Express Bus Terminal Korean restaurant, extra-kimchi stew: Bapjangin

Not sure where to eat a Korean meal alone at Gomo? Here's my pick near Express Bus Terminal Station: Bapjangin.

You probably use Gomo Mall or the Express Bus Terminal a lot, right? I come to Gomo Mall to shop pretty often, so I stopped by Bapjangin, a restaurant near Express Bus Terminal Station.

It's great for a good-value solo meal at Gomo, and the menu is varied enough to be an easy office lunch too. Let's start the Bapjangin review!

Bapjangin Express Bus Terminal Branch: location and hours

Bapjangin Express Bus Terminal Branch is at 194 Sinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, B1 Seoul Express Bus Terminal, Unit 20. It opens daily at 10:00, last order is 21:10, and it closes at 22:00.

Notes: no parking (use the nearby Express Bus Terminal or Central City parking lots) / free corkage / groups welcome / vegan menu items / high oil price relief payments accepted

You'll find Bapjangin if you walk a little further past the No Brand store in the Express Bus Terminal, and it's a great spot for eating alone.

It's a Korean place that rarely divides opinion, so it works for a solo meal or a casual meal with family.

Inside: solo bar seats and group tables

Bapjangin Express Bus Terminal Branch is set up for both solo diners and groups.

At the branch I visited, there are bar seats for solo diners, plus tables for two and four, so you can come alone or with a group.

Honestly, solo dining spots aren't easy to find these days, but at Bapjangin eating alone is really easy.

Bapjangin menu and prices

• Jjageuri (thick, bubbling stew) + rice ₩12,000
• Spicy kimchi stew + rice ₩12,000
• Clean sundubu (soft tofu) potato stew + rice ₩12,000
• Savory brisket doenjang (soybean paste) stew + rice ₩15,000
• Rich brisket gochujang (chili paste) stew + rice ₩15,000
• Smoky bulgogi + rice ₩14,000
• Sizzling squid stir-fry + rice ₩18,000
• Tofu with kimchi (dubu kimchi) ₩20,000
• Hot-plate obulgogi ₩35,000
• Soft steamed egg ₩3,000

Looking at the menu, it really is a proper Korean restaurant with a huge range: kimchi stew, doenjang stew, potato stew, gochujang stew, bulgogi, squid stir-fry, obulgogi, tofu with kimchi. There's real fun in picking from so many dishes.

I've been craving spicy kimchi stew lately, so I ordered the spicy kimchi stew that comes with rice, plus extra kimchi and a steamed egg.

By the way, if you visit Bapjangin Express Bus Terminal Branch, you get one free drink for writing a Naver receipt review. If you're craving something cold, give it a try.

Four side dishes, including gim flakes

The side dishes are napa cabbage kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts, seasoned radish strips, and gim jaban (seasoned seaweed flakes). They set them out as soon as you sit down, so you can start tasting right away.

The gim flakes especially are great mixed into the rice: a proper sweet-and-salty hit that upgrades your appetite. Gim-flake rice with a spoonful of stew broth is a work of art.

Mild-spicy kimchi stew with extra kimchi and steamed egg

My order that day was spicy kimchi stew + rice ₩12,000, 100g extra kimchi ₩2,000, and soft steamed egg ₩3,000.

I visited at 6pm on a weekday, and lots of people were there eating alone like me. So I felt comfortable taking on solo dining too!!

The spicy kimchi stew is generously loaded with kimchi, onion, tofu and more, so it fills you up. I also liked that you can choose the spice level of the broth.

The rice is black rice

At Bapjangin the rice only comes as black rice. These days most restaurants give you plain white rice, right? But Bapjangin serves multigrain rice!

You can toss the gim flakes from the side dishes into the black rice and eat it as is, or add a little stew broth to season it. Nothing beats that.

I wanted spicy kimchi stew lately, so I ordered the mild-spicy level at Bapjangin. A kimchi stew where you can choose the spice level is truly rare.

I added extra kimchi too, and it's crunchy rather than soft, so the texture really works, and it had soaked up the broth well. It suited my taste.

The kimchi stew also has meat and tofu in it, so the broth is properly savory, and I polished off a bowl of rice in no time.

The steamed egg I ordered as a side wasn't greasy, had a silky, soft texture and no eggy smell at all. Alternating it with the kimchi stew is really delicious.

If you're like me and can't decide what to eat for lunch or dinner at Express Bus Terminal Station, why not have a meal at Bapjangin?