Bucheon Station monkfish spot, boneless stew & corn cheese: Haemul

What is Haemul Teukbyeolsi Bucheon Station branch like?

Haemul Teukbyeolsi (해물특별시) Bucheon Station branch is a seafood spot near Bucheon Station famous for monkfish stew (agujjim) and seafood stew. It has even been on the TV show Saengsaeng Jeongbotong, so anyone who loves monkfish stew pretty much knows it!

What always bugged me about monkfish stew was having to pick the bones out, but Haemul Teukbyeolsi has a boneless version, plus a stone-plate monkfish stew that keeps warm on a hot stone plate! Okay, on to the review~!

Haemul Teukbyeolsi Bucheon Station branch opening hours

• Mon–Fri: 16:00 - 04:00 next day (last order 03:00)
• Sat–Sun: 12:00 - 04:00 next day (last order 03:00)
• It closes early when the day's prepared seafood and monkfish sell out!

Atmosphere and who eats here

The inside feels like a Korean street-food tent (pojangmacha), simple but with that "this is a good place" vibe!!

Retro round tables, and you order at a kiosk, which was simple and nice. We went around 7 pm, and there were lots of office workers fresh from work, plus families eating together!

How do you choose the menu and spice level?

The menu had seafood stew, monkfish stew, algoni (roe) stew and more, and you can pick everything from spice level to extra toppings to suit your taste, which I liked! I chose level 2, about Shin Ramyun spicy, and switched to boneless!

Free side dishes: the corn cheese is a hit

Seaweed soup, water kimchi, steamed egg and corn cheese come as standard, and they were perfect for cooling down the spice of the monkfish stew.

This corn cheese especially was sweet, and since I hadn't had it in a while it tasted so good that I wiped the plate clean.

How was the boneless monkfish stew?

The boneless monkfish stew came out pretty quickly after ordering!! It was topped with minari (water dropwort), which made it look even better.

Thanks to the boneless fish, eating was totally stress-free, and the bean sprouts and sauce blended so well that the clean, salty flavor kept me going even without rice.

Wrapping the stew in fried dumplings

The crispy fried dumplings that came with it were a treat too, with a texture like they'd just been fried. Wrapping the spicy monkfish and bean sprouts in a dumpling was a fun twist. It also tones down the spice, so it's good to eat together, and the portion was more generous than I expected, enough for several people!

The monkfish was soft and moist, with a nutty flavor the more you chewed, and I got why people call this a monkfish stew hotspot. The spicy sauce isn't just harsh, it has real depth, so with the bean sprouts I kept reaching for more. The sauce had soaked into every ingredient, so I enjoyed it right to the end!

Bean sprouts, minari, roe and sea squirt

There were plenty of crunchy bean sprouts, which gave it a great texture, and the aroma of the minari kept it clean without feeling heavy.

Toppings like roe (gon-i) and sea squirt (omandungi) showed up here and there, so chewing stayed fun, and it was just right for chatting with a friend over a drink!! I also really liked that the stone plate stayed hot, so we could eat it warm to the end.

Who is the boneless monkfish stew for?

Beyond the taste, Haemul Teukbyeolsi Bucheon Station branch serves on a stone plate so it stays warm to the end, which makes it great for group gatherings or a casual drink with friends! Being boneless makes it easy to eat, so even someone trying monkfish stew for the first time could enjoy it. If you're looking for a generous, tasty seafood or monkfish stew place in Bucheon, I recommend Haemul Teukbyeolsi.