Yongsan octopus restaurant with no break time: Jjigaen Jjukkumi

A Hyochang Park Station favorite for octopus pork belly, and a great-value spot near Yongsan Electronics Market for a date — Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch is what I'm recommending today. Here's my full review from a Saturday lunch visit, including parking and menu details.

Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch: hours and parking

• ⏰ Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:30) / Sat–Sun 12:00–21:00 (last order 20:30)
• 🚙 Parking: 1 spot available in front of the restaurant, plus nearby Yongsan Electronics Market 4 public parking lot
• 📍 Location: 5-min walk from Hyochang Park Station Exit 3 (Line 6, Gyeongui-Jungang Line)
• ✔️ Ministry of the Interior and Safety-designated 'good price' restaurant
• ✔️ Designated 'safe restaurant' by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
• ✔️ Takeout discount ✔️ Group-friendly ✔️ Delivery available ✔️ Birthday perks ✔️ Free Wi-Fi ✔️ Corkage allowed

Five minutes on foot from Hyochang Park Station: the storefront and parking

Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch is about a 5-minute walk from Hyochang Park Station Exit 3, reachable via Line 6 or the Gyeongui-Jungang Line. It's a spicy stir-fried octopus (jjukkumi) restaurant that's been a fixture of Yongsan Yongmun Market for a long time.

Being close to the station made it convenient even by subway, and there was room for about 1 car to park right in front of the restaurant, so it seemed doable by car too. Since only about 1 spot is available, I'd recommend calling ahead if you're driving.

I liked that you can see the menu displayed outside Jjigaen Jjukkumi, a great-value restaurant in Yongsan Yongmun Market. It's apparently famous enough to have appeared on the show 'Amazing Saturday' for its octopus! There's an origin-labeling sign posted outside too, and with reasonable prices, I can easily recommend it as a great-value spot near Yongsan Yongmun Market 😃😃

Inside Jjigaen Jjukkumi: is the seating good for groups?

The interior of Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch is spacious with several large tables, so it seemed like a good spot for a group meal near Yongsan Yongmun Market.

There are several square and round tables, plus sofa seating, making it a great restaurant for a group to sit down and enjoy some tasty octopus with a drink! I visited around 3pm on a Saturday, and since Jjigaen Jjukkumi has no separate break time, you can go whenever you feel like eating — a real plus 🙂🙂

Jjigaen Jjukkumi menu and prices

Jjigaen Jjukkumi serves customers tasty food at reasonable prices in Yongsan Yongmun Market. You can choose from plain octopus stir-fry to versions with various add-in ingredients depending on your taste, and they also sell dishes like braised pork ribs and Korean kimchi stew, where the sauce really has to be good.

• Griddle octopus ₩14,000
• Octopus pork belly ₩16,000
• Korean braised pork ribs ₩15,000

Led by the octopus pork belly that also appeared on 'Amazing Saturday,' the lunch menu is priced well too, so it seems like a good option when looking for a solo meal spot near Yongsan Yongmun Market. Jjigaen Jjukkumi uses fresh daily ingredients and properly made sauces thanks to the owner's skill, so my expectations were already high before the food even arrived.

Side dishes and the flying fish roe mayo sauce

The side dishes came out full of the owner's hand-made flavor! They were all sides that pair well with spicy octopus.

The stir-fried fish cake in particular was perfectly seasoned and chewy, and the sauce served alongside the octopus was a flying fish roe mayo sauce that seemed like it would pair nicely with the spicy octopus.

Soon the dishes I ordered came out one by one. Let me introduce each item on the menu at Jjigaen Jjukkumi, a Yongsan Yongmun Market favorite where I ate even the fried rice down to the last bite.

• Octopus pork belly (2 servings) ₩32,000
• Glass noodle add-on ₩3,000
• Egg roll ₩10,000
• Fried rice ₩3,000

Octopus with pork belly, 16,000 won per serving, plus flat glass noodles

Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch's octopus pork belly at ₩16,000, 2 servings ordered plus a ₩3,000 glass noodle add-on.

