Incheon abalone set with yuja salad a picky mom praised: Jeonbokchon

Jeonbokchon opening hours and info

Jeonbokchon is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30–21:30 and Sunday 11:30–21:00, and closed every Monday. Break time is 14:40–17:00. Reservations and group bookings, takeout, separate men's/women's restrooms, Wi-Fi, high chairs, a waiting area and parking are all available.

Located in Guwol-dong, Jeonbokchon is a premium abalone specialist where you can enjoy a variety of course dishes built around fresh abalone. Thanks to its neat presentation and clean, pleasant interior, it's a much-loved Incheon City Hall spot for hosting family gatherings, meals with parents and in-law meetings💛

The address is 35 Yesul-ro 204beon-gil, Namdong-gu, Incheon (Haeinbil Building, 1st floor), Jeonbokchon. I've attached a map for anyone who doesn't know the area.

Where do you park at Jeonbokchon?

You can park in front of Jeonbokchon, and if it's full, use the restaurant's dedicated lot by the parking entrance on the way in (a 30-second walk to the restaurant). Parking is free.

Parking is a bit tricky around here, so having a dedicated lot made it easy for us~

What are the rooms and atmosphere like at Jeonbokchon?

The interior is calm and cozy, in the style of a formal Japanese restaurant. Not just the private rooms but the regular hall seating too has generously spaced tables, and partitions separate the areas, so it seemed like a comfortable place to eat~ The space was really big.

Also, as in the photos above, there are several private rooms that fit 4 to 8 people, and being able to eat privately with your group without noise around was what I liked most! The rooms have a sunken floor so you can drop your legs down, in that typical Japanese-restaurant tatami style, so even sitting a long time didn't strain my back or knees, and the backrests made it comfortable to eat💛

Besides these, there are group rooms too, so it seemed good for company dinners and meetings, and with such a nice atmosphere it also seemed great for occasions like in-law meetings and birthdays. That's Jeonbokchon!

Jeonbokchon menu

The menu runs from the weekday-only lunch special to the lunch special, lunch premium and dinner special set, plus the Bonjeongsik (main set), Abalone Set (jeonbok jeongsik) and Jangsu Set (longevity set), which let you try a range of courses at a good price. There were also à la carte dishes, meals, add-on items, drinks and beverages, so plenty of choice. Even with so many items, everything felt focused on abalone, which made it more trustworthy😀

Maybe because I booked ahead, small plates, cups, cutlery sets and wet wipes were set out at each seat to match our party size. Eating privately in a room is great, and the chairs were really comfortable and the tableware clean too.

They poured soy sauce and chogochujang (sweet-sour chili sauce) for each person! Kikkoman soy sauce is delicious, and Jeonbokchon uses Kikkoman👍

Jeonbokchon abalone set for 3 (₩39,000 per person): the courses

What we ordered that day was the abalone set for 3 (₩39,000 x 3), a set of various dishes made with fresh Wando abalone. Mom, my brother and I ate it together.

Appetizer salad and side dishes

First out were a salad that's good as an appetizer, plus wasabi, seasoned sesame oil dip, rakkyo (pickled shallots) and white kimchi. I like eating a fresh salad before a meal, and Jeonbokchon's came with fresh vegetables and a nutty black sesame dressing, which was good for keeping blood sugar down, and so nutty it made a really good appetizer💛

Abalone porridge

Next came abalone porridge simmered with the innards, its deep innards color striking! At places that do abalone porridge badly it smells very fishy, but Jeonbokchon, true to an abalone specialist, had no fishy smell at all, and it was warm and smooth, good for soothing the stomach before the meal!! Even my picky mom said they make the porridge really cleanly,, and I think it tasted even better because they put in plenty of innards😘

Raw abalone (jeonbokhoe)

Raw abalone sashimi, prepared from fresh live abalone so it's easy to eat! As I said, abalone easily smells fishy if it isn't fresh or is badly prepared, but at Jeonbokchon, maybe because the fresh abalone is prepared so it's easy to eat, we got a chewy crunch along with the fragrant scent of the sea~~ It's good plain, but the flavor gets much better dipped in the seasoned sesame oil, so give it a little dip!

Yuja dressing abalone salad

Abalone salad with finely shredded lettuce and a dressing whose refreshing, appetite-boosting yuja (Korean citron) aroma stood out. It was my first time eating abalone as a salad, and maybe because I could taste the freshness of the sea and the tang of yuja at once, I really enjoyed it. Honestly, everyone raved about this one!!

It reminded me a bit of soba, and the dressing was so good I wanted to steal the recipe,, I can't believe abalone and yuja go so well together~ The yuja aroma made the fresh abalone taste even better and seemed to tidy up my mouth too.

Steamed abalone with abalone innards sauce

Steamed abalone and abalone innards sauce came out!! What can I say about the combo of melt-in-your-mouth steamed abalone and a nutty, rich, subtly sweet innards sauce~ I usually like abalone and eat it often, but Jeonbokchon's innards sauce has such good savory depth that anyone of any age could enjoy it, and I think I devoured it without a word!

The steamed abalone is good on its own, but the innards sauce served with it is the real kick, so be sure to dip it! The sauce is so rich and nutty,, and subtly sweet too👍

Japchae (glass noodle stir-fry)

A labor-intensive japchae of the kind you can only get at a high-end Korean set-meal restaurant! It wasn't cold japchae but piping hot and perfectly seasoned, so I really enjoyed it. What I liked about Jeonbokchon is that the seasoning and temperature of every dish were just right! At course-meal places I'm often disappointed because the food temperature is off, but at Jeonbokchon the temperature was right, so everything tasted better.

Seasoned abalone (jeonbok muchim)

Seasoned abalone mixed with boiled abalone innards and vegetables! It wasn't tossed in red chili sauce but dressed cleanly and mildly, so I could taste the abalone better, and since it isn't strongly seasoned, I think elders could enjoy it too.

Conch gimbap and salad rolls

Conch gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) and salad rolls, light and easy to eat! They were bite-sized and tangy and tasty.

Fried semi-dried pollack (kodari tigim)

Fried fish, crispy outside and chewy inside! I mean, this is an abalone place, so why is the fish good too,, like at a Chinese restaurant, the fish was crispy outside but chewy-tender inside, and the sauce was spicy-sweet and addictive like chili sauce, so we praised it nonstop~ After one bite we said it would be the best drinking snack,, and it was also great as a side for rice!!

Seasoned pollack and napa cabbage

The rice thief, seasoned raw pollack (myeongtae hoemuchim), came out. I like it so much I buy it separately, and Jeonbokchon's seasoning was so clean they could sell it on its own, and the pollack was soft with no bones, so Mom, my brother and I all really enjoyed it! It's good plain, but on a piece of napa cabbage you get the cabbage's sweetness too, which made it even better.

Seafood nurungji-tang (crispy rice seafood stew)

Seafood nurungji-tang (scorched rice in seafood stew), hot and great for settling the stomach! It was loaded with seafood, and the scorched rice soaked up the thick, hot seafood sauce and really settled my stomach~ As soon as it came out, the owner portioned it out for us, so it was more convenient and tastier. Jeonbokchon's abalone dishes are good, but they're really good at non-abalone dishes too: fried food, seasoned dishes, even stews💙

Fried shrimp

Plump, tasty fried shrimp, crispy outside and juicy inside. Seriously, owner, why are you good at fried food too,, maybe they use good oil, because everything from the color to the crunch was satisfying. It's good plain, but dipped in the yuja sauce from the abalone salad earlier, you get a tang too, which made it even better~ This place really does fried food well.

The funny part is that a staff member thought I'd finished the yuja dressing plate and tried to take it away, but the sauce was so good I told them not to take it,, haha

Beef bulgogi

Beef bulgogi with a tender, not-tough texture and a sweet soy marinade! If the seafood was clean-tasting, the bulgogi was sweet and salty and great with rice, and the meat was so soft that elders with weak teeth or babies could really enjoy it too~ A true rice thief, no question!

Meal: perilla abalone seaweed soup, rice, side dishes

Just as we were enjoying ourselves, they said they were preparing our meal, and perilla seaweed soup, rice and side dishes came out! We were already full from the courses, and a separate meal comes out too! And it's perilla abalone seaweed soup, no less~ Truly perfect to the very end.

It wasn't ordinary seaweed soup: with abalone and perilla in it, it was cool and had the deep umami of the sea, and chewy slices of abalone among the well-simmered seaweed made it fun to eat too!!

Dessert: plum tea

Is that the end? Nope! For dessert came plum tea, good for digestion. True to a long-running local institution that has stayed in one spot for years, Jeonbokchon was perfect from the start of the course to the finish👍

My picky mom's verdict on Jeonbokchon

I hear Jeonbokchon is a local favorite that has been running in Guwol-dong for more than 10 years. Lasting 10+ years in Guwol-dong is no easy feat, and as a place that has held its ground so long, everything from the atmosphere to the food quality was satisfying!

Those of you who read my blog know my mom is really picky and rarely says anything is delicious, but she said she hadn't enjoyed a meal this much in a while, and praised Jeonbokchon for making food so cleanly that she'd introduce it to friends😀 (I didn't even cook it, but I felt proud anyway💙)

The owner is kind, the food is delicious and the atmosphere is nice, so if you're looking for a restaurant for your parents' birthday, a family gathering or a special occasion, I recommend Jeonbokchon!!!!!