Hanam jjukkumi restaurant: perilla-oil mix and a second pot of rice

Eating something smoky and spicy makes me break a little sweat and somehow melts away stress at the same time. On a rare day off, I went in search of a good spicy meal at Jigueseo On Jjukkumi Hanam Main Branch, a jjukkumi (webfoot octopus) restaurant near Chungung Reservoir (고골저수지) in Hanam.

Where is Jigueseo On Jjukkumi Hanam Main Branch, and when is it open?

🏡 Address: 514-2 Chungung-dong, Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do. It's near Chungung Reservoir in Hanam, so just getting there feels like a little drive. It's really close to Songpa, Gamil, and downtown Hanam, so it's a great spot to eat surrounded by nature!!

⏰️ Hours: Mon–Wed, Fri–Sun 11:00–21:00 / Closed Thursdays

A big, café-like dining room

It's a Korean restaurant and a Hanam jjukkumi spot, but the chairs and interior feel like a café, and through the windows you can see flowers in full bloom outside — it felt like stepping out of downtown Seoul into an outdoor garden café. It's close to Songpa-gu in Seoul but feels like a proper day trip out of the city, which is nice for a change of pace. No wonder it's so busy.

What comes with the perilla-oil jjukkumi stir-fry

When you order the perilla-oil jjukkumi, a whole spread of side dishes comes out — salad, jellyfish salad, japchae, seaweed soup, salted pollack roe — and there was also a little side dish with something in it that made me curious.

Why the individual stone pot rice is a must at Jigueseo On Jjukkumi

The jjukkumi stir-fry comes with an individual stone pot rice cooked with sweet pumpkin, jujube, and beans — delicious. A warm kettle comes alongside, and when you pour it over the scorched rice at the bottom, it smells like a tonic. Total feeling of coming here to recover my health.

Trying the jjukkumi stir-fry at this Hanam jjukkumi spot like a side dish, the smoky spiciness filled my whole mouth.

Ahh~~ so good!

But why did they give each of us a big empty bowl? Are we supposed to mix things in it? So is that thing in the little dish oil?

How to pour the little dish of perilla oil and mix the rice

I put the rice into the big bowl, added the spicy jjukkumi stir-fry, and poured the little dish of oil over it — the perilla oil scent filled the whole table and my mood floated off the ground with happiness. So that's why it's called perilla-oil jjukkumi stir-fry! Once the perilla oil met the jjukkumi, the spiciness eased up a bit, but the fresh perilla oil flavor made both my nose and mouth happy at once. A genuinely healthy feeling.

It felt like a waste to enjoy this all by myself, so I kept urging everyone to hurry and mix in all the perilla oil, spoon after spoon, unable to stop. Like I was drunk on the smell of freshly pressed perilla oil~ Now I understood why perilla seeds and perilla oil were displayed right at the entrance of Jigueseo On Jjukkumi Hanam Main Branch. This Hanam jjukkumi restaurant really does have a secret, and it shows!!

I topped the well-mixed jjukkumi rice with a generous scoop of salted pollack roe, and it wasn't salty at all — the pollack roe was delicious on its own, but paired with the spicy perilla-oil jjukkumi, it felt like the whole ocean had landed in my mouth. I scraped the bowl clean without wasting a single grain, and there was still some jjukkumi stir-fry left, so I quickly ordered one more stone pot rice to finish it off.

A robot comes around every so often, and it brought over the extra stone pot rice. It found its way perfectly and even knew to stop and wait when it met someone along the way — haha, reassuring.

Ice cream and coffee to finish

After finishing the meal, I lined up in front of the ice cream. Haha — kids, parents, and elderly guests alike were all scooping out cool, sweet ice cream to cool their mouths after the spicy jjukkumi stir-fry. A brilliant dessert choice! Absolutely fitting!! After breaking a light sweat and a spicy mouth from the jjukkumi stir-fry, the ice cream wrapped things up perfectly.

Is Jigueseo On Jjukkumi Hanam Main Branch worth it?

As a Hanam jjukkumi restaurant right next to Seoul, the food is delicious, the garden is beautiful, and the space is clean like a café — great for family gatherings, get-togethers with friends, or a date. Jigueseo On Jjukkumi Hanam Main Branch!! Fresh perilla oil, deliciously smoky jjukkumi stir-fry, a wide variety of tasty side dishes, and individual stone pot rice too~~ A great-value restaurant!! Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Adding this to my list of places to revisit!