Rose webfoot octopus with udon noodles and cheese fondue: Jju Baksa

Jju Baksa Magok Branch, a stop after a walk in Seoul Botanic Park

I went to Jju Baksa, a Magok lunch spot, for a dinner date with my husband!! These days the mornings and evenings are breezy and it's totally fall weather, so after walking around Seoul Botanic Park near Yangcheonhyanggyo Station I got a craving for spicy rose webfoot octopus and decided to visit.

Location & hours & parking

• 📍 Address: 23 Magokdong-ro 10-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul (1F, Unit 130, Daebang DMC City 2 Officetel), South Korea (lot number: Magok-dong 776, Gangseo-gu, Seoul)
• ⏰ Hours: daily 11:00 - 1:00 the next day
• 🚗 Parking: available at Daebang DMC City 2 (up to 2.5 hours)

Menu & prices

Jju Baksa, a Magok lunch spot, was full of hotplate webfoot octopus dishes in different combinations — rose webfoot octopus, hotplate octopus with pork belly, hotplate octopus with beef and pork belly, octopus with pork belly, and more. Besides those there were side dishes like fish cake soup, octopus ramyeon, steamed egg, cream pasta, self-serve rice balls, various noodle add-ons, corn butter, pineapple sherbet, and fried egg, plus set menus good for 2 to 4 people.

Side dishes

Jju Baksa, a Magok lunch spot, serves sweet-and-tangy pickled radish, sweet corn butter sizzling on the hotplate, perilla leaves, umukgasari (agar jelly), bean sprouts, and a sweet mayo sauce as basic side dishes. Thanks to that there was plenty to nibble on before the main dish arrived, so my mouth never got bored!

Crab steamed egg

When you order, you can choose one of cheese steamed egg made with domestic cheese, moist crab steamed egg, soft plain steamed egg, or cream pasta! We chose the fluffy, moist, savory-salty crab steamed egg. If you visit with 4 people you can pick two options, so it's a generous service at this Yangcheonhyanggyo Station restaurant!

Rose webfoot octopus for ₩16,000 with 180g beef brisket added

Rose webfoot octopus (1 serving) / ₩16,000. I ordered the rose webfoot octopus, one of the best sellers at Jju Baksa, a Magok lunch spot! I thought about getting the octopus with pork belly, but I wanted to eat a lot of the chewy, plump octopus, so I ordered just the octopus and added beef brisket (180g) for ₩9,000 to go with it.

How spicy is the medium level?

At Jju Baksa, a Seoul Botanic Park restaurant, you can also choose the spice level for the rose webfoot octopus! Options are mild (Shin Ramyun), medium (a bit spicier than Shin Ramyun), and spicy (about as spicy as Buldak Bokkeummyeon). I went with medium — if you can handle spicy food like me, you could order spicy and still be plenty satisfied, since the medium level was already pleasantly fiery!

The octopus was piled on generously, and above all adding 180g of beef brisket was a genius move! Putting the savory, flavorful beef brisket into the spicy yet smooth rose cream sauce — wow, I just kept eating it nonstop haha.

My husband was tearing up from the spice, so instead of eating the bean sprouts on the side, we tossed them into the hotplate to cook together!! That mellowed out the spiciness, and since the bean sprouts soaked up the rose cream sauce, they tasted even richer haha.

At Jju Baksa, a Magok lunch spot, the octopus is delicious just dipped in the sweet mayo sauce, but it's also amazing with the sweet-and-tangy umukgasari, which has an addictively crunchy texture 👍🏼

Cheese fondue (100g) for ₩3,000, a small letdown at the outdoor table

We also dipped into the savory, salty cheese fondue. Since we wanted that outdoor drinking-spot vibe, we sat at an outdoor table at Jju Baksa, a Seoul Botanic Park restaurant, and maybe because of that the cheese set up quickly, which was a bit of a letdown — but it was still more savory and delicious than expected 💛

Another must at Jju Baksa, a Yangcheonhyanggyo Station restaurant!! Wrapping the octopus and various side dishes in perilla leaves plus sweet-and-tangy pickled radish is unbelievably good — I think that's why I keep coming back haha.

Noodles (udon or ramyeon) for ₩2,000

I was already full and thought about skipping the udon noodle add-on, but the spicy rose octopus sauce was so thick and delicious that not adding noodles would've been a total regret, you know? Haha. And sure enough, huge success 💛 If you order the octopus at Jju Baksa, a Yangcheonhyanggyo Station restaurant, at medium spice or higher, you have to add the noodles! I'm sure you'll fall for the plump noodles soaked in all that sauce.

Flying fish roe fried rice for ₩3,500

I was full, but you know what Koreans do?! After finishing the octopus at Jju Baksa, a Magok lunch spot, it would be a shame not to get the flying fish roe fried rice haha. You could choose from cheese, flying fish roe, or plain fried rice depending on your preference, and the staff fried it up deliciously right at the table!

It was loaded with scallions, kimchi, seaweed, and flying fish roe, but wasn't as salty as expected — not too intense, just sweet and savory. That's the fried rice at Jju Baksa, this Magok/Seoul Botanic Park lunch spot!

Even the crispy scorched rice at the bottom is delicious on its own! But topping it with the leftover octopus, beef brisket, and sauce, or eating it alongside side dishes like umukgasari, made it a party of spicy + sweet + savory 💛💛💛

It's close to Yangcheonhyanggyo Station Exit 8 and easily accessible from Magongnaru and Magok Seoul Botanic Park, so it would be a great place to grab lunch or dinner after a date or a walk in the area.