Gasan-dong Korean restaurant, mild siraegi pollock: Gim Myeongtae

Every once in a while you just crave braised pollock, right? This time I went to Gim Myeongtae Spicy Braised Short Ribs Gasan Branch (김명태 매운갈비찜 가산점), a well-known braised pollock place in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu! I've been a few times before. This is my third visit, hehe

Where is Gim Myeongtae Gasan Branch, and what are the hours?

Gim Myeongtae Spicy Braised Short Ribs Gasan Branch is on the 1st floor of 132-1 Gasan-ro, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, 1,000m from Exit 5 of Gasan Digital Complex Station. It's open daily 10:00–22:30, with last order at 21:50.

• Reservations and group visits available
• Wi-Fi
• Separate men's/women's restrooms
• Perks for takeout orders

5pm on a weekday: my first time seeing it empty

I visited around 5pm on a weekday! The place was bigger than I expected, with lots of seats, which I liked. Every time I'd been before, it was packed! I came so early this time that I finally saw it empty, haha

How is it for a group dinner of 10 or more?

It's not a fully private room, but there's a separate space that's screened off to a degree, so it's worth knowing about if you're booking for 10 or more! The hall itself is also wide with plenty of seats, so it looks good for a regular group dinner too, haha

A dessert coffee machine and a good drinks lineup

There's even a coffee machine for after your meal, which you don't see much these days, and several kinds of makgeolli (Korean rice wine)! They also have gaoliang liquor, so the variety of drinks is great too..! Love it, haha

Self-serve bean sprouts and seaweed

There's a self-serve corner, which I loved! Bean sprouts and dried seaweed as much as you like! Bean sprouts and seaweed are the soul of braised pollock, right? hehe

Menu and events at Gim Myeongtae Gasan Branch

The main dishes here are braised pollock and spicy braised short ribs! I always come for the braised pollock, but lots of people were eating the spicy ribs too! Next time I'm going to try the ribs, haha

There are also regular meal dishes beyond the mains, so it looks good for solo diners too! And for braised pollock, if you take it out instead of eating in, they run an extra-fish event: one more pollock!

One extra fish on takeout, free pot rice before 3pm

Besides the extra fish on takeout braised pollock, if you visit before 3pm they give you free pot rice with any menu item!!

Four spice levels, and you have to ask for spicy

You can choose from mild, medium, spicy and extra spicy. I think I always had the spicy one, but this time I forgot to order it, haha :( If you want spicy, just tell them! (I love spicy food, so spicy suits my taste better!)

I ordered the siraegi braised pollock (for 2)! + 1 pot rice + Coke Zero

These are the side dishes! The bean sprout soup in particular was really good.

How was the mild siraegi braised pollock?

The siraegi braised pollock is the regular braised pollock with dried radish greens served separately on top! One fish goes in per person, and on takeout you get one more fish, wow,,

What I had was the mild level. It was gentle enough for kids to eat, and maybe because it was mild, it tasted slightly sweet, hehe

Pollock so tender it splits with just chopsticks

The pollock is so tender that if you slip chopsticks between the pieces, it splits right in half, lol. So tennnder~~!! The main bones come out easily, which I loved. You can't avoid the tiny bones, but they weren't tough, so it was perfectly fine to eat.

Sticky pot rice and scorched rice tea

And the pot rice too!! The pot rice here is really sticky, and after scooping out the rice you can pour in water to make nurungji (scorched rice soup), which I loved! Highly recommend the pot rice too.

Wrapping it all in free-refill sprouts and seaweed

The bean sprouts and seaweed are refillable and the radish greens come in big portions, so you can wrap a little pollock with a huge pile of everything like that, lol. Honestly, braised pollock is all about wrapping it in seaweed and bean sprouts, haha

You can also buy seaweed and tofu snacks

They sell the dried seaweed separately too, and tofu snacks as well! If you like the seaweed after trying it, you can just take some home, lol