Nowon jokbal restaurant's new 44,000 won sea snail set: Gwihan Jokbal

I have a memory of eating really delicious jokbal (braised pork trotters) at Gwihan Jokbal. Wanting to go back after a long time, I visited the Nowon branch near Nowon Station for a weekend evening date dinner. I'll tell you honestly how the new menu item compared with the tender jokbal I remember!

Gwihan Jokbal Nowon Branch: opening hours and parking

Gwihan Jokbal Nowon Branch is open every day from 11:00 until 02:00. From lunch to a late-night drink, the hours are generous, so you can drop by whenever you like.

There is no dedicated parking lot, so if you're driving, I'd recommend using a nearby public car park, or coming by public transport!

Is Gwihan Jokbal Nowon Branch noisy inside?

The interior is bigger than I expected, and the tables are spaced out comfortably. Delivery orders kept coming in, and quite a few customers were dining inside too. I took these photos after some of the guests had left!

With so many customers I worried it might be loud, but it was calmer than I expected, not rowdy at all, so it was perfect for talking face to face. The seating is roomy enough that I think it would work well for a get-together with friends, a group meeting or a company dinner.

Sea snail salad jokbal & bossam set: price and side dishes

Since it had been a while, I wanted to try something special, so I ordered Gwihan Jokbal's newly released sea snail salad jokbal & bossam set (₩44,000).

A full table is laid out right after you order, and the side dishes were neat and clean. There was rich bean sprout soup, kimchi, chive salad, seasoned radish, ssamjang (seasoned dipping paste), garlic, salted shrimp, chili soybean paste salad, and fresh lettuce and perilla leaves, all arranged tidily on one tray.

The bean sprout soup in particular was so rich and refreshing that I slurped it all up before the main dishes even arrived.

While waiting for the food, a sweet-and-sour makguksu (buckwheat noodles) came out. It's a complimentary dish, and it was a perfect appetizer to get my appetite going!

Is the jokbal in the sea snail salad set warm or cold?

The Gwihan Jokbal sea snail salad set comes with bossam, jokbal and sea snail salad together, and I was genuinely shocked the moment I saw the huge amount.

The sea snail salad has plenty of chewy sea snails in a sweet-and-sour sauce, and it even came with three bundles of somyeon (thin wheat noodles). For two people it was more than generous, it was overflowing.

I remember that when I ordered the basic jokbal-bossam combo at Gwihan Jokbal before, the jokbal came warm and tender (onjok). This time, in the sea snail salad set, it was served cold and chewy (naengjok) to go well with the tangy sauce!

I'm especially sensitive to gamey meat smell and put my chopsticks down at the slightest whiff of pork, but the jokbal at Gwihan Jokbal Nowon Branch had no gamey smell at all and was wonderfully chewy. I really enjoyed it.

The bossam that came with it stayed warm and moist, and again had no gamey smell at all. The jokbal cuts were mixed too: some with a perfect half-and-half ratio of lean meat and fat, some with more lean meat, so picking out pieces was fun.

I put a piece of jokbal on a lettuce wrap, topped it with sweet-and-sour sea snail salad and noodles, and ate it in one big bite. The savory flavor just exploded and it was so much better!

Who is Gwihan Jokbal Nowon Branch best for?

• Anyone who wants a generous serving of chewy, full-bodied jokbal and bossam with no gamey smell
• Anyone who wants to try the winning combo of sea snail salad, noodles and jokbal wrapped in one bite
• Anyone looking near Nowon Station for a spacious place good for conversation, group gatherings or company dinners

The sea snail salad jokbal & bossam set is very generous for two, so personally I strongly recommend visiting with three people and sharing it over a drink!

Cold jokbal vs. the old warm jokbal: sea snail set verdict

When I first tried Gwihan Jokbal in another city, I fell for its nutty, tender, smell-free jokbal, and for a while whenever I craved jokbal I sang Gwihan Jokbal's praises to my friends. I visited the Nowon branch carrying that good memory, and came away with a meal far more satisfying than I had expected.

If the warm jokbal I had before was charming for being soft and gentle, the cold jokbal in this sea snail salad set was outstanding for its springy, chewy texture the more you chew. That first bite, a wrap of the sticky texture of cold jokbal topped with spicy-tangy sea snail noodles, still makes my mouth water as I write this.

The portions were so generous that two of us ate until we were stuffed and still had food left over. Next time I crave jokbal in Nowon, I'll come back to Gwihan Jokbal Nowon Branch without a second thought!