8am breakfast jjaglak-ji octopus at Deungdae Gotgan, Sokcho

While traveling around Sokcho, I was trying to figure out what to eat for breakfast, and this time I decided to eat near Deungdae Beach. In the morning I prefer something hearty but not too heavy, so I could just get moving — that's how I ended up at Deungdae Gotgan (등대곳간).

A Sokcho restaurant serving breakfast from 8am

This place opens at 8am, which made it a great find when I was looking for somewhere to eat breakfast in Sokcho. I found it specifically while searching for breakfast spots near Deungdae Beach, and the octopus menu looked promising, so I went straight there.

If you're on a trip, you've gotta eat a hearty breakfast haha

Deungdae Gotgan is close to Deungdae Beach, so it's a good route to eat breakfast and then walk toward the ocean. Personally, when breakfast is a hassle while traveling, I end up settling for a convenience store meal — but this day, since I ate a proper meal, my day felt like it started off a lot more solidly.

Jjaglak-ji, ₩14,000, and the bubbling visual

We ordered the jjaglak-ji for ₩14,000! True to its name, the dish came out visibly bubbling away. The octopus and sauce were simmering together, and it looked absolutely perfect to pile onto rice. It's the kind of dish that makes you think of rice right from the first look haha.

I tried the jjaglak-ji with rice first. Scooping some octopus and sauce onto the rice and taking a bite, I got both the umami of the sauce and the distinctive chewy texture of the octopus at once. It went together with rice way better than I expected. As the sauce soaked into the rice, it felt a lot more filling than just eating the octopus on its own!

The octopus wasn't overly soft and mushy — it still had a good chewy bite, which I liked. I get disappointed when octopus is tough, but eating it with rice kept the texture just right while still bringing out the flavor of the sauce, so I kept going back for more. Especially if you like eating a proper rice meal in the morning, I think this dish would be right up your alley.

Adding udon noodles for ₩2,000 was a good call

Eating just the jjaglak-ji alone felt like something was missing, so I added ₩2,000 worth of udon noodles. This turned out to be a surprisingly good decision haha. Dunking the chewy udon into the bubbling jjaglak-ji let the sauce cling right onto the noodles — delicious. It's a totally different feel from eating it with rice.

I let the udon soak up plenty of sauce before eating it, and the noodles stayed nicely chewy while carrying the umami of the octopus sauce along with them — my chopsticks kept going back in. Personally, if you're ordering the jjaglak-ji, I'd recommend adding the udon too. Honestly, this combo is number one haha. Eating rice, then noodles, then fishing out more octopus... you end up eating way more than expected, even in the morning 😂

Isn't spicy octopus stew heavy for breakfast?

Honestly, at first I thought eating a spicy octopus stew first thing in the morning might be a bit heavy. But once I actually ate it, it wasn't bad at all, maybe because it's a dish meant to be eaten with rice. Actually, if you're planning to be out and about all day while traveling, eating a hearty breakfast isn't a bad idea at all. So if you're looking for good restaurants near Deungdae Beach in Sokcho that also serve breakfast, it's worth remembering Deungdae Gotgan.

Why it fits well into a Deungdae Beach / Yeongnangho route

In Sokcho especially, there aren't that many options if you're looking for restaurants that open early in the morning. But since this place operates from 8am, it was great to eat before starting the day's plans. If your first stop in Sokcho is going to be around Deungdae Beach or Yeongnangho, it's a good fit for the route.

Personally, when eating breakfast on a trip, I prefer a place where I can just have a comfortable meal rather than somewhere that feels too much like a tourist spot. In that sense, Deungdae Gotgan was a good place to order one jjaglak-ji, eat a filling meal with rice, and head out. If you're looking for octopus dishes at a Sokcho restaurant and you like octopus, it's worth a visit at least once.

If you're looking for a good restaurant in the Yeongnang-dong area, this is worth keeping as a reference too. Especially if you're a bit tired of eating only gukbap or hangover soup in the morning, a rice-and-sauce dish like jjaglak-ji is a nice change. I think this will actually come to mind again as a breakfast option next time I'm in Sokcho.

Would I go back? Reasons to return and the drawbacks

The reason to come back is simple: you can eat from 8am, and it feels like a proper, complete meal! When I eat a lazy breakfast while traveling, I often get hungry before lunch, but this day, with the jjaglak-ji plus the udon noodles, I felt pretty full. Of course, if you're not a fan of a seasoned, saucy dish first thing in the morning, it might feel a bit heavy. But if you're like me and eat rice well even in the morning, it's a solid choice.

Above all, if you're looking for good restaurants near Deungdae Beach in Sokcho that also serve breakfast, that's a pretty big advantage. Since it opens at 8am, giving up a little sleep-in time means you can start your travel schedule early haha. A course of eating here, then heading toward Deungdae Beach for a look at the ocean sounds pretty good too. If you've been searching for Sokcho restaurants near Deungdae Beach while looking for a breakfast spot, give Deungdae Gotgan a try :) Next time I visit, I think I'll order the jjaglak-ji with udon again just like this time. Starting a trip with a hearty spoonful of rice and bubbling octopus stew in the morning — turns out that's one of those small joys of traveling ☺️