Guwol-dong abalone restaurant revisited after 2 years: Jeonbokchon

Why I came back to Jeonbokchon in Guwol-dong after 2 years

Jeonbokchon (전복촌) is a Korean set-meal restaurant in Guwol-dong where I had a family gathering with my parents' side of the family about 2 years ago. The food was great, and every dish came out with care in a well-built lineup, so it has stayed a good memory all this time. That's why I'm writing up this revisit after so long.

• Private rooms
• Good-value lunch menu
• High-quality set meal lineup

Jeonbokchon hours and practical info

Jeonbokchon is open from 11:30 to 21:30 and closed every Monday. Break time is 14:40 to 17:00.

• Reservations available
• Takeout available
• Groups welcome
• High chairs available
• Private rooms (for 4 to 20 people)
• Dedicated parking lot

Where do you park at Jeonbokchon?

There is an outdoor parking lot behind the restaurant. If you follow your GPS, it guides you to the back of the building, which made it easy to visit by car.

Jeonbokchon interior and private room atmosphere

When you walk in, the hall is bigger than it looks from outside.

The space runs deep into the building, with several private rooms along both sides, so it's a good place for a private meal.

There are small rooms for 4 and up, plus a large banquet room for up to 20, so it seemed good for small family gatherings or company dinners too.

Jeonbokchon menu and prices

Jeonbokchon has a wide range of set meals. The weekday dinner special is ₩19,000, and the bon, abalone and jangsu sets range from ₩29,000 to ₩49,000.

You can add raw abalone or iron-plate grilled abalone, and there's mulhoe (cold raw fish soup), a summer-only item. For meals there are abalone porridge and nurungji-tang (scorched rice soup), plus a pork cutlet that's good if you come with kids!

The weekday lunch special starts at ₩14,000, so it seemed easy to enjoy without worrying about the bill.

Abalone set for 2: starting with innards porridge and salad

When you order the abalone set (for 2) at Jeonbokchon, hot abalone innards porridge comes out first. I hardly noticed any fishy taste, and it was clean and warm, so it made a perfect appetizer.

The salad had fresh greens with plenty of nutty black sesame dressing, which really woke up my appetite. Then the dishes arrived one after another and the table filled up in no time.

Fried half-dried pollack and pollack hoe

I love abalone, but I love fish too, so the first thing I tried from the set was the fried half-dried pollack (kodari gangjeong).

The outside was crispy, with plump pollack meat peeking out from inside. With the sweet and tangy sauce, I kept reaching for more.

Then I put spicy, savory pollack hoe (seasoned raw pollack) on sweet napa cabbage and ate it...

Seafood nurungji-tang, bulgogi, japchae and fried shrimp

After the cold dishes, it's time for something hot: seafood nurungji-tang.

It's a soup that comes with the set, so I didn't expect much, but it was generously filled with shrimp, squid and vegetables along with the nutty scorched rice. The rice softened into a slightly chewy texture in the warm broth, and with the cool flavor of the seafood it was lovely and warming.

Another hot dish, the bulgogi, comes on a mini brazier and gets warmed once more over a gentle flame, so wait a moment!!

Japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), which a set meal would be incomplete without, and fried shrimp, which a raw fish restaurant would feel lacking without, came out too.

Jeonbokchon raw abalone: crunchy with no fishy taste

We're at an abalone specialist, so let's try the mains one by one. First, raw abalone.

They say the live abalone is delivered daily from Wando. Dipped in sesame oil sauce, it kept that signature crunchy texture and tasted clean with no fishiness.

With the nutty sesame oil added, I could fully taste the abalone's mild flavor and the sweetness that rises the more you chew.

A little salad greens, thinly sliced abalone and a tangy sauce: what can I say, it's a great combo. Light and refreshing.

Steamed abalone that even my innards-averse husband praised

The steamed abalone in Jeonbokchon's set comes 2 per person, so there's plenty. Good good! This time it's the warm steamed abalone's turn.

I dipped it in the innards and took a bite, and the soft, tender texture filled my mouth. My husband doesn't usually eat innards, but he said the ones here were delicious. The fishy taste was cleanly handled and the nutty richness just melted.

Abalone sushi: dip it in the innards

The abalone sushi also comes 2 per person. A light dip in soy sauce is nice, but

personally, dipping it in the innards that came with the steamed abalone is the real deal...

The abalone innards salad, rich yet refreshing, is also nice to have in between bites!

Finishing with bulgogi, abalone seaweed soup and plum tea

The bulgogi, boiled up bubbling once more, had mushrooms and assorted vegetables in it. I picked out just the meat, and it wasn't overly salty, so it was fine on its own, but this was exactly the moment I wanted rice!

Right then, the meal arrived. I scooped a spoonful of rice and put a piece of bulgogi on top, and that filling, satisfied feeling hit. The meal came with seaweed soup and 3 side dishes.

At this abalone specialist, even the soup isn't made carelessly. The seaweed soup seemed to have at least one whole abalone in it. I was already about to burst, but rice in hot soup filled me up one more time.

For dessert, they served cool, rich, sweet plum tea, so the ending was tidy to the last!!

Why Jeonbokchon's abalone set in Guwol-dong was worth a return

I ordered the set meal at Jeonbokchon, and I could feel that not a single dish was served half-heartedly. It was made with care, so I felt treated like a guest throughout the meal. Enjoying fresh abalone as sashimi, steamed, sushi and salad was great, but with hot soup, bulgogi and seaweed soup on top, it made this Guwol-dong Korean restaurant even more generous.