Sejong hanjeongsik served all at once: ₩25,000 set at Bapkkot Hansang

My husband and I stopped by Bapkkot Hansang near Sejong Lake Park on a weekday lunch. I'd been here once before, but this time I was craving Korean food so I came back. It's clearly a well-known spot in Sejong — there were quite a few guests during lunch hour.

Parking at Bapkkot Hansang: 3 free hours with tablet registration

Parking is available in the basement floors 1 and 2 of the Sejong Machi building,

and after your meal, registering on the tablet inside the restaurant gets you up to 3 hours of parking.

Waiting seats and the price list beside the Bapkkot Hansang entrance

Bapkkot Hansang is on the 3rd floor of the building, and right beside the entrance there are

waiting seats set up for guests.

The menu and prices are posted outside too, so you can pick what to order while you wait.

Inside Bapkkot Hansang: a wide hall with family and group tables

Inside, Bapkkot Hansang feels spacious and clean. Warm yellow lighting made the atmosphere relaxing, and the tables were spaced generously enough that I didn't feel crowded by neighboring seats.

It was a little past 1pm and there were still plenty of guests dining, including some larger groups.

There were families too — I noticed baby chairs and bibs were on hand.

Seeing the reservation sheet packed with names, it seems a lot of people book ahead before visiting.

The Bapkkot Hansang menu: this time, the ₩25,000 Bapkkot Special

Once seated, I noticed the chopsticks and spoon were wrapped neatly in paper — nice touch, hygienically. The menu has a full hanjeongsik (Korean table d'hôte) course, the Bapkkot Special, plus a wide range of rice bowls: herbal medicine pork bowl, octopus and shrimp bowl, water dropwort tteokgalbi bowl, seafood japchae bowl, beef brisket japchae bowl, spicy pork japchae bowl, spicy pork bowl, and gangdoenjang bowl.

There were also dishes like herbal pork samhap (three-way combo), stir-fried octopus and shrimp, stir-fried spicy pork, and water dropwort tteokgalbi, along with Korean-style sides like cheese potato pancake, chive pancake, gangdoenjang, and fried eggs. I'd had a rice bowl last time, so this time I went with the full course — I ordered the Bapkkot Special, ₩25,000.

Bapkkot Hansang says it doesn't use seasoning powder or MSG and cooks with fresh ingredients prepared that same day, so I was curious how the hanjeongsik would turn out.

Asking for the Bapkkot Special on one table instead of two rounds

Normally the food comes out in two rounds, but that day I wanted to dig in all at once, so I asked staff to serve everything together.

Soon the table was filled edge to edge — genuinely a table-bending spread.

I started with the buckwheat noodles that came out like an appetizer, eating the noodles first lightly before moving on to everything else one by one.

Tteokgalbi, chive pancake and suyuk (boiled pork)

The tteokgalbi that came as the main dish caught my eye first with its glossy sheen. Cutting a piece and eating it plain, the seasoning had soaked in nicely and it was juicy with no gamey smell — good enough to eat without rice.

I also grabbed a piece of the hot chive pancake right away.

The suyuk came with chicory salad on the side, and it was tender, almost melting in my mouth.

Mixing rice with gangdoenjang (thick soybean paste stew)

Next I mixed rice with the gangdoenjang. The rice came separately in a big bowl, so I added the gangdoenjang and a bit of the seasoned vegetables and mixed it all together.

The gangdoenjang is apparently simmered slowly with shiitake and king oyster mushrooms from South Chungcheong, along with potatoes, scallions, and chili peppers grown at Bapkkot Farm, all cooked into a savory soybean paste. Mixed with the seasoned vegetables, it was mild and clean rather than intense — made me feel healthier just eating it.

Tasting the banchan (side dishes) one by one

I also tried a spoonful of the accompanying doenjang soup — savory but not salty, and it went well with the rice.

I ate some japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and tried the royal court tteokbokki too. The tteokbokki, which seemed to have eggplant and zucchini in it, felt quite different from the usual version, and I made sure not to skip the salad and dubu-kimchi (tofu and kimchi).

With samchae greens, roasted nuts, and cucumber salad among the many banchan, it was fun tasting a bit of each plate. Overall the flavors leaned toward highlighting the ingredients rather than being intense, so eating a bit of everything didn't feel heavy at all. I love Korean food, and this kind of neat, well-composed spread was right up my alley.

After the meal, I also grabbed some of the dessert drink and candy that were set out. Bapkkot Hansang will definitely come to mind whenever I'm picking a Korean lunch spot near Eojin-dong, or looking for somewhere to eat with a group around Sejong Lake Park.

Bapkkot Hansang address, hours and visit info

• Name: Bapkkot Hansang
• Address: 610 Eojin-dong, Sejong (91 Doum8-ro, 3rd floor, Unit 303, Sejong, South Korea)
• Hours: Mon–Sat 11:00–21:00 / Mon–Sun 11:00–15:00
• Break time: Mon–Sat 15:00–17:00
• Event: joining the receipt review event gets you an extra piece of tteokgalbi — worth knowing if you're planning a visit
• Parking: basement floors 1–2; register on the in-store tablet after your meal for 3 hours

Who should book Bapkkot Hansang in Sejong?

• Anyone wanting a neat, well-composed Korean meal with parents
• Anyone looking for lunch near Sejong Lake Park
• Anyone in Eojin-dong, Sejong looking for a hanjeongsik menu