Gyodae gimbap restaurant with self-serve broth and 3 rolls: Halls

I was looking for somewhere simple to eat near Gyodae Station when I ended up at Halls Gimbap Main Branch. Gimbap (seaweed rice roll) is such an easy meal, but the flavor can vary a lot depending on the filling, so I picked out the menu items that looked especially tasty.

What is Halls Gimbap Main Branch near Gyodae Station like?

Halls Gimbap Main Branch is a gimbap restaurant near Gyodae Station that also sells dakgangjeong and tteokbokki.

You order at the self-service kiosk inside the store.

True to the name 'Halls,' there are horse-related props and decorations scattered around the store, which made for fun browsing.

They sell a variety of gimbap and dakgangjeong set menus, and takeout and delivery are both available — in fact a lot of orders seem to be takeout or delivery.

Self-serve broth station in the shop

There's a broth station set up on one side of the store where you can help yourself. Having warm broth alongside simple dishes like gimbap or tteokbokki was a really nice pairing.

Halls Gimbap sells lots of different kinds of gimbap, so it was easy to pick and choose based on preference. What I especially liked while eating was that the rice portion wasn't heavy — instead of being packed with rice, the fillings were relatively generous, so I could really taste the ingredients in each bite.

Tteokbokki and the cup noodle corner

Apparently tteokbokki is one of the popular menu items at Halls Gimbap, not just the gimbap. I ordered gimbap and dakgangjeong this time so I didn't get to try the tteokbokki, but I noticed they even sell a protein tteokbokki, which caught my eye.

If gimbap or tteokbokki alone feels a bit lacking, or if you want to add some ramyeon to your meal, this looks like an easy way to round things out.

Ordering three gimbap rolls half-and-half

I ordered a set made up of green onion tuna gimbap, spam egg gimbap, double cheese gimbap, and dakgangjeong. At a gimbap restaurant there are always several things I want to try, but ordering a whole roll of each can be too much food — that's always the dilemma.

At Halls Gimbap every menu item can be ordered half-and-half, which was great because I could taste a little of several things.

Jindo green onion tuna gimbap

This is tuna gimbap with green onion added, and the savory, mild flavor of the tuna combined with the fragrant character of the green onion better than I expected. Tuna gimbap can sometimes feel a bit heavy, but the green onion seemed to balance the flavor in the middle, making it clean and easy to eat.

Dakgangjeong (crispy fried chicken)

Being able to order gimbap and dakgangjeong as a set was great for enjoying a variety of dishes at once. The dakgangjeong came in bite-sized pieces that were easy to eat alongside the gimbap, and coated in a sweet-and-salty sauce that kept me reaching for more.

Spam egg gimbap

The combination of salty spam and soft egg is a menu item that's hard to get wrong. Adding egg to the salty spam softens the flavor, and the overall balance with the rice was excellent.

Double cheese gimbap

True to its name, this is a menu item where you can really taste the savory richness of cheese. With cheese added, it had a deeper, more savory flavor than regular gimbap, along with a salty note — if you like cheese, this one should suit you well.

Picnic mood on the outdoor terrace

On a nice day, sitting on the terrace instead of eating indoors felt like it would give off picnic vibes.

Maybe because there are so many menu items that travel well, like gimbap and dakgangjeong, the food felt right at home on the outdoor terrace. Next time I'd like to get protein tteokbokki and gimbap to go and eat them on the terrace, or take them to a nearby park for a picnic.

Halls Gimbap is great for a quick, light meal on a busy day, and it's also easy to grab as takeout, so it seems like a place you can drop by without any hesitation when you're looking for somewhere to eat near Gyodae Station.