Uijeongbu seafood restaurant: roe-packed stew lunch, Daebak Haemulchon

A seafood stew place I found on a rainy day in Uijeongbu's new downtown

Daebak Haemulchon Uijeongbu Main Branch (대박해물촌 의정부본점) is a seafood stew and bossam (boiled pork wraps) restaurant on Beomgol-ro, in the new downtown area of Uijeongbu. It was a rainy day and I was craving something hot for lunch, so I stopped in.

I'd come out to the Uijeongbu new downtown for the first time in a while, and lunchtime hunger hit. When you're really hungry you want a bit of everything, right? Plus it was raining, so something warm sounded great~ Then I spotted this Uijeongbu seafood stew spot, Daebak Haemulchon, and the outside is flashy, so flashy it catches your eye from far away.

Daebak Haemulchon: hours, location and parking

The address of Daebak Haemulchon Uijeongbu Main Branch is 40 Beomgol-ro 145beon-gil, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do, and it also comes up if you search "대박해물촌". There's a mechanical parking lot that's free for 2 hours.

What's the inside and what are the facilities like?

We came after the lunch rush, so the place was quiet and I could look around. Big photos of the dishes hang on the walls, so you can see at a glance what each menu item looks like, which is nice.

Menu and the Special Sets

There are à la carte dishes too, but the Special Sets are clearly the favorite here. There's a Seafood Stew, a Jjukkumi (baby octopus) and an Obul (squid and pork) Special, discounted from ₩70,000 to ₩52,000, and you get three dishes in one go, so I knew right away: this is the one!

For families with little ones, there are high chairs,

and side dishes are laid out at a self-serve bar, handy if you run out partway through the meal.

We ordered on the tablet at the table. The seafood stew at Daebak Haemulchon, a well-known Uijeongbu seafood stew spot, is one I'd say you should try over the other dishes.

Spicy Seafood Stew Special Set: what's in it and the price

What we ordered at Daebak Haemulchon was spicy seafood stew + squid bossam + naengmyeon (cold noodles), all three for just ₩52,000! Great value and a great lineup too... Boss, please keep this Uijeongbu seafood stew spot going for a long, long time :)

How much seafood is in the spicy seafood stew?

The spicy seafood stew at Daebak Haemulchon is the original dish, so fiery it makes you want a drink. They bring a timer; once it comes to a rolling boil, wait 3 minutes, turn the heat down and start eating. We were stunned by the sight when it first came out.

You know the photos on a menu usually look different from what actually arrives, but at Daebak Haemulchon, this Uijeongbu seafood stew spot, there was shrimp, roe, fish milt and pollack, and the other ingredients were generous too. I wanted to "dolljjul" the boss (support a business by spending big).

Dip it in their signature wasabi soy sauce and you get sharp, salty and mild all at once. It's a taste I think you'd come back for.

What comes with the squid bossam?

The squid bossam at Daebak Haemulchon combines moist boiled pork, plump squid sukhoe (blanched squid) and freshly seasoned kimchi. This lineup is generous, the best of the best! I think it would work as a drinking snack even on its own.

Usually when you order bossam you get baechu kimchi (napa cabbage kimchi) and wraps, a combo I've seen plenty of times, but a set with plump squid sukhoe was a first for me, so I was excited.

Dunk the squid in the red chojang (sweet-spicy vinegar chili sauce) and it's tangy with a lovely plump bite. The pork was moist with a nice lean-to-fat ratio, mild and tasty.

Since the Special brings three dishes together, wrapping them up in ssam adds the fun of trying different combinations. You get to eat it just the way you like.

Which naengmyeon should you pick: water, bibim or spicy?

The naengmyeon in the Special Set comes in three flavors, water (broth), bibim (spicy mixed) or spicy, and you choose. Stay focused to the end! It's not over till it's over.

I wanted to have it with the meat, so I chose bibim naengmyeon, and I think I chose well.

The cool, sweet and spicy sauce came together, and with the bossam it never got tiresome. Great to the very end!

I finished with a cold drink as dessert. Give Daebak Haemulchon, where you enjoy three dishes at once, a visit too :) Next time I'd love to bring my family here for a family get-together meal. This Uijeongbu seafood stew spot's flavor is guaranteed!