Namwon restaurant near Gwanghallu: spicy baby octopus at Geumseong

I bought tickets to Namwon's Gwanghallu-won, and they gave me a 50% cashback in Namwon Love Gift Certificates.

Wondering where to spend this certificate, I ended up having lunch at a recommended Namwon spot near Gwanghallu — Geumseong Jjukkumi (금성쭈꾸미).

Do some sightseeing at Gwanghallu-won, then grab a meal at a restaurant just a minute away by car — perfect for a day-trip course!

Geumseong Jjukkumi basics and paying with Namwon Love Gift Certificates

When you pay for admission to Gwanghallu-won, you get 50% of that amount back as Namwon Love Gift Certificates, which can only be used within Namwon. If you're wondering where to spend it, try using it to pay for your meal at Geumseong Jjukkumi, a recommended restaurant near Gwanghallu!

Where to park at Geumseong Jjukkumi

There were quite a few cars parked in front of the store. Roadside parking is available, so just park there!

Menu, prices and the three spice levels

The jjukkumi (spicy octopus) dish comes in three spice levels — mild, medium, and spicy — and there's also a sweet handmade king pork cutlet that kids tend to like, making this a good spot for a family trip too.

You can get jjukkumi for two people at ₩30,000, so it felt reasonably priced. I ordered jjukkumi-samsae for two plus the handmade king pork cutlet, and three of us ate a hearty meal for under ₩50,000.

Inside Geumseong Jjukkumi

The interior is quite spacious and clean-feeling, and I liked that the tables were covered with white sheets so nothing felt sticky.

Side dishes and the self-serve bar

A pretty wide variety of side dishes come out — lettuce wraps, refreshing bean sprout soup, salad, boiled eggs, braised root vegetables, cheonsachae (seasoned jellyfish-like noodles), bean sprouts, and various namul (seasoned vegetables).

They give you a warm boiled egg, which helps protect your stomach before the spicy food, fills you up, and gives you some protein — good for you!! I loved that the boiled egg was free!

If you need extra side dishes, you can just grab them from the self-serve bar!

Eating jjusamsae at medium spice: how it tastes

I ordered the medium spice level of jjukkumi-samsae — a combo of octopus, pork belly, and long-arm octopus with shrimp! Even at the two-person portion it was generous, and the shrimp were so big they looked appetizing even before they were fully cooked.

As I stir-fried it carefully so the sauce wouldn't burn, the owner came by to add more sauce and help me get it tasting even better. I threw the bean sprouts straight into the pan too, and since that used up the sauce, they brought me more.

For reference, rice isn't included by default — you have to order it separately. I added fried rice at the end. It wasn't too salty, so even the mini rice that comes with the pork cutlet was enough.

Piling plump shrimp, octopus, and pork belly onto fresh lettuce and taking a bite fills your mouth with flavor — with meat, seafood, and everything in between, how could it not taste good! The sauce especially has a really nice spicy-savory kick.

The handmade king pork cutlet

When things get a little too spicy, try the sweet, crispy, savory handmade king pork cutlet to cool your mouth down.

It's exactly the kind of old-school pork cutlet kids love, and the sauce — homemade, I think — was genuinely delicious.

The combo of spicy jjukkumi and sweet king pork cutlet was great — this is Geumseong Jjukkumi, a recommended restaurant near Namwon's Gwanghallu.

Finishing with flying fish roe fried rice

As a Korean, I can never pass up the K-dessert — fried rice — so I ordered that too. You know you have to order it no matter how full you are, right? I went with the flying fish roe fried rice.

If you leave a bit of the jjukkumi in the pan, you get a richer, more flavorful fried rice.

Wrapping the rice and jjukkumi together in lettuce is delicious, but wrapping the fried rice by itself was also a special treat. I recommend this as a food stop near Gwanghallu-won on a Namwon trip.