with the tteokbokki was crispy fried dumplings. They're crunchy and tasty as they are, but when I soaked them in the tteokbokki broth the sauce seeped in and they turned chewy, so good 😍😍

I also split the boiled egg in half and spooned broth over it. The sauce soaks into the yolk so you get nutty and spicy flavors together. You have to try this one

Is the sundae assortment a must-order?

The sundae at Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch was an assortment that came with liver and other innards. Dipped in salt mixed with a little chili powder, it was nutty with no funky smell. A hot fish cake broth comes with it too, and a sip after the sundae felt really soothing, haha.

Honestly the tteokbokki is good, but Hyeonseonine's sundae is the real star, everyone. Please order the sundae!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And as a Korean, you can't skip the fried rice. I ate that happily too and finished everything, haha.

Verdict: instant tteokbokki near Sinyongsan Station at Hyeonseonine

Everything on the menu at Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch was reliably tasty and the portions were generous, so I'm glad we ordered it all together.

• Instant tteokbokki: spicy-sharp sauce + chewy rice cakes
• Fried dumplings: the trick is soaking the crispy dumplings in the broth
• Personally, the sundae and the egg were especially good
• With the self bar and the review event, you leave well fed
• Last order is late, so it works for dinner or a late-night snack too

The mood is great and ordering is easy thanks to the kiosk, so if you're looking for tteokbokki near Sinyongsan Station, Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch is worth a visit :)