Brass-bowl seafood abalone rice soup at a Hanam Misa restaurant

As mornings and evenings turn cooler and I start craving something warm, let me introduce a seafood nurungjitang (scorched rice soup) spot perfect for this changing season. It's O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang Hanam Misa Main Branch, open less than a year on Misa-daero in Hanam, Gyeonggi, a street already packed with great restaurants.

O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang Hanam Misa: hours and location

• 🏠 Address: 616-1 Misa-daero, 1st floor, Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:00 AM – 9:20 PM
• 📢 Takeout discount, highchairs, wheelchair accessible, disabled parking available

This nurungjitang specialist restaurant in Hanam sits about 897m from Exit 1 of Hanam Pungsan Station (Line 5) toward Misa-daero, roughly an 11-minute walk.

What is the building like, and where do you park?

The building's exterior was so clean and large-scale that it stood out easily among the many restaurants nearby, making it simple to spot.

I'm not totally sure, but going by the name alone, it seems like five brothers run the place together. The restaurant building is huge, and you can park all the way around it — front, back, left, right — so the parking area looked even bigger than expected. No worries about parking even with a lot of guests. Just note it's one-way, so don't drive in against the flow!

Inside the restaurant and the seating

Walking in, you're greeted by a self-serve bar straight ahead, with a wide dining area spreading left and right around the bar and kitchen. The self-bar was kept spotlessly clean, which was reassuring hygiene-wise.

There are window seats with an outside view and inner seating. The window seats were already full when we arrived, so we sat inside. The gap between the window and inner seating areas was very spacious, giving a comfortable feel and letting us eat without being bothered by other diners.

The menu: no jjajangmyeon or jjamppong here

This nurungjitang specialist in Hanam offers a variety of scorched rice soups to suit different tastes. Beyond nurungjitang, there's also Chinese-style dishes like tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), yurinki, and palbochae, plus a combo set with tangsuyuk, yurinki, and chili shrimp. Just a heads-up: unlike typical Chinese restaurants, there's no jjajangmyeon or jjamppong here!

Six side dishes served on brass plates

The individual plates and cutlery set were all brass, gleaming gold for an upscale feel. Six basic side dishes were served — cabbage salad, green onion kimchi, chwinamul (aster greens), dried radish salad, dongchimi (watery radish kimchi), and baek-kimchi (white kimchi) — clean and mild in flavor, and delicious. You can also add more from the self-bar; there was cabbage kimchi and oranges too, so we grabbed some.

Seafood abalone nurungjitang with a whole ginseng root

Our order of seafood abalone nurungjitang arrived. Into a very hot stone pot, they poured a bit of broth, added the scorched rice, and then piled the seafood and other ingredients on top. Abalone and a whole ginseng root were added as well.

Wow — the stone pot was so hot it kept bubbling away. I later learned there's a separate heating device underneath the pot that keeps the nurungjitang from cooling down.

With the seafood abalone nurungjitang, cabbage kimchi, and oranges laid out, the table looked really abundant. Our other order, yurinki, was about to make its appearance too.

My husband carefully ladled the bubbling seafood abalone nurungjitang into my individual dish. He even gave me the ginseng root.

It was packed with seafood — pine-cone-cut squid, shrimp, abalone, scallops — plus mushrooms and ginkgo nuts, making it feel less like a regular meal and more like a proper nourishing dish. The scorched rice softened in the hot broth and took on a nutty flavor, so it should be easy for kids or elderly people with weaker teeth to enjoy too.

The nurungjitang itself is a bit mild, but with dried radish salad or green onion kimchi on the side, the seasoning balances out perfectly. I love the non-spicy baek-kimchi, so I refilled it once. This nurungjitang specialist restaurant in Hanam also sells its side dishes, so you can buy some if you like them enough.

Yurinki: sweet, tangy and crisp

While we were still eating the nurungjitang, the yurinki showed up too. Yurinki is fried chicken tossed in a sweet-and-tangy soy sauce, and the crunch of the fried coating combined with the crisp cabbage and bell peppers made it really delicious.

There's chili in there too, giving it a slight kick, which seemed to cut through the richness of the fried chicken nicely.

We finished our hearty, delicious meal with a palate-cleansing orange from the self-bar.

Reservation and takeout perks at O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang

We didn't book ahead this time, but apparently if you reserve through Naver, you get free fried dumplings or lemonade, so give that a try.

At this nurungjitang specialist restaurant in Hanam, signing up as a member earns you ₩2,000 in mileage, usable in ₩5,000 units. There's also a ₩1,000 discount per item on takeout orders.

At O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang Hanam Misa Main Branch on Misa-daero in Hanam, Gyeonggi, I got to enjoy warm, nutty seafood abalone nurungjitang along with crispy, sweet-and-tangy yurinki. The restaurant is spacious, making it great for family gatherings, and it's easy to bring along young kids or elderly parents — I'd recommend giving it a visit.