Giant octopus seafood hot pot at Haepumgye, Pocheon restaurant

A hearty Pocheon restaurant for restorative food: Haepumgye

Today I'm reviewing Haepumgye, my favorite lunch spot in Songwoo-ri, Pocheon!! After switching jobs, I had about a week off between leaving and starting, and I used the time to actually eat properly — meals I'd been neglecting — so it ended up being a pretty solid break haha.

Of all the meals that week, the one that stuck with me most was lunch at Haepumgye. The haesintang (seafood and chicken hot pot) was delicious, the space was clean, and the staff were kind — I left really satisfied! So here's my review of Haepumgye, a haesintang restaurant worth knowing about ~!!

Haepumgye location and hours

• Address: 경기도 포천시 소흘읍 솔모루로 164 A동 1층
• Hours: Daily 11:00-21:30 / last order 20:30

Haepumgye menu and prices

• Haepum haesintang ₩70,000 (serves 3-4)
• Haepum samgyetang ₩17,000
• Neungi Korean herbal samgyetang ₩18,000
• Half-chicken kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) ₩10,000
• Half-chicken gomtang (bone broth soup) ₩10,000

Inside the restaurant: self-serve bar and playroom

The interior of this Songwoo-ri restaurant was really clean and spacious, so eating there was very comfortable!

There was also a self-serve bar corner and a playroom for kids! Seems like a great spot to come with family too haha.

And plum tea to drink for dessert~!! Perfect.

Side dishes

Peppers and ssamjang (dipping paste), kimchi, white kimchi, radish kimchi, and sauces all came out as basic banchan!

Trying the Haepum haesintang (serves 3-4)

We ordered the signature menu, the haesintang! Just looking at it you can tell it's a serious restorative meal lol.

Fresh seafood and whole chicken came out in a pot, plus separate plates of shabu-shabu vegetables and fish cake!

Giant octopus, octopus, and shrimp

The haesintang at this Songwoo-ri Korean restaurant starts with giant octopus, octopus, and shrimp.

The giant octopus was amazing! Even cut into big pieces it wasn't chewy at all — the springy texture was perfect.

The octopus was soft yet chewy and packed with that distinct seafood umami!! The shrimp was nice and springy too lol.

Whole chicken and shabu vegetables

The chicken was cooked soft and had a clean flavor, and dipped in the sauce with the shabu vegetables it was even better!!

How was the broth?

The broth was clean yet hearty and really delicious! The shellfish gave it a refreshing, clean taste, and the crispness of shabu-shabu blended subtly with the rich, filling flavor of samgyetang — a broth I kept going back to.

Dipping the shellfish in chojang (vinegar-chili sauce) was amazing!!

We added the fish cake and minari (water celery) in the middle and enjoyed those too!

Finishing with kalguksu noodles

It would've been a shame not to order the kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) add-on!!! We added noodles to finish it off haha.

Adding the kalguksu noodles to the broth infused with seafood and chicken deepened the flavor even more — it was really good. The kimchi and radish kimchi served alongside also paired perfectly with the noodles!!

And for dessert, ice-cold plum tea 🩵

In summary

From seafood to whole chicken to noodles, this Songwoo-ri restorative food restaurant let me enjoy a hearty full course — it felt like a proper body-nourishing meal! The place was clean and the staff kind, so it's somewhere I'd want to revisit for a family meal or whenever I need a solid restorative dish.