Konkuk Univ. Japanese diner: solo meat bowl & bukkake udon, Hekbap

What should I eat today? It's a worry I have all the time. When it hits, a few foolproof choices come to mind: Japanese food like rice bowls, curry and udon, haha. And Hekbap is famous for exactly that kind of food! It turns out there's one in Konkuk too. And of course, it's a well-known Konkuk Univ. favorite ^_^

Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch location and opening hours

Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch (핵밥 건대본점) is at 127 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 2nd floor, and is open daily 11:00–21:00. Break time is 15:00–16:30, and last order is at 20:30.

How do you find the entrance?

The restaurant is on the 2nd floor of the Innisfree building, and the entrance is around the corner of the building.

Go round the corner and enter through this coin karaoke entrance!

Standing signs outside show the new menu items and the regular menu! You can pick your food in advance, which is super convenient.

Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch menu

Below is the menu posted on Naver Map. True to trendy Hekbap, there are new items reflecting the season and trends, so the standing signs outside are probably the more accurate guide to the current menu! >.<

Interior atmosphere and solo seating

The inside was clean and pleasant, with plenty of space between tables. It's not in the photos, but there's a bar(?) seat by the window where you can eat alone.

This chandelier really lifts the interior vibe at Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch! A Konkuk Univ. favorite that nails the interior too.

What's at the self-bar?

The self-bar has wasabi, pickled radish, kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) and tableware.

They also keep Halls and Polo mints, great for freshening your mouth after the meal!!!!!

Solo: meat-loaded bowl bukkake set + 2 salmon tasting pieces + mini curry

At Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch I ordered the meat-loaded bowl bukkake set, plus 2 salmon tasting pieces and a mini curry... all by myself, hahahahaha

First up is the meat-loaded bowl bukkake set! The set comes with 2 cheese rice cakes coated in grain syrup (jocheong), 2 pieces of fried chicken, a cabbage salad and bukkake udon (udon in a cold, concentrated broth), haha.

Next come the mini curry and the salmon tasting pieces, haha.

Meat-loaded bowl: how much meat, and how does it taste?

The meat-loaded bowl at Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch was so generously piled with meat that at first I wondered, is there even rice under there? The sweet soy sauce went really well with the rice. Shall I start with the main dish? One look and you see why it's called meat-loaded.

Besides the meat, there were green onion, onion, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, plus one shishito pepper. And honestly, meat like this is surprisingly hard to cook.. it can smell gamey or turn tough T.T But the meat-loaded bowl here was different! Tender but still juicy, with no gamey smell!!!!

Bukkake udon, my summer pick

Since it was summer, I went for the bukkake udon set instead of regular udon, and the noodles were chewy! It didn't feel like store-bought udon; you could really taste the depth of the broth. It was just the thing to wake up my appetite in the summer heat, haha.

The fried chicken and cabbage salad in the set

I didn't expect much, but the fried chicken was rea~~~~~lly good (I should have added more..). The cabbage salad was tossed in sesame sauce, and the chicken came with a mayo-based sauce. Maybe they use clean oil, because there was no oily smell at all, and it was crispy outside, juicy inside, the very embodiment of that. This place does chicken well..

Is the salmon tasting add-on worth it?

At Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch, you must!! order the salmon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you like salmon.. I'm a total salmon fanatic. That's why I added two!!!! The fresh salmon spread richly in my mouth, like I was in Norway.

Sprinkle shichimi on the mini curry

This is the mini curry. Now I get why curry is also sold as a standalone dish.. Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch even nails the curry. There's shichimi (Japanese seven-spice chili powder) on every table, and as someone who loves spicy food, I sprinkled it on (you should definitely sprinkle it too!!).

A tidy interior and every single dish reportedly delicious: that's Hekbap Konkuk University Main Branch, a Konkuk Univ. favorite! Next time I'll try other dishes too, hehe.