Yeouido Korean snack restaurant after-work set: Hyeonseonine

Easy Korean snacks near Yeouido Station

You know those days when you just want some easy Korean snack food in Yeouido. Not a big, elaborate meal—just tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and a fried snack or two, with a little bit of everything. This time, while heading from Yeouido Station toward IFC Mall, I stopped by the familiar Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch (현선이네 프리미엄 IFC몰점).

Follow the moving walkway connecting Yeouido Station to IFC Mall and you will find this Hyeonseonine tteokbokki spot about halfway along. I think plenty of people may have passed it at least once. I have actually visited a few other Hyeonseonine branches before, and I remember enjoying everything from the tteokbokki to the fried snacks every time, so it is one of the Korean snack places I personally trust and return to.

So this time too, I went in without much hesitation, thinking, let’s have some Korean snacks. When you search for restaurants at The Hyundai Seoul or near Yeouido Station, so many fancy places come up, but sometimes you simply crave something easy like this. Especially when you want to sort out dinner quickly before going home after work, there is hardly a lighter option than Korean snack food.

A tteokbokki set with a little of everything

At Hyeonseonine in Yeouido, I ordered the Hyeonseonine Tteokbokki Set, which lets you try several things at once. It comes with tteokbokki, sundae (Korean blood sausage), fried snacks, rice balls, and fish cake broth, so I liked not having to choose each item separately.

At a Korean snack place, you want tteokbokki, then fried snacks, then sundae sounds too good to skip, and it would be nice to have some rice too… Choosing is surprisingly hard, isn’t it? In times like that, ordering one tteokbokki set is convenient because you get a good variety. It would be nice to share between two people, or to enjoy generously on your own when you are hungry.

After ordering, I found a seat first. Hyeonseonine has a self-service bar where you can take as much water, danmuji (pickled yellow radish), soy sauce, and salt as you need. True to an easy Korean snack place, it felt uncomplicated and comfortable to use.

While I waited, I got a few things ready, and the food arrived sooner than I expected. A staff member brought the prepared dishes over. Since I love soupy tteokbokki, I started with the tteokbokki.

Tteokbokki to eat with the sauce

Hyeonseonine’s tteokbokki is the soupy style I love, so it was great to scoop up the rice cakes and sauce together with a spoon. Having it with the sauce made it moist rather than just picking up the rice cakes, and it was also perfect for dipping the fried snacks now and then. I tend to really enjoy the sauce when I eat tteokbokki, so this style suited me well.

In particular, the combination of dipping a fried snack lightly into tteokbokki sauce is something you simply cannot leave out at a Korean snack place. Rather than tteokbokki that is only spicy, this felt easy to eat with the sauce, so I kept reaching for my spoon. If you like soupy tteokbokki, I think it is worth trying at least once.

Sundae served with offal

I also tried the sundae, which came with a good mix of offal. It was not just plain sundae; the offal was mixed in too, so I could try a little of everything. I think people who enjoy offal with sundae would be happy with this combination.

I find it more fun when offal is mixed in here and there rather than eating only sundae, so I picked out each piece as I went. I had some lightly dipped in salt and some with the tteokbokki sauce, taking my time with it.

Crispy fried snacks I kept reaching for

The fried snacks were crispy! Personally, these were what I kept reaching for. They were fried quite crisp and cut into easy-to-eat pieces, which made them convenient to pick up. Best of all, there was a nice mix of types I like: vegetable fritter, sweet potato, gim-mari (seaweed roll), and squid.

When you have Korean snack food, it is fun to pick through the fried snacks one by one when there is variety. I ate a sweet fried sweet potato, then gim-mari, then fried squid, and before I knew it, the plate was empty.

The crispy fried snacks were good on their own, but of course they paired wonderfully with a light dip in the tteokbokki sauce.

Make-your-own rice balls

The tteokbokki set also included rice balls that you make yourself. Since you shape them yourself, they gave me disposable plastic gloves too.

I mixed the ingredients into the rice well, then shaped it into bite-size balls. To me, the seasoning was a little salty, but it went nicely with the tteokbokki.

Eating only tteokbokki continuously can get a little intense, but having a rice ball in between gave it a different feel. Making them myself was quietly fun too, so I was never bored while eating.

And when you come to a Korean snack place, warm fish cake broth is a must too. Taking a spoonful now and then felt like resetting my palate. Tteokbokki, fried snacks, sundae, rice balls, then another sip of fish cake broth. With cola on top of that, the food kept going down better than I expected.

At first, I went in thinking I would just have some simple Korean snacks and go, but once the tteokbokki set was laid out, there was quite a lot to eat. It was filling enough for dinner after work too.

A convenient stop on the way to IFC Mall

There is seating inside the shop as well. Right beside it, tables and chairs are set up so you can also eat outside the shop. Since it is on the route from Yeouido Station toward IFC Mall, it looked like a good option for a quick meal after shopping or running errands.

It especially suited a day when you want to eat Korean snacks comfortably and keep moving rather than sit over a long meal. When looking for places to eat at The Hyundai Seoul, I do not think you always need to think only of atmospheric restaurants.

Sometimes a plate of tteokbokki at a familiar, comfortable Korean snack place is what you crave more. This time, I stopped by because I wanted easy Korean snacks near Yeouido Station after work, and the tteokbokki set was more generous than expected. After trying a little of everything, I felt quite full.

Since you can eat tteokbokki, sundae, fried snacks, rice balls, and fish cake broth all at once, ordering the set seems like a good way to go on days when you want several things. More than anything, I had fond memories of enjoying Hyeonseonine at other branches before, so I had another easy, pleasant meal this time.

If you are craving tteokbokki in Yeouido or looking for somewhere easy to eat near IFC Mall, it could be worth stopping by. I think it will especially suit people who enjoy soupy tteokbokki.

• When you are looking for food at The Hyundai Seoul but want light Korean snacks
• When you want tteokbokki and fried snacks together near Yeouido Station
• On a day when you want a generous variety of food

The Hyeonseonine Tteokbokki Set seems like a good choice.

Ending the day with delicious Korean snack food after work, like today, is one of life’s little pleasures. I recommend it if you enjoy soupy tteokbokki!