Cheonggyecheon snack bar for instant tteokbokki for two: Hyeonseoni-ne

A visit to Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch, an Euljiro 1(il)-ga favorite — a nostalgic bowl of instant tteokbokki 🌶️🌶️

It's been 50,000 years since I last went to a snack bar haha

This time I was looking for somewhere to eat dinner near Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station and ended up at Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch, known for its instant tteokbokki. It's been 500,000 years since I've had tteokbokki.

I had pretty high expectations for this visit haha. To cut to the conclusion: if you like tteokbokki, this is a place worth visiting at least once (no, two or three times!!). It's close to Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station too, so it's convenient to stop by before or after meeting someone. And it's not a student snack bar — it's a snack bar for adults!!

Where is Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch, and what is the room like?

📍 Location of Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch

It's fairly close to Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station, so it was easy to get to by public transport!

(I pulled the menu photo from the store's Naver Map listing!!) There are a lot of offices around this area, and it's close to Cheonggyecheon too, so it looked like a good spot for a quick lunch. Overall the place had that cozy, nostalgic snack-bar feel, and there was something romantic about seeing so many people having tteokbokki with a beer!!!! There are a lot of sleek, stylish restaurants these days, but coming to a retro snack bar like this made me think of my school days in a good way~ (still young though). Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch has all kinds of snack menu items beyond regular tteokbokki — instant tteokbokki, sundae (Korean blood sausage), fried snacks, gimbap, fish cake, and more! My whole reason for visiting this time was the instant tteokbokki!><

Instant tteokbokki for two, boiled at your table

The instant tteokbokki is basically ordered for two people, which made it good to share on this visit. Once you order, it's boiled right at your table, so from the moment it starts bubbling, your appetite spikes 🔥🔥 Instant tteokbokki really is more fun when you cook it in front of you 😋 As the pot came up and started to simmer, I could see the rice cakes, fish cake, and various add-ins gradually blending into the sauce! At first there's still a lot of broth, but as you keep boiling it, the sauce soaks into the ingredients and it slowly turns into that classic delicious-looking tteokbokki.

How the sweet-spicy sauce tastes with rice cake, fish cake and cabbage

The rice cakes had a nice chewy texture, and the sauce was sweet and spicy in a way that kept my chopsticks moving :) Personally, when it comes to instant tteokbokki, I prefer it sweet, spicy, and savory rather than just aggressively hot, and Hyeonseoni-ne's tteokbokki hit exactly that note!! And of course tteokbokki tastes best eaten with fish cake, not just rice cakes alone! Fish cake soaked in the sauce, eaten together with the tteokbokki broth, was a really good combination. The cabbage was great too!! Once you start eating instant tteokbokki, you naturally want to add other menu items to the mix 😆

Dipping gimbap and fried snacks in the tteokbokki broth

If you order fried snacks or gimbap (seaweed rice roll) and dip them lightly into the tteokbokki broth, you get a whole different flavor. Personally, dipping gimbap into tteokbokki broth is a combination I can never give up!! Adding plain, mild gimbap to the sweet-spicy tteokbokki sauce really balances out the flavors. With Korean snack food, eating several things together always seems to taste better than having them one at a time!!

Who will enjoy dinner at Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch?

Based on my visit, I'd especially recommend Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch to

• ✔️ Anyone looking for somewhere to eat near Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station
• ✔️ People who love instant tteokbokki
• ✔️ Anyone who wants a casual snack meal with a friend
• ✔️ Fans of a retro snack-bar atmosphere
• ✔️ Anyone who wants to enjoy tteokbokki, fried snacks, and gimbap together

When you search for good places to eat around Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station, a lot of meat restaurants and bars come up, so if you're looking for a light snack-bar meal instead, Hyeonseoni-ne seems like a solid choice. 💛💛💛

Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch wasn't about flashy or unusual food — it had that particular charm of Korean snack food that tastes even better because it's familiar. In particular, the instant tteokbokki was fun to cook right at the table, which made it a good pick for slowly eating and chatting :) Being close to Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station is another plus! Next time I'd like to order not just the instant tteokbokki but sundae, fried snacks, and gimbap too, and do the full 'tteok-twi-sun-gim' combo course. 😂 If you're ever in Euljiro craving something sweet and spicy, give Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch a try!