Pot rice restaurant at Jangji Station: abalone 3 ways & roe, Gomemui

Maybe it's because I've fallen for Korean food lately, but I'd rather have a warm, filling meal than anything floury, fried or harsh. Pot rice (solbap), freshly cooked rice loaded with fresh, high-quality ingredients, is a personal favorite because it makes a proper meal even without many side dishes! While visiting Gardenfive, which has shopping and plenty to see, I found a good spot for a hearty pot rice meal: Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive!

Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive: location, hours and parking

Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive is at 66 Chungmin-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul, in basement 1 of Gardenfive Techno Hall, near Exit 4 of Jangji Station on Subway Line 8. It is open daily 10:30–20:30, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00, and you can use the Gardenfive parking lot.

• Address: 66 Chungmin-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul, basement 1, Gardenfive Techno Hall
• Transport: near Exit 4 of Jangji Station, Subway Line 8
• Hours: daily 10:30–20:30
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: 14:30 / 20:00
• Parking: Gardenfive parking lot available

How to find Gomemui inside Gardenfive

Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive is in the food street corner on basement 1 of Hyundai City Outlets Techno Hall, in the direction of the down escalator by the basement 1 restaurant area. Gardenfive is a huge shopping mall, so location matters when you look for a restaurant, and Gomemui is in a good spot. It looked easy to drop in for a meal in the middle of shopping.

Inside, the space was wide and tidy, and wood-tone furniture with warm lighting made it feel comfortable for a meal.

How do you order at Gomemui Gardenfive?

Every table has a table kiosk, so you order right at your seat. It was very convenient to look through the menu slowly and decide!

Each table also had simple hygiene items and a paper menu.

Besides pot rice, there's also tonkatsu, udon, soba and curry

Gomemui specializes in pot rice, but alongside its own food philosophy it has tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet), udon, soba, curry and more, so it works even if your companion's taste differs from yours. Our group ordered two kinds of menu: one abalone pot rice and two steak pot rice. I almost picked the eel rice bowl for one, but I remembered I'd recently had hitsumabushi (Japanese eel rice bowl), so I ordered something different this time. Whether you like seafood or meat, you can order to your taste.

How does Gomemui's abalone pot rice taste?

Gomemui's abalone pot rice is said to combine fresh live abalone from the southern coast with a rich gaeu (abalone innards) sauce. The one I chose came with simple instructions for how to eat it, so you can try it several ways, haha. With plenty of abalone piled on the rice, it looked neat and appetizing at a glance.

The abalone has its signature chewy texture, and the gaeu sauce made from the abalone innards adds a nutty, subtle flavor. If you love abalone, I think the chewiness plus the nicely salty seasoning will make this even more satisfying. Unlike plain white rice, the abalone flavor runs through all the rice, so every spoonful had a deep savory taste. 💚

The side dish with the abalone pot rice: myeongran-jeot (salted pollack roe)

The abalone pot rice came with a light soup, small side dishes and a sauce to sprinkle on. The myeongran-jeot (salted pollack roe) on the side was impressive, and it went with the abalone better than I expected.

Three ways to eat abalone pot rice: green onion soy mix, seaweed wrap, tea

You scoop some of the abalone pot rice into a large bowl and mix it with green onion soy sauce, wrap it in dried seaweed, or pour hot tea over it. Eating it in all these different ways kept it fresh-tasting, and I never got tired of it.

• Mix with green onion soy sauce
• Wrap in dried seaweed
• Pour hot tea over it and eat it as a rice soup

What is Gomemui's steak pot rice?

The steak pot rice is pot rice with premium wagyu and a special sauce, and it's what my companions ordered. If you love meat, this one should be great too. I was so busy eating that I forgot to take a photo, which is a real shame, but the thick steak sitting appetizingly on the rice caught my eye.

Mixing in an egg yolk adds richness, and it comes with the steak's juices and the special sauce, so it's a good menu for savory, mild, deep flavors. The abalone pot rice and the steak pot rice each have their own charm, so ordering one of each and sharing was great.

Who is Gomemui Hyundai Gardenfive good for?

I liked that you can choose by taste, from pot rice with various toppings to tonkatsu and udon. Because it's inside a shopping mall, it's a good place for a tasty, healthy meal while shopping or hanging out at Gardenfive.

I'd recommend it to pot rice fans, and to families, friend get-togethers and office workers looking for a neat place to eat near Jangji Station or Munjeong. Next time I'd definitely like to try the sea bream pot rice too, haha. Thanks to this tasty meal, my happiness is fully recharged in a small, grateful way 💕