Dog-friendly Gangneung restaurant: pressure-cooker abalone porridge

Last weekend I went on a trip to Gangneung to celebrate my dog Danchu's birthday! Whenever you travel with a dog, the thing that worries you most is finding a dog-friendly restaurant. Luckily, right in front of our accommodation there was a well-known spot at Gangmun Beach that allows dogs, so I visited with Danchu^^ Let me share the review~!

Where is Gangneung Jeonbok Haenyeo Village, and what are the hours?

Gangneung Jeonbok Haenyeo Village is located right in front of the St. Johns Hotel Gangneung! The address uses the 1st-2nd floor of Building B at 286-1 Haean-ro, Gangneung-si. Hours are 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM, and it's closed every Tuesday, so keep that in mind before visiting^^ It's a dog-friendly restaurant in Gangneung.

As you can probably guess from the name, this place specializes in abalone porridge! But it doesn't just come with plain porridge — you get all kinds of seafood as side dishes, so the meal is really substantial and filling. Check out the menu board first^^

Menu and ordering rules at Gangneung Jeonbok Haenyeo Village

The menu is simpler than you'd expect! It's basically divided into basic abalone porridge, special abalone porridge, and perilla seaweed soup, and ordering one menu item per person is required~ The important part is that when ordering for a group, everyone's abalone porridge order has to be the same type. Since it's cooked in a pressure pot, you need to unify it — like basic abalone porridge for 2-3 people, or special abalone porridge for 2-3 people!

Inside the restaurant: first floor, second floor and the private room

The interior was really nicely kept! They use both the 1st and 2nd floors, and the 2nd floor has a great atmosphere with a private room available too. It looks like a good spot for group visits, and since it's abalone porridge, it's an easy choice for breakfast too^^

What comes with abalone porridge for 3: the haenyeo seafood table

We ordered abalone porridge for 3! This is the basic table setting that comes with it haha. They bring it out in a basket, and it looks so appetizing with a great spread^^ There's steamed abalone, mussels, whelk, and scallops, plus grilled fish, mulhoe (cold raw fish soup), cold jeyuk (pork), and clean side dishes — quite varied. They said the haenyeo table lineup can vary slightly day to day.

Honestly we'd already had breakfast at the hotel so we weren't that hungry, but the haenyeo table looked so good we ended up eating a ton. Everything is served so neatly that it would also be a great, no-pressure breakfast spot to visit with parents^^

The softly steamed abalone was great, and the scallops and whelk had a nice chewy texture! I also liked being able to enjoy a bit of everything — chewy raw abalone, sea cucumber, seaweed, miyeok (sea mustard), and sea squirt — all with a nice bite. Since the pressure-pot abalone porridge takes a bit of time to cook, you can enjoy the variety of the haenyeo table in the meantime and the porridge will be ready before you know it, no boredom at all~

Pressure-cooker abalone porridge for 3, packed with abalone

The pressure-pot abalone porridge for 3 came out right after! They bring it out still in the pressure pot, so you can keep eating it warm all the way to the end, which I really liked. As soon as they opened the pot, there was so much abalone visible right away! It really is generously loaded with abalone~

You just stir it evenly with the ladle they give you, then scoop it into individual bowls! It had such a rich, deep, savory flavor that it tasted even better. I'd eaten too much the night before and gone to bed full, so in the morning I wanted something gentle, and abalone porridge was perfect~ Since it's right in front of the hotel and a well-known Gangmun Beach spot, it seems like a lot of hotel guests naturally end up coming here too^^

The deep, smooth abalone porridge combined with chewy abalone meat made this dog-friendly Gangneung restaurant even more delicious! It's located right in front of St. Johns Hotel, a well-known spot at Gangmun Beach, so anyone staying nearby can visit without any worry^^ There's also plenty of parking, so don't worry about that either~!

What to know before visiting Gangneung Jeonbok Haenyeo Village with a dog

Jeonbok Haenyeo Village is also known as a dog-friendly restaurant in Gangneung! If you bring a stroller or carrier, you can comfortably dine together, so keep this in mind if you're planning a Gangneung trip with your dog^^