Gongdeok brunch restaurant for shrimp cobb salad: HEOD Gongdeok

Where is HEOD Gongdeok?

HEOD Gongdeok is a brunch restaurant right next to the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, at 24 Gwangseong-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu. Here's my review of this new brunch hotspot along the trail!

Location 24 Gwangseong-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul Hours Open daily 11:00–21:00 (Break time 15:30–17:00) (Last order 19:50)

The HEOD brand started in Gangneung, and after opening in Hapjeong and Yeonnam, Gongdeok is already its fourth location — and after tasting the food, I get why. Apparently HEOD Gongdeok is planning to change its name to HEOD Mapo soon.

Book ahead on weekends

There can be a wait on weekends, so booking ahead is definitely the way to go! HEOD Gongdeok has pretty interior and lets you soak in the lush green summer view of the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail. Everyone there seemed relaxed, and the food was delicious — I really enjoyed it!

Outside the restaurant, there's a menu board set up like this. You can see what's on offer without pulling out your phone, which makes it much easier to approach.

Since I'd made a reservation in advance, I was seated right away. There's a seat with your name already on it, like this. Great vibe, great food — no reason not to go to this Daeheung Station brunch café, HEOD Gongdeok.

Seating and atmosphere at HEOD Gongdeok

HEOD Gongdeok's tables consist of window seats, two-person tables, and group tables. It'd be perfect for a date, a blind date, or a get-together with friends. It was all so green and pretty, matching the forest trail outside.

It's obviously a top pick for a date or blind date spot, but it also seems great for solo dining when you just want something simple in a pretty restaurant.

I love the butter-colored paint on the exterior, and with the soft lighting and floor-to-ceiling windows, the interior looked even cozier.

How to order and what's on the menu

At HEOD Gongdeok, you can order by scanning the QR code at your table, or just walk up to the counter.

The menu is really varied. There are meal options like steak, salads, pasta, and risotto, plus a French toast piled high with seasonal fruit that's apparently a popular item.

The café menu is really varied too. For non-coffee drinks there's ade and lattes and more, and in the evening there's wine and highballs to pair with your meal, so it seems like a good spot for a light drink too.

I ordered the shrimp cobb salad and added a mashed potato!

It's a great vibe for a Gongdeok blind date spot, but I also saw plenty of friends and couples there.

First, they brought out pickles!

It's an open kitchen setup, so you can watch the cooking happening right in front of you, which gave it an even cleaner feel that I really liked.

Shrimp cobb salad, 21,800 won, with seven shrimp

HEOD Gongdeok's shrimp cobb salad is 21,800 won. This cobb salad comes with seven big shrimp. The combination with cheese, tomato, bacon, and more is really great.

If you visit this place, I definitely recommend ordering the shrimp cobb salad. The dressing sauce is nice and tangy too, so it'd also go well drizzled over risotto or pasta.

There were a few different salads on offer, but I was craving cobb salad the most that day, and the shrimp cobb salad's neat, colorful presentation caught my eye, so I went with it.

You just pour the sauce on the right over the salad. The sauce is nice and tangy and pairs really well. True to a Gongdeok brunch favorite, the cobb salad plating was gorgeous.

Can you see how it looks? The shrimp here are seriously plump and delicious. The ingredients were so fresh and the portion so generous that I felt full from a salad for the first time ever.

The portion is really huge. It's made up of tomato, corn, cheese, shrimp, olives, and bacon, with all kinds of vegetables underneath — the amount was really generous, and the shrimp were so plump they had a great chew to them.

Adding mashed potato to the salad

I also added mashed potato. I was thinking of eating it kind of like a soup, but it actually went really well with the cobb salad haha. The mashed potato is genuinely so good.

Apparently HEOD is short for "the sun rising." The owner hopes every guest who visits feels the warmth of a rising sun. I'd highly recommend HEOD Gongdeok, the new brunch hotspot along the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail!