Scorched rice soup restaurant in Pyeongtaek: Hwanggeum Nurungji-tang

Where is Hwanggeum Seafood Nurungji-tang and when is it open?

Hwanggeum Seafood Nurungji-tang is a stone pot seafood nurungji-tang (scorched rice soup) specialist at 160 Bijeon 4-ro, Building B, 1F, Pyeongtaek. Open 10:30–21:00 with a break time from 14:30–16:30, closed every Tuesday.

• Group seating, takeout, Wi-Fi, reservations
• Gender-separated restrooms, no corkage
• Free parking available

I went for lunch to this recommended Pyeongtaek spot, Hwanggeum Seafood Nurungji-tang. The parking lot is huge so don't worry about parking haha 😆

What is the restaurant like inside?

The interior of Hwanggeum Seafood Nurungji-tang is spacious with lots of tables.

The inside is super clean and bright. With its modern, tidy vibe it'd be great for family gatherings or meeting up with friends.

There's a puffed rice machine popping away in the corner. Looks delicious haha

Banchan, the self-serve bar and puffed rice

The banchan (side dishes) came out neatly arranged. The staff were friendly too. Kimchi, lotus root, salted squid — everything was tasty, especially the lotus root, which was wonderfully chewy. I don't usually eat lotus root but I loved this. There's also a self-serve bar so you can grab more of any banchan you like.

A staff member brought over freshly popped puffed rice. Light, nutty, and delicious — and again, you can get seconds.

What we ordered and what it cost

We ordered the 300°C stone pot seafood nurungji-tang and the abalone imperial nurungji-tang, 'ginseng of the sea.' ₩18,000 and ₩26,000. (Menu image pulled from Naver Place.)

Hwanggeum Seafood Nurungji-tang, a recommended Pyeongtaek lunch spot.

Whoa, the staff poured the broth right in front of us and the sizzling sound plus the sight of it was on another level, so good haha. Drool was literally forming in my eyes 😂🤣

It's a Korean-style stone pot nurungji-tang made with broth simmered slowly with various vegetables and meat, loaded with savory glutinous rice nurungji and seafood like shrimp, baby octopus, squid and whelk.

Emperor abalone nurungji-tang with two extra-large Wando abalone

This is the abalone imperial nurungji-tang.

Two fresh, extra-large abalone from Wando were sitting right in there.

These days a lot of people are looking for healthy, restorative food. They say they consistently take care with ingredient management and cooking process to make food that's healthy and delicious at the same time.

It's a seafood nurungji-tang made by carefully cooking fresh seafood. They filled the earthenware pot so full it nearly overflowed.

Wow, I really love seafood nurungji-tang and order/eat it often, but I've never seen abalone this massive. The size is genuinely extra-large.

How does the seafood nurungji-tang taste?

The seafood nurungji-tang kept boiling piping hot the whole time, bubbling up like lava.

It's really, really good. And despite how it looks, it's not too hot to eat comfortably. Savory and nutty at once. Is that the starch giving it that stickiness? It's slightly sticky yet so nutty that my spoon just kept moving faster. Seriously so good 👍

The yam is really the kick here 👌 Great crunchy texture, and it bites fresh and refreshing.

The seafood is super fresh. The octopus is big, tender, and delicious too.

Pine-cone-cut squid.

I've eaten a lot of seafood nurungji-tang, and this is the best I've had 👍

The presence of the plump, thick abalone is amazing. It felt heavy, probably because of its size.

Tender and nutty abalone. After eating a whole one, I felt like my energy just surged 👍💪

The shrimp is plump and large too. Overall the seafood quality is really solid.

There's also round little baby octopus in there. The freshness and flavor of the seafood really comes through, and it pairs well with the nutty taste of the nurungji-tang.

Is Hwanggeum Seafood Nurungji-tang worth a second visit?

I scraped the stone pot so thoroughly I worried I'd wear a hole through it. It was truly delicious. Restorative food is great, but not if it's not tasty. And delicious food is great, but not if it's bad for you. In that sense, I really want to recommend Hwanggeum Seafood Nurungji-tang — healthy restorative food that's also genuinely delicious. It's a Pyeongtaek lunch spot I definitely want to bring my parents back to.