Beef lunch set with geumtae pot rice at a Seocho restaurant: Huiyeol

Today was going to be a super busy day so I wanted a hearty lunch, and that meant beef, haha. My sister and I were around Seocho-dong and there's a place nearby where you can enjoy hanwoo (Korean beef) as a lunch set, so we checked it out!

Where is Huiyeol Seocho Gyodae Branch? Hours and parking

Huiyeol Seocho Gyodae Branch sits exactly halfway between Seocho Station and Gyodae Station, so a lot of court staff and nearby office workers come here to eat. Hours are Mon–Sat 11:00–21:30 (closed Sundays). There's a parking lot right in front of the restaurant, and if it's full you'll need to use the Beopwon Ipgu public parking lot just ahead (₩400 per 5 minutes).

Come in from the main road through the alley where you can see a Subway, keep the Subway on your left, and you'll find Huiyeol's entrance. It's on B1, and while I took the stairs, you can also use the building elevator.

Since there are a lot of offices nearby, the restaurant even offers company dinner budget support.

The interior is clean and modern like this. Even though it's a basement level, it doesn't feel stuffy at all — it's pleasant.

A private-room restaurant near Gyodae Station at lunchtime

When we visited Huiyeol Seocho Gyodae Branch at lunchtime, the tables were packed with nearby office workers. I barely managed to take photos after the lunch rush died down, haha.

It's nice for a casual meal in the main hall, but there are also rooms, so it looks great for a private meal or for hosting an important guest. There's a small room and a large room, so you can book whichever fits your needs!

Baby chairs are available too, of course — highly recommend as a spot for family gatherings.

What comes with the hanwoo galbi lunch set, plus the geumtae pot rice swap

Here's the menu at Huiyeol, a Gyodae Station favorite. The lunch set, the Huiyeol platter, and the set menus each let you enjoy a variety of dishes like a Korean full course, and each item can also be ordered à la carte. We went with the hanwoo galbi set from the lunch sets. The hanwoo galbi set comes with a starter porridge, seasonal jeon plus shrimp jeon, grilled hanwoo galbisal, 7 side dishes with salad, seasonal hot pot rice, doenjang stew, and dessert tea, and you can upgrade the hot pot rice to geumtae hot pot rice for an extra ₩9,000, so we switched one of ours to geumtae!

Free corkage for 2 bottles per table, so it's great for bringing a good bottle on a special day 🙂

Side dishes, oyster and shrimp jeon, and tarak-juk to start

The basic side dishes are laid out neatly first. Salad, namul (seasoned vegetables), jeotgal (salted seafood), and more — 9 side dishes come out together.

The shrimp jeon and the seasonal jeon came as oyster jeon this time. The shrimp was plump and the oyster wasn't fishy at all — both delicious.

The starter porridge, tarak-juk, comes out warm with a strong, nutty pine nut aroma — great for settling your stomach before the meal. It's lightly seasoned.

Hanwoo galbisal grilled on a hot stone plate

The hanwoo galbisal comes out sizzling on a hot stone plate! It's served with mushrooms, garlic, asparagus, shishito peppers, and tomato as garnish.

The meat comes out rare-ish and keeps cooking a little more on the stone plate as you eat. Since it's already grilled when it arrives, it was so easy to eat. No oil splatter and no lingering smell, so it was great for a clean lunch. Being hanwoo, the beef flavor is fantastic and it's not tough at all.

Geumtae pot rice and the autumn seasonal pot rice

The geumtae hot pot rice comes topped with two thick pieces of geumtae. They say geumtae is the 'Hermès of fish' — the sheen on it is unreal.

The flesh is so soft it mixes into the rice easily. Since it's boneless, it's easy to eat, and there's not a hint of fishiness — just the tender, rich flavor of the geumtae remains.

This is the regular seasonal hot pot rice, which right now comes topped with sweet potato, lotus root, ginkgo nuts, and yam(?). As someone who loves root vegetables, I love it. A warm, delicious autumn hot pot rice.

I added a bit of the seasoned soy sauce on the table and the savory flavor went off the charts...

The highlight of the hot pot rice ✨ Rice mixed with water plus fish is just the truth, I guess. So good.

Oh right, there was also doenjang stew. There's so much to eat, seriously. The doenjang stew had really big chunks of tofu and a slightly spicy kick that suited our taste perfectly.

And for dessert, omija (schisandra berry) tea 💗 It's refreshing and clean, so you don't even need to brush your teeth after, haha.

Is Huiyeol Seocho Gyodae Branch good for a work lunch near Gyodae Station?

Grab a scoop of puffed corn snacks on your way out too. This was a satisfying meal near Gyodae Station. The lunch set was so good I want to strongly recommend it to office workers in the area. The food's great and the vibe is nice, so if you pick this place for a gathering or a work lunch, I bet you'll get compliments 🫶🏻