Gwacheon seaweed soup with unlimited rice refills: Haenon Miyeok

After a run of greasy meals last weekend, I found myself craving something clean and warm in Korean food. Wanting a broth that felt light but still deeply flavorful, I headed to a Gwacheon favorite for seaweed soup (miyeokguk) set meals — Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch!

67 Araetbaeraengi-ro, 1st floor, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea / Daily 11:00 – 21:00 / Group seating available, takeout available, reservations available

What kind of restaurant is Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch?

The place I visited this time is the Gwacheon direct branch of Haenon Miyeok. Apparently every Haenon Miyeok location is company-run rather than franchised! Thanks to that, you can taste the exact same seaweed soup set meals as the Busan flagship store without having to travel all the way there.

Dining room atmosphere and seating at Haenon Miyeok

The inside of Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch was clean and calm overall. There was a subtly upscale feel, and the high ceilings kept it from feeling cramped. The tables were spaced generously too, making it comfortable to eat, and it seemed like a good spot to bring parents along.

Do you need a reservation for weekend lunch in Gwacheon?

I arrived around weekend lunchtime and plenty of guests were already eating, with more coming in the whole time I was there! Weekends clearly get busy at Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch, so if you want a relaxed meal, I'd recommend booking ahead through Naver Reservations.

There's a restroom inside the restaurant too, so it's easy to use comfortably. When you're bringing parents or older relatives, it's not just about the taste — the atmosphere and facilities matter as well. Haenon Miyeok felt clean, calm, and convenient, which made it feel like a great Gwacheon restaurant for taking parents to.

Haenon Miyeok started in Busan in 2015 as a seaweed soup set meal specialist and has apparently kept its own flavor and philosophy going for a long time. I especially liked hearing that not just the seaweed soup but even the side dishes are cooked in-house at each location — that built a lot of trust for me!

Haenon Miyeok seaweed soup set menu and event freebies

The signature menu is the variety of seaweed soup set meals. There's boneless flounder, scallop, mussel meat, dried pollack, beef, and Tongyeong oyster seaweed soup, so there's plenty of choice depending on your taste. There were also side dishes to go with each set, and we ordered two: the dried pollack seaweed soup set and the beef seaweed soup set!

Several events were running too! Joining the Naver review event gets you a drink or a savory pancake (bajak-jeon), and pregnant guests or those celebrating a birthday receive abalone as well. If you're planning a visit, it's worth checking these perks out.

Side dishes: fried eggplant and grilled flounder

True to a seaweed soup set specialist, Haenon Miyeok's side dishes (banchan) came out generous and neatly arranged, which I appreciated. There was kimchi, seasoned vegetables, various namul, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and more, and overall everything was mild rather than spicy or heavy. The fried eggplant in particular was crispy outside and moist inside — I genuinely loved it, haha.

On top of that came grilled flounder and salad too. Even before the main seaweed soup arrived, the spread of side dishes was so generous I could have finished a whole bowl of rice on that alone, lol. The grilled flounder especially had a sweet-spicy sauce soaked well into the mild fish, and the two worked really well together!

Self-serve side dish refills and unlimited rice

If the side dishes ran low, you could grab as much as you wanted from the self-serve bar. It was kept clean and hygienic overall, so it felt easy to use without hesitation!

Even the default banchan and japchae were stocked at the self-serve bar. The base servings were already generous, but if you wanted more, you could just help yourself without worrying about it — very easy to use.

Rice bowls were also unlimited, so you could grab more whenever you needed. With hearty side dishes, seaweed soup, and unlimited rice, this easily works as a full, satisfying meal!

What does the dried pollack seaweed soup set taste like?

Next, the seaweed soups arrived! They came in big stone bowls (ttukbaegi), generously filled. This one is the dried pollack seaweed soup set my partner ordered. Even in photos, the broth color looks pretty deep, right? Just looking at it gave off a sense of rich, deep flavor, haha.

The dried pollack seaweed soup was loaded with plenty of seaweed and dried pollack. With that much dried pollack in it, the broth looked refreshing and deep just from appearance. The portion was really generous too — plenty for one adult to eat a full, satisfying meal!

Maybe because of the dried pollack, the broth tasted really clean and refreshing! It wasn't spicy or heavy, but had a mild, savory depth from the pollack that made for an easy, comforting meal. I hadn't even had alcohol the night before, but it felt like the perfect hangover cure anyway, lol.

I tried mixing rice into the broth loaded with pollack and seaweed. The refreshing, savory dried pollack seaweed soup soaked nicely into the rice and went down easily. It wasn't spicy or heavy, so it was easy to enjoy as a filling, no-fuss meal!

Beef seaweed soup set: how it compares

Next up is the beef seaweed soup I ordered. Before ordering, I actually considered trying one of the seafood seaweed soups since I don't get to eat them often at home, but honestly, I'm more of a meat person than a seafood person, haha. In the end I went with the familiar but hearty beef seaweed soup!

The beef seaweed soup came loaded with plenty of good-quality beef! Since I eat beef seaweed soup fairly often, I expected a familiar flavor, but the first bite showed a depth clearly different from any beef seaweed soup I'd had before!

The beef seaweed soup broth was rich yet clean, going down easily without feeling heavy. The deep flavor drawn out from the beef was well infused into the broth, and the meat itself was tender with no gamey smell at all. Each spoonful left me feeling more and more satisfied, warming me up from the inside, lol.

Both the beef and dried pollack seaweed soups had really rich, deep broth that felt properly simmered. The seaweed was cooked soft while still keeping a bit of chew, and the rich broth soaked into it well, so every bite carried deep flavor!

Why Haenon Miyeok works for a meal out with parents

If you're looking for somewhere to eat with parents in Gwacheon, I'd recommend Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch! Between the rich, deep seaweed soup and the neat side dishes, everything was mild rather than spicy, so it was easy for older guests to enjoy comfortably. The restaurant itself was clean and calm too, making it a particularly good place to bring parents along!