Namul-heavy dinner at a Sejongmachi Korean restaurant: Bapkkot Hansang

A day when I was seriously craving Korean food. I eat rice every day at home, but this time I wanted something properly set out — so off I went to Bapkkot Hansang (밥꽃한상) in Sejongmachi. A clean, well-arranged spread, and I even happily ate namul (seasoned vegetable side dishes) I usually avoid. This was a pretty satisfying Sejong Korean restaurant visit, so let's get into it :)

Where is Bapkkot Hansang, and where do you park? 3rd floor of Sejongmachi

Bapkkot Hansang is on the 3rd floor, unit 303, of Sejongmachi, at 91 Doum8-ro, Sejong. Park in the underground lot and take the elevator up to the 3rd floor! Since it's inside Sejongmachi, it wasn't hard to find, and the moment I walked in, the neat, tidy atmosphere hit me right away. There are plenty of pretty cafés and fusion restaurants around these days, but sometimes you just want a clean, proper Sejong meal like this.

What comes with the 25,000-won Bapkkot Special?

Bapkkot Hansang's menu has rice bowls, plus a special set-course menu for when you want to eat a bit more properly. Since this was a day I wanted the full Korean-food experience rather than just one rice bowl, I ordered the Bapkkot Special — ₩25,000 per person. It comes with a variety of side dishes plus a main dish, so it was a pretty exciting menu for anyone who likes a full spread. Also, apparently weekday lunches get busy, so I'd recommend reserving ahead!

And sure enough, it was really crowded that day too.

Busy at dinner too, plus the receipt-review tteokgalbi

This building is right in front of the government complex, and office buildings like this usually go quiet in the evening — but not this time, haha. Even in the evening it was surprisingly packed. Inside was pretty busy too, but the owner was so friendly that I still had a great time eating.

They were also running a receipt review event — with tteokgalbi as the prize! Worth knowing :) Definitely take part in the receipt review event if you can — free tteokgalbi, no less~

The namul and bossam my namul-averse partner ate the most of

The dishes finally started arriving one by one! I loved the neat tableware right off the bat, but what stuck with me most that day was the namul. My partner isn't really into namul or other 'grown-up' foods like that, but they ate it so happily this time that even I was surprised, haha.

It tasted healthy, but not just healthy — genuinely delicious. Especially the namul eaten wrapped together with the bossam (boiled pork wraps) — that was the real hit. One piece of pork, a bit of namul on top, wrap it up, and the combination just clicked in my mouth.

Dubu-kimchi (tofu with stir-fried kimchi)

And then dubu-kimchi (tofu with stir-fried kimchi). The moment I saw it, I was thinking about a glass of makgeolli (rice wine), haha. Tofu and kimchi together — need I say more...

Buckwheat noodles

Then came the buckwheat noodles, familiar yet with a slightly new twist. The sauce especially had great depth of flavor, and since I love buckwheat noodles, I ate it up happily.

Jeon (savory pancakes) and salad

The jeon (savory pan-fried fritters) were fried up crisp with great texture, and I finished off the salad neatly too. That should ease the guilt a little, right?

How do Bapkkot Hansang's no-added-MSG banchan taste?

What I'd hoped for when looking for a Sejong Korean restaurant was exactly this kind of classic Korean side dish, and the namul turned out even better than expected. Each one wasn't over-seasoned, and the flavor of each ingredient really came through. The owner mentioned they don't use artificial MSG, and maybe that's why everything felt mild but still kept drawing my chopsticks back.

Side dishes like these are even better with rice, right? These are the kinds of dishes I'm too lazy to make at home, so eating them all together in one spread made me feel oddly well taken care of.

It was really crowded that day, but the owner kept checking in on us and even brought out extra dishes — thank you. Thanks to that, I got to stuff myself with jeon and bossam too. But here's a small regret... I should have saved more room, because the actual main dish was still coming, haha.

The mains: tteokgalbi and gangdoenjang

And then the main dish appeared! Tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patties). The look of it alone was impressive. I'd already eaten quite a lot of side dishes, jeon, and bossam, but I still couldn't resist the tteokgalbi... One bite in, the juiciness and meaty flavor really came through, and it went great with rice. Eating it together with the namul from earlier made for yet another great combination.

The side dishes are killer too. Every single namul is amazing. And they say they don't even use artificial MSG — how is this even possible..

And there was one dish I personally wanted to film that day... the ganjang (thick soybean paste dip)!!! It looked delicious from its thick, rich appearance alone, and it turned out less salty than expected with great savory depth. Mix it into rice a little? Game over. If you like ganjang, you could easily polish off a whole bowl of rice, haha. Doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) also came along, and its broth was solid too, wrapping up the full Korean spread nicely. The doenjang jjigae was excellent too.

By the time the main dishes came out, I was already pretty full from everything before. Still, I couldn't give up on the tteokgalbi, so I finished it off to the very last bite, haha.

Worth it for a full Korean spread near the Government Complex in Eojin-dong?

Overall, the food at Bapkkot Hansang felt less like bold, in-your-face flavors and more like neat, healthy, yet genuinely delicious Korean food. I especially liked getting to try a variety of dishes — like namul and ganjang — that are hard to bother making at home. If you're looking for lunch near the Government Complex or a clean, proper Sejong Korean restaurant around Eojin-dong, this kind of set-course meal is well worth considering!

Above all, even though the restaurant was packed that day, the owner took great care of us the whole time, so I left feeling happy right to the end. This is a place I'd think of on a day I want proper Korean food instead of home cooking, when I'm craving a full table spread again. I really left that day having eaten incredibly well :)