Mul-tteok finish at a Yeouido clam hot pot restaurant: Gaetbeol-ui

I'm such a fan of grilled and steamed clams that I genuinely love Oido, but between wedding prep, moving prep, my thesis and hospital duty all piling up at once, I can't even remember the last time Seungmin and I took a real trip together, haha. Things are finally wrapping up though...!

This time I found a place where you can enjoy a hearty clam feast right in the middle of Yeouido without trekking all the way to Oido. It's located in Yeouido and has a variety of rooms, so it works great for two people or for a group gathering or work dinner too. Let me introduce Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch, which I visited with Seungmin after a long time apart!

Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch: hours and how to get there

Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch is open every day from Monday to Sunday, 11:00–22:00, with last order at 21:00. It's about a 4-minute walk from Exit 1 of National Assembly Station on Line 9, and underground parking is available.

Inside the restaurant: private rooms and group tables

The restaurant is on the 2nd floor of the building, and I was surprised how spacious it was the moment I walked in. The overall vibe was clean and pleasant, the tables well spaced, and there was plenty of seating for groups — I could see why it's already known as a go-to spot for Yeouido work dinners.

Self-serve barley rice bar, side dishes included

A special perk of Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch: you can help yourself to unlimited barley rice along with several side dishes to go with it.

Fresh kimchi salad and barley rice. Plus unlimited gochujang and sesame oil.

They even give you ssamjang — honestly this alone could be a full meal. Add hot soup and a shot of somaek and that's basically heaven.

The menu: kalguksu, clam hot pot and seafood boiling

Here's the menu. The main dishes are broadly kalguksu, clam hot pot, and the newly added seafood boiling — three options in total. Since Seungmin and I were planning to have a drink to celebrate seeing each other again after so long, we ordered one clam hot pot.

Side toppings like shabu beef, extra noodles, and cheese could also be added.

How much seafood is in the small giant clam hot pot for two?

Here's the giant clam hot pot, small size, that we ordered. They say it's for two, but I think they mean two big eaters like me. It really was the size of a wash basin — no, more like a baby bathtub.

Scallops, mussels, cockle, octopus, blue crab, shrimp and more piled in, making for a rich broth, and the staff even came by to cut up the octopus and cockle for us.

Melted cheese on clams, dipped in chojang

Plump, meaty clams just like you'd get at a beachside clam grill house — and if you've ever eaten grilled clams, you've probably tried the cheese-plus-chojang combo. Pile cheese onto the fat clam meat and dip it in chojang (vinegar-chili sauce), and you get that addictive mix of rich, savory cheese with the tangy, spicy chojang.

Then there were the plump, chunky shrimp,

and a whole blue crab packed with roe. It was cooked so thoroughly the shell had gone soft enough to just bite right into.

Finishing the meal with mul-tteok

We finished it off with mul-tteok (chewy rice cakes in broth), the kind you'd find in Busan — a carb-heavy ending.

Is Gaetbeol-ui Jogae good for a Yeouido work dinner?

Overall, Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch let us enjoy a proper clam feast right in the middle of Yeouido without going all the way to Oido. It was packed with seafood — scallops, cockle, octopus, shrimp, blue crab — so it was genuinely fun picking through everything the whole meal. As the seafood simmered, the broth got richer and richer, making it perfect with a shot of somaek, haha.

On top of that, you get unlimited barley rice, and the rooms and group seating were well set up. On the way out, they even had dental floss, mouthwash and hair ties ready — such a thoughtful touch..! That's it for my visit to "Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch," a National Assembly Station spot with real seaside vibes.