The moment the owner's homemade octopus sauce started boiling, a spicy aroma filled the air, and mixed with the savory pork belly, it seemed like it would be a thief of both rice and drinks! 😉😉

The octopus wasn't tiny at all but plump, promising a satisfying bite, and combined with the vegetables, I immediately understood why this is a popular spot in Yongmun Market.

The octopus pork belly also included bean sprouts, and the owner blanched them beforehand so they wouldn't release too much water. Attention to even the small details made me think — of course it can't be bad.

Adding the glass noodles, essential for a spicy sauce like this, completed the proper octopus pork belly (jju-sam) platter. Glass noodle add-on ₩3,000.

There was so much plump octopus that no matter how much we ate, it never seemed to run out! Since it's cooked on a large griddle, it stays hot longer, which made it taste even better, I think.

The noodles weren't regular glass noodles either but flat ones, so they soaked up the sauce well and were incredibly tasty. (❁´◡`❁)

How to eat it: perilla leaf wrap with flying fish roe mayo

If you're a real foodie, you know that octopus pork belly needs mayonnaise and a perilla leaf wrap, right?

Flip the perilla leaf over (important★) and wrap up bite after bite — the combination of the flying fish roe mayo sauce, chewy octopus, and savory pork belly was so delicious ㅠㅠㅠ

The pork belly must be good quality too, since it had no off smell and was nicely savory — the combination with the octopus really showed why this is Jjigaen Jjukkumi's best menu item. The octopus was plump, and the owner's homemade sauce had a deep, savory flavor, so if you visit Jjigaen Jjukkumi, I highly recommend trying the octopus pork belly 😊😊

Egg roll, 10,000 won, to take the edge off the spice

Jjigaen Jjukkumi's add-on menu egg roll, ₩10,000. Ordered to cool down the spicy octopus, this egg roll was just as delicious as the main dish and is a popular menu item at Jjigaen Jjukkumi. It was genuinely thick and perfectly seasoned, so I'd recommend adding it next time you visit, to go alongside the octopus.

The savory egg roll came out freshly rolled and calmed down my mouth after the spicy octopus, so much so that I felt everyone who visits should definitely try the egg roll.

Fried rice, 3,000 won: scraping the pan clean for two

Korea's very own 'K-dessert,' fried rice, ₩3,000. Jjigaen Jjukkumi also offers various fried rice styles with cheese and flying fish roe, among other options, so you can pick according to your taste.

The owner checked the remaining amount of sauce, added more as needed, and stir-fried it quickly — with sauce this good, the fried rice couldn't possibly be bad ㅎ_ㅎ

We ordered 2 servings of basic fried rice. The nicely crisped fried rice, combined with the savory flavors left over from the octopus and pork belly plus a sprinkle of seaweed flakes, turned into truly delicious fried rice.

We were already really full after the octopus pork belly and egg roll, but the sauce-laden fried rice kept going in ㅠㅠ — we scraped the bottom of the 2 servings we ordered completely clean before leaving.

Where is the restroom?

The restroom at Jjigaen Jjukkumi, a Yongsan Yongmun Market favorite, is located outside the restaurant. Though it's outside the main space, it's right there once you open the dedicated door, so it was close and convenient to use.

Verdict: a Yongmun Market spot for group dinners and dates alike

Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch was a satisfying find while out near Yongsan Electronics Market this time. The owner was friendly and the restaurant spacious, so I thought it would be a good pick for a group dinner near Yongsan.

As a 'good price' restaurant selected by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, it's cheaper than other octopus restaurants, and the owner's homemade sauce and side dishes taste great too, so it's a place that instantly comes to mind whenever I'm near Yongsan Yongmun Market. Besides octopus stir-fry, they also have a variety of tasty Korean dishes like braised pork ribs and kimchi stew, making it a solid choice when looking for good Korean food near Yongmun Market.

If you're looking for a great-value restaurant near Yongsan Yongmun Market or Yongsan Electronics Market, a date spot near Hyochang Park Station, or a group restaurant for a work dinner near Yongsan Station, I recommend Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch.