Spicy baby octopus hot plate in Yeouido, Seoul: Isu Jjukkumi lunch

When people think of eating jjukkumi (baby octopus) in Yeouido, hot plate jjukkumi or jjukkumi-pork belly usually comes to mind. I went and tried the garlic-bomb hot plate jjukkumi at Charcoal Isu Jjukkumi West Yeouido Branch, a well-known Yeouido spot. Let me introduce this spicy jjukkumi with extra garlic sauce.

What is Charcoal Isu Jjukkumi West Yeouido Branch like? A pojangmacha mood near Gukhoeuisadang Station

Isu Jjukkumi is a jjukkumi restaurant in West Yeouido. It's near Gukhoeuisadang Station, so it's convenient for Yeouido office workers to visit for lunch or a dinner get-together. Rather than a clean, polished restaurant atmosphere, the place leaned more toward a pojangmacha (street-stall-style pub) vibe.

The tables aren't spaced very far apart and the place is lively and loud, which honestly makes it feel more like a good Yeouido spot for drinks and a work dinner than a quiet meal.

Jjukkumi is apparently rich in unsaturated fatty acids and DHA, which help lower blood cholesterol and normalize blood pressure, and it's high in taurine, which is said to help with liver detox, fatigue recovery, eyesight, and diabetes prevention.

The Isu Jjukkumi menu: charcoal grill or hot plate?

Isu Jjukkumi's menu is split broadly into charcoal-grilled dishes and hot plate dishes, so it took me a while to decide. The charcoal dishes come out on a brazier and include jjukkumi-pork belly, charcoal chicken neck, charcoal gochujang bulgogi, and grilled Spam. The hot plate dishes include hot plate jjukkumi, jjukkumi-pork belly, jjukkumi-jeyuk, and garlic-bomb hot plate jjukkumi.

Besides the jjukkumi dishes, there are drinking-food sides like fish cake soup and silkworm pupae soup, plus ramen dishes. There are also add-ins like udon noodles and flat glass noodles, as well as fried rice, so the menu and atmosphere work well whether you're there for a meal or a full get-together. We ordered two servings of garlic-bomb hot plate jjukkumi, added a bowl of rice and glass noodles, and finished with one serving of fried rice.

Garlic-bomb hot plate jjukkumi: torch-seared garlic is the highlight

The garlic-bomb hot plate jjukkumi came with a fairly generous garlic topping piled on the hot plate jjukkumi. Instead of just tossing raw garlic in to stir-fry, they add the garlic topping and then torch-sear it once. The sharp raw garlic gets a subtle sweetness once seared.

Adding the seared garlic to the spicy seasoned jjukkumi worked better than I expected. I thought the garlic aroma might be overpowering, but the seared garlic actually turned out to be the whole point of this dish! The jjukkumi pieces were quite plump and springy, and the portion was surprisingly generous for two people.

How spicy is the medium spice level at Isu Jjukkumi?

The spice level is adjustable, so we went with medium. The owner mentioned it could be quite spicy, so we switched from spicy to medium. For me it was mildly spicy while eating, and my husband said it wasn't as spicy as he expected.

How to eat the banchan: bean sprouts, radish wraps and egg with mayo

If I come back, I think I'd actually go for the spicy option and just mix in the bean sprouts that come as banchan. The included side dishes are bean sprouts, radish wraps, flying fish roe, mayonnaise, egg, and perilla leaves — the bean sprouts are great eaten together with the jjukkumi when it's spicy. The bean sprouts helped tone down the heat a bit, and the radish wraps were great for wrapping up the jjukkumi.

We were told the egg tastes much better mixed with the mayonnaise. The glass noodles, as expected, went perfectly with the hot plate jjukkumi sauce. We didn't finish all the flying fish roe right away — we saved some to mix into the fried rice at the end.

Cheese fried rice to finish: one serving is plenty for two

We ordered one serving of fried rice, but it turned out to be about 1.5 servings' worth, so it was actually quite a lot. It was plenty for the two of us to finish the meal with. On top of that we added cheese — they fried the rice in the jjukkumi sauce, mixed in the flying fish roe, and topped it with cheese, which stretched out like a waterfall.

Is Isu Jjukkumi a good spot for lunch or a team dinner in Yeouido?

If you're looking for something spicy for lunch in Yeouido, or a place for a group to sit down for drinks in the evening, Charcoal Isu Jjukkumi seems like a solid choice. The charcoal-grilled jjukkumi is probably good too, but I'd recommend going for the garlic-bomb hot plate jjukkumi~