Songpa octopus restaurant with sour kimchi: Muneo Cheonha

After my Sokcho trip, work came rushing in and I had to dart here, there, and everywhere. Only a week had passed since the trip, but it felt like ages ago. On an evening that had suddenly turned much colder—not pleasantly cool, but goosebump weather—I had dinner at Muneo Cheonha (문어천하), a spot in Bangi Food Alley that is popular for group dinners in Bangi-dong.

Muneo Cheonha location and atmosphere

The address is Hyundai Dream Valley, 11-8 Ogeum-ro 11-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is 443 m from Exit 10 of Jamsil Station on Lines 2 and 8. Leave the car behind and walk~ It is in Bangi Food Alley, where parking is not easy.

Hours are daily from 14:00 to 24:00.

A Bangi-dong favorite for group dinners in Bangi Food Alley

Across from Songpa-gu Office near Jamsil Station, Muneo Cheonha is a Korean pub in Bangi Food Alley that many people choose for group dinners in Bangi-dong. From early evening, clients and colleagues were sharing drinks and stories from work and their lives as international students. (I only photographed seats without guests in them. And rather than eavesdropping, the people were from an industry I used to work in, so their conversation just went straight into my ears.) The playful “day drinking welcome” banner at the entrance gave me a laugh as I walked in.

The day sliced boiled octopus was available

Muneo Cheonha is known for its octopus samhap (three-ingredient combination)

When I went to Sokcho, it was raining and the waves were so high that no octopus could be caught, making it terribly expensive. The owner of Muneo Cheonha said they were also having quite a hard time sourcing octopus. Even so, when I asked for sliced boiled octopus, the owner explained that octopus had happened to arrive that day and made it for us. I put off the samhap because it tastes best when I feel like eating it. Hehe, my picky palate...

Muneo Cheonha's sliced boiled octopus, great for a Bangi-dong group dinner

A wooden plate arrived neatly filled with sliced boiled octopus. Octopuses lying down~ It had been such a long time. Octopus~~ They added two slices of fresh lemon and made it look pretty, which made the pricey octopus even more appealing to me.

A generous spread of banchan

The sizzling hot-plate octopus corn cheese had a powerful sound and look. When I lifted a piece of octopus, the cheese stretched about 30 cm, and I went “ohhh” and panicked a little. Haha. Scooping up a big spoonful made it much easier to eat. ^^

The steamed egg was bouncy and springy. It looked and tasted completely different from the puffed-up steamed egg served at samgyeopsal restaurants. When I scooped it up, it was firm and soft like pudding, which was so nice. It was an interesting flavor—not sweet, but exactly like the steamed egg I had in Japan!

Sliced boiled octopus with drained sour kimchi

Muneo Cheonha's drained sour kimchi is the best ❤️

There were several ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) and sauces to eat with the sliced boiled octopus, but what caught my eye was the generous side dish of sour kimchi that the owner had rinsed and thoroughly drained. The well-fermented sour kimchi suited my palate especially well that day. Putting octopus on the kimchi with a chili pepper or garlic dipped in ssamjang made me smile.

The bright, savory tang of the sour kimchi went so well with the gently sweet octopus that I wondered, had I always been eating kimchi and octopus together? Even after trying ssamjang, cho-gochujang (sweet-tangy chili sauce), and fresh wasabi with soy sauce, I could not stop eating the sour kimchi pairing—maybe because it was my first time having it that way.

On top of that, the soybean sprout kimchi soup that came as a side dish arrived hot and steaming. Because the kimchi was good, the soup was refreshing and delicious too. My stomach was not feeling great, so I could not have a drink; instead, I clinked chopsticks with octopus and enjoyed dinner at Muneo Cheonha, a nice choice for a Bangi-dong group dinner in my own way.

Octopus has become so expensive that it is hard even to see it these days... I could not expect thick pieces of octopus, so that was a little disappointing, but the many varied and tasty side dishes made for a delicious, abundant meal. The rinsed, well-drained sour kimchi had such deep flavor that it was a truly happy dinner.