Jung-gu snack bar combo with tteokbokki: Hyeonseoni-ne

Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch near Cheonggyecheon

I've visited locations in other areas too, but this one was especially delicious. It ranks among the best tteokbokki I've had recently.

What are the exterior and interior like?

This is the exterior of Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch (현선이네 청계즉석점). It is a little tucked away, so you have to look closely to spot it.

Let's head inside. As you can see in the photos, it is not a particularly large space. It has a slightly pocha, or Korean street-stall, style.

The interior is on the small side, but the tables are laid out well, so it did not feel uncomfortable. Everything was kept clean overall.

This place specializes not only in regular bunsik (Korean snack foods), but also instant tteokbokki, so every table has an induction burner. The tables ordering individual items and instant tteokbokki seemed almost evenly split.

Further inside is the kitchen. They were busily frying up the fritters, and it looked like hygiene was being taken seriously.

These are photos of the menu posted on the wall. Pikachu pork cutlet, fried tteokbokki, fried fish cake—nostalgic foods.

Individual dishes, instant dishes, and the self-service station

This is the menu at Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch. It is divided into individual dishes, sets, and instant dishes. The individual dishes are the familiar items you would usually find at a Korean snack shop, while the instant dishes are cooked on the induction burner right in front of you. What stands out is that you can add various toppings and fried rice. They are also great with a beer.

We ordered the Hyeonseoni Combo Set. After ordering, you can pick up danmuji (pickled yellow radish) from the self-service station.

You can pick up plates, danmuji, and more at the self-service station.

Hyeonseoni Combo Set, ₩25,000

The combo set from Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch arrived. It brings together, like the Avengers, dishes that anyone who loves Korean snacks could never dislike. It includes sundae (Korean blood sausage), gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), fried items, and fish cake.

Chewy rice cakes with savory-sweet, spicy sauce

First up is the tteokbokki included in the combo. I do not usually like the soupy style, but the broth here felt a bit different. It looks quite spicy. Then I tried the rice cakes.

It is among the best tteokbokki I've eaten over the past year. The sauce had soaked right into the chewy rice cakes. The seasoning was nicely spicy and sweet, too. My wife, who ate with me, kept saying how good it was.

Great plain or dipped in sauce: fried items

Here are the fried items. They are even crispier than they look in the photo. The selection includes gim-mari (seaweed noodle rolls), squid, dumplings, sweet potato, and more.

The fried items have their own crispy charm when eaten plain, while dipping them in the sauce adds a spicy kick.

Sundae, mini gimbap, and fish cake too

This is the sundae from Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch. It comes with liver and lung.

It tastes like the sundae you can commonly find. Salt is fine too, but personally, I like dipping it in the sauce.

Here is the gimbap. There are eight pieces in total.

It is not the usual gimbap style but mini gimbap. Even though they are small, they are packed full of filling.

There are eight pieces, but it was not too little—just the right amount. Eating them alongside the other dishes really made us feel full.

Fish cake is a must for Korean snack foods. The fish-cake broth was pleasantly salty and tasty.

There are five dishes in all, and the two of us were incredibly full after finishing them.

Getting there from Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station and parking

The address is 1F, 112 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul. The closest subway station is Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station, and it is right in front of Exit 3, making it very easy to reach. Weekday hours are 10:40–21:00, and reservations, takeaway, and delivery are available.

If you are driving, there is no separate parking lot, so you will need to use a nearby public parking lot.

Individual Korean snack dishes worth thinking about again

By my standards, I was satisfied enough to call this a top-tier Korean snack spot. The shop is slightly tucked into a corner, so first-time visitors need to look carefully. But perhaps word has already gotten around: even when I visited, many people were getting takeaway, and delivery orders kept coming in.

The combo set we ordered this time included five dishes, making it great for trying several things at once. The most memorable one was, of course, the main dish. Its soupy, spicy-sweet sauce was appealing. In particular, the rice cakes were chewy, with the sauce properly soaked all the way through.

I liked it enough that I would think about it again, even to the point of feeling that coming back to Euljiro just for these Korean snacks would be worthwhile. I usually order instant tteokbokki, but this time I tried the individual dishes. They were very good too. The shop also sells beer, so it looked like a fine place for a casual beer.