COEX mall restaurant, Seoul: octopus set for two at Obongjip Samseong

The weather's turning cooler and I've been craving something spicy to blow off steam, so I headed to Obongjip Samseong Branch, a place near Samseong-dong that everyone strongly recommends for company dinners or gatherings!

I properly demolished their signature Obongjip Special set, and wow... the portion for two people was seriously massive haha. Here's my honest review of a meal where both the quantity and the taste were out of control!!

Where is Obongjip Samseong Branch, and what are its hours and group options?

Obongjip Samseong Branch is at 1F, 62 Teheran-ro 81-gil, Gangnam-gu, near Samseong Station and COEX. It's open daily from 11:00 to 22:00, with a break time from 14:30 to 17:00 and last order at 21:30 (weekend break time is 14:30–16:00, last order 21:00).

• Signature menu: Obongjip Special (fire-grilled octopus + bossam + naengmyeon), spicy octopus stir-fry, seafood kalguksu, chive/kimchi pancakes, and more
• Reservations & groups: Naver reservations available (3+ people), rooms prioritized for 11+ (max 14 per room), large space that fits up to 75 people (great for dinners and gatherings)
• No parking

The mother's face on the sign: Obongjip's exterior and interior

The first thing that catches your eye standing at the entrance of Obongjip is the mother's face embedded right in the sign! It's a brand built around the hands and hard work of a mother who spent her life pouring her heart into a restaurant kitchen, so it instantly raises your trust in the food and ingredients haha. Plus this place has been featured multiple times on TV as a 'line-up-worthy fire-grilled octopus & bossam spot,' so it's already a proven, trending franchise.

Obongjip is especially popular as a lunch spot with office workers nearby! With the weekday lunch special starting at 11am, you can enjoy the fire-grilled octopus stir-fry, octopus and pork stir-fry, and bossam set meal at even friendlier prices! Plus lunch comes with unlimited rice, banchan, and seaweed soup!! I thought this was about as good as it gets for a filling lunch near pricey Samseong-dong / Samseong Station haha.

Stepping inside, the interior was way bigger than I expected!! There's a large hall that can seat up to 75 people, plus separate group rooms that fit up to 14 — genuinely perfect for company dinners or gatherings for Samseong-dong office workers haha (highly recommend bossam with soju flowing for a work dinner haha).

There's a clean self-serve bar on one side where you can freely grab extra banchan!! Even Vienna sausages, the ultimate soul food, were fully stocked haha.

For dessert there's cool plum juice, plus a thoughtful touch — a phone charger and even dental floss on hand!!

Obongjip Samseong Branch menu and prices

From mains to meal dishes to drinking snacks, the menu is thoroughly stocked! Here's a quick rundown of Obongjip's signature items 💡

Main sets at Obongjip: octopus, squid and seaweed bossam

• Octopus Obongjip Special ₩62,000 — fire-grilled octopus stir-fry (for 2) + small bossam + platter naengmyeon
• Squid Obongjip Special ₩62,000 — fire-grilled squid stir-fry (for 2) + small bossam + platter naengmyeon
• Maesaengi Yeonpo Bossam ₩59,000 — octopus soup + small bossam + porridge + noodle add-on
• Obongjip Bossam — Small ₩33,000 / Medium ₩38,000 / Large ₩44,000

Meal menu at Obongjip (choose your spice: Mild / Regular / Spicy / Hell)

• Fire-grilled octopus stir-fry ₩14,000
• Fire-grilled octopus & pork stir-fry ₩14,000
• Knife-cut octopus noodles ₩14,000
• Fire-grilled pork stir-fry ₩11,000
• Bossam set meal ₩12,000
• Clam kalguksu ₩10,000

Anju menu for drinks at Obongjip Samseong Branch

• Cuttlefish sukhoe ₩25,000
• Obongjip clam soup ₩22,000
• Chewy pyeonyuk ₩15,000
• Mung bean pancake ₩13,000
• Pancake (kimchi/chive) ₩12,000
• King mandu ₩6,000

My pick: the Octopus Obong Special, ₩62,000

We ordered Obongjip's iconic, signature set — the Octopus Obongjip Special (₩62,000)!!

From the Obong side-dish spread to gabrisal bossam and fire-grilled octopus

True to its name, the first thing that arrived was a huge rustic tray (obong) like the kind you'd see at your grandmother's house, packed full of hearty banchan and a hot seaweed soup! Bean sprouts, quail eggs, white kimchi, braised burdock root — all the homey side dishes that feel like grandma's cooking!!

Right after the Obong spread came the first main dish — pork belly bossam! Made with the gabrisal (pork neck/shoulder) cut, it had a glossy shine haha.

Then the fire-grilled octopus stir-fry arrived, giving off a subtle smoky char!! Octopus, known as the 'wild ginseng of the sea' for its health benefits, is stir-fried in Obongjip's own fire-grilling method, and the spicy smoky aroma really hits your nose haha (note: you can choose your spice level from Mild / Regular / Spicy / Hell!).

Piling the sweet-and-spicy bossam kimchi and radish kimchi on top of the tender, juicy pork bossam and taking a big bite made the umami explode in my mouth! Totally understandable why this place is famous as a COEX go-to spot!!!! (So jealous of Samseong-dong office workers!!)

The octopus pieces were plump and huge, so there was even the fun of cutting them with scissors, and the chewy, springy texture was insanely good haha.

When the platter makguksu lands, there's no room left on the table

Finally, the platter naengmyeon arrived to close out the Obongjip Special, and by then the table barely had room left haha. The portion was massive — I looked it up and it turns out it's a set meant to be shared by 3 to 4 people (but the two of us finished the whole thing!!!!)

The visuals alone were a win, piled high with fresh vegetables, peanut powder, and shredded egg garnish!

Put on the gloves and mix it up with some hand strength, and the sweet-tangy noodles perfectly reset your mouth from the spice.

Bossam and naengmyeon together — I mean, what more do I even need to say!!! An absolutely bottomless-appetite combo haha.

Extra rice for ₩1,000: finishing with a big-bowl bibimbap

With octopus stir-fry on the table, of course you have to order this!!! The essential, unskippable step at Obongjip — adding a bowl of rice (₩1,000) 🍚

On top of the rice served in a big bowl, we piled on a generous helping of the spicy fire-grilled octopus stir-fry, then thoroughly stirred in the crunchy bean sprouts, savory seaweed flakes, and sesame oil from the banchan!

Alright~~~~~~~~~ open wide haha. Ahh~~~~~~~~~~~ one big bite of that and honestly, this is happiness haha.

Is the ₩62,000 octopus set enough for two? My review of Obongjip

Eating it as just the two of us, we kept saying things like 'shouldn't this really be for four people?! If you finish with a bowl of rice each and mix it with the octopus stir-fry, that's exactly a 4-person spread haha' — the portion was genuinely that massive! (Yeah haha, it really was the right size for 3 to 4 people.) But despite saying all that, the two of us (aspiring big eaters) finished every last bite and walked out with completely full stomachs haha. Totally satisfied!!

Why Obongjip Samseong Branch is worth a visit

• Honest cooking with a mother's face on the line!
• The dream combo of pork belly bossam + smoky fire-grilled octopus + platter naengmyeon (Octopus Obongjip Special ₩62,000)

Big-eater tips for ordering at Obongjip

• Spice level is fully adjustable to your taste!
• Adding the big bowl of rice isn't optional — it's a must!
• Load it up with bean sprouts + seaweed flakes + sesame oil + fire-grilled octopus and mix it all together as a finishing bibimbap (insanely good)
• If you visit during lunch (11am–3pm), enjoy the great-value lunch special with unlimited rice and banchan!