Hanam restaurant for sizzling abalone rice soup: O Hyeongje

I know O Hyeongje Hwangje Doljjajang, which has O Hyeongje doljjajang (black bean noodles in a stone pot)—is this part of the O Hyeongje series?! O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang has opened on the old Misari café street on the way to Starfield Hanam. I went to O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang Hanam Misa Main Branch (오형제황제누룽지탕 하남미사본점) for seafood nurungjitang (scorched-rice soup) bubbling away in front of me.

Parking and hours on Hanam's Misa-daero

It is at 616-1 Misa-daero in Hanam, Gyeonggi, 979 m from Exit 1 of Hanam Pungsan Station on Line 5. It is a large restaurant, with parking along all four sides of the building, so it was easy to find and conveniently located for driving on elsewhere. Just follow Misa-daero, the main road to Starfield Hanam, and you will see it right away.

Hours are 11:00–21:20 daily, with last orders at 20:45.

You can visit O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang without a reservation, but there is an event where a Naver reservation gets you two king mandu dumplings and one iced lemonade. If you are planning to visit, the Naver reservation event seems like the better choice.

Ordering seafood-and-abalone nurungjitang and mini tangsuyuk

Seafood-and-abalone nurungjitang

I ordered the restaurant's signature seafood-and-abalone nurungjitang, complete with abalone. There were two of us, so I asked a staff member whether one rice soup and one mini tangsuyuk (Korean sweet-and-sour fried pork) would be enough. They said it would be, so we ordered one of each, and a robot brought over the basic side dishes. The dining room was spacious enough for the serving robot to get around easily, haha, and it had a pleasant atmosphere.

The sizzling sound from the stone pot

You have to play the video to know. When the nurungji and broth are poured into the stone pot,

Sshhhhhh~~

You need to hear that bubbling sound to really get the feeling of nurungjitang. A video is the only way to convey it... Just hearing it made me feel as though I had already finished a satisfyingly filling meal at a great Hanam nurungjitang spot. Since it is hot, the staff pour everything in before bringing it to the table, so you can eat safely. Still, it is extremely hot, so scoop some into your individual bowl and blow on it—otherwise you will burn the roof of your mouth. Haha.

There was even a shrimp on top, along with one large abalone. It was packed with scallops, squid, webfoot octopus, bamboo shoots, and all sorts of other seafood and vegetables. And of course, nurungji~~🥕

A small disappointment with the tangsuyuk sauce and side dishes

Although it is a Chinese restaurant, there was no soy sauce, vinegar, chili powder, or the like set out. The mini tangsuyuk came with its sauce, but without soy sauce mixed with chili powder, something felt missing. Still, the tangsuyuk sauce was nicely seasoned, so I enjoyed my tangsuyuk poured-over-style for the first time in a while.

Some pieces had a thin coating and others a thicker one, but they were fried crisp and went well with the sauce. The meat also had a satisfying chew. Still, the food overall was Chinese-style cooking, yet it somehow did not feel like a Chinese restaurant, which left me a little puzzled. A variety of Korean-style rice side dishes came out, but I personally thought it might have been even better with jjajang-style companions such as zha cai pickles, danmuji pickled radish, and raw onion with chunjang black bean paste.

A self-service side-dish bar with fresh fruit

O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang's self-service side-dish bar is generously stocked. Beyond extra side dishes and extra plates, it even has fresh fruit for dessert, which felt really generous. That day, cut oranges filled the self-service bar. Guests who had finished eating also stopped by briefly to serve themselves some fruit before leaving~ I have seen restaurants offer coffee, and more rarely even ice cream, for dessert, but almost never fresh fruit. It was a lovely way to finish and cleanse my palate with fruit.

Overall

If you want to see and taste nurungjitang bubbling right in front of you at O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang Hanam Misa Main Branch, you can finish your meal with fresh fruit for dessert.