Balsan Station nakgopsae restaurant with a seaweed soup lunch: Gungmin

Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch Beef tripe nakgopsae packed with gomchang, so good A great Balsan Station spot for a group meal

I found this place while looking for a Balsan Station restaurant to hit after mom's choir practice, and it has a giant screen so it's great for watching a game over a meal, or even for a date — the vibe is good either way ✨ But most of all, the nakgopsae was seriously insanely good … ♥ The tripe was packed with gomchang so every bite was rich and nutty, and the sauce just made rice disappear 🤤 So let's get into this Balsan Station spot, Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch :)

Where is Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch, and where do you park?

Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch is at 330 Gangseo-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul (동아빌딩 1층 5호, 6호), open daily 11:00–22:00 with last order at 21:00. It's closed September 25–26 for Chuseok, and there's a ground-level lot behind the building. It also has a giant screen ⚽️

This Balsan Station restaurant is across from Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital .ᐟ We came by subway 🚙 but if you're driving, you can use the ground lot behind the building — if it's full, double-park and leave your number 📞

We want to be the oldest restaurant on this street

You can feel the owner's sincerity in that line 🥹 There were a lot of side-dish menus posted too, since evening drink crowds around Balsan Station are big .ᐟ

Honestly, nakgopsae is something I'm secretly picky about since I get it delivered on dates and eat it with mom near Gimpo Airport all the time. So let me give you my honest review today :)

Inside Gungmin Nakgopsae: tablet ordering and the extra-large screen

The interior of Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch was clean and cozy .ᐟ I love colors that are easy on the eyes, and the wood tones made it feel almost like a Japanese restaurant — nice for a date too :)

Also wow, apparently Osaka Ojogang, the winning team from Street Woman Fighter 3, came here once ✨ I'm a huge Kyoka fan so this feels like a serendipity moment — the owner didn't invite them and they weren't acquaintances, they just showed up haha. How good must this place be >ㅇ<

And here's the reason to come to this Balsan Station restaurant in the evening .ᐟ It's the giant screen - ٩( ᐛ )و You can watch soccer or baseball in HD while eating, and apparently during the World Cup they opened earlier than usual so people could watch together haha. Since it's not far from home, I'll have to come back for the next big match ⚽️

Drinks and beverages are always kept cold, glasses included 🧊 The owner is so serious about service, it's touching ㅠㅇㅠ

Ordering the medium beef tripe nakgopsae for 34,900 won

The menu at Gungmin Nakgopsae Gangseo Branch lets you mix combinations .ᐟ Beef large intestine