Weekday lunch special: spicy pollock stew for two, Hangsangcharim

I had a bit of free time on a weekday, so I went for lunch with my mom. It's a one-minute walk from my workplace, so I wanted somewhere close where I could eat a really filling meal :)

A new pollock specialty restaurant in Ruwon City

Hangsangcharim Kodari Myeongga Ruwon City Branch newly opened on September 4, and we visited on September 7, just a few days after opening! This used to be the spot for Geumdoyaji, but it's now been turned into a pollock specialty restaurant~

Let me share my honest review of this new Ruwon City restaurant!

Location, hours, and parking

• Address: 115 Bongojae 3-ro, Seo-gu, Incheon, South Korea (Units 211–215)
• Hours: Weekdays 11:00–21:00 (break 15:00–16:00), weekends 11:00–21:00
• Parking: The parking tower in front of the store is available
• About 7 minutes on foot from Exit 6 of Gajeong (Ruwon City) Station, Incheon Subway Line 2

If you drive, store parking is also available. From outside, the big sign and the banner announcing the weekday lunch special caught my eye right away!

The atmosphere and seating

There was puffed rice snack set out in front of the store, and once inside, I spotted pollock-shaped decorations too. The place was bigger and more comfortable than I expected~ It was mostly set up with roomy group seating, and warm lighting plus sunlight coming in made it a relaxing spot for lunch :)

How do you choose your spice level?

Each table had tongs, scissors, and paper cups, and a staff member brought us the menu directly and explained both the dishes and the spice levels! You could choose from spicy, regular, less spicy, or not spicy.

The staff explained that less spicy is about as mild as Shin Ramyun, which was really helpful to know. To order, you pick your menu and press the call bell on the table to get a staff member's attention.

Weekday lunch special: spicy pollock stew for two

The menu had a wide range of options, including spicy pollock stew, siraegi (dried radish greens) pollock stew, sweet pumpkin pollock ribs, and pollock octopus stew. There was also a separately prepared assorted grilled fish dish.

My mom and I ordered the spicy pollock stew for two as the weekday lunch special.

It's ₩13,000 per person and can be ordered for two people or more, and we each added the nutrition hot stone rice!

After a bit, the table was set with the pollock stew along with side dishes~ Two whole kodari (dried pollock) were laid out on a wide plate, and just the steam rising off it looked delicious.

The red sauce clung nicely to the pollock flesh, and best of all, there were several whole chili peppers mixed in — as someone who loves spicy food, just the sight of it made me happy haha

The basic side dishes

The basic side dishes were varied too. We got clear bean sprout soup, roasted gim (seaweed), bean sprouts, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and black sesame lotus root salad, and a cabbage salad with yuzu dressing.

There was also siraegi stir-fried in doenjang (soybean paste), along with tofu, carrots, and broccoli — overall it was clean and well-seasoned, and paired nicely with the pollock stew.

At the self-serve bar, you could get extra helpings of the basic side dishes plus soy sauce for the roasted gim,

and next to it was a sign showing the ingredients' countries of origin. Kids' spoons and forks were also available.

Nutrition hot stone rice and nurungji

As soon as we opened the lid of the nutrition hot stone rice, steam came rising up. It had such a toasty aroma that I told my mom it smelled like a jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) haha. The rice had black beans, ginkgo nuts, and sweet pumpkin mixed in.

After scooping out the rice, they poured hot water from a kettle into the pot to prepare nurungji (scorched rice tea) for later~

The taste of the pollock stew and different combinations

Now for the part I was most looking forward to — the pollock stew. The flesh was thick, so it was easy to pick the bones out cleanly. I set aside some of the flesh to eat with rice. Since there were two kodari, my mom and I split a tail each!

The regular spice level was a nicely spicy kick for people like us who enjoy spicy food, and above all, the sauce itself really suited my taste haha

Piling the pollock flesh and sauce onto the nutrition hot stone rice along with a whole chili pepper and sweet pumpkin made for a spicy but filling combination. I also tried wrapping rice, pollock flesh, and crunchy bean sprouts in roasted gim~

The nuttiness of the gim combined with the crunchy texture of the bean sprouts made for a whole different, delicious combination :)

Piling rice, pollock flesh, stir-fried siraegi, and chili all together onto the gim was also really to my taste!

Even the same pollock stew tasted different depending on what you paired it with, which made it fun to eat haha. Eating it together with the whole chili pepper especially added a sharp spiciness, making it an even more satisfying meal for someone like me who usually loves spicy food.

After finishing the meal, we ate the hot stone pot nurungji that had water poured into it earlier~

Eating the warm, toasty nurungji after all that spicy food made for a really satisfying finish.

Pollock meal kits are also for sale

On the way to pay, there was a pollock meal kit for sale by the counter! It was ₩17,000, and siraegi could be added for ₩5,000.

Recommended for a Gajeong-dong lunch

I visited for weekday lunch with my mom, and with the lunch special pollock stew, nutrition hot stone rice, various side dishes, and nurungji, I felt fully satisfied after just one meal~ The deliciously spicy sauce, the whole chili peppers, and the thick pollock flesh especially stuck with me!

I also liked being able to mix things up with rice, gim, bean sprouts, and siraegi depending on my mood. If you're looking for a Ruwon City restaurant or a Gajeong-dong lunch spot, the newly opened Hangsangcharim Kodari Myeongga Ruwon City Branch is worth trying for a filling Korean meal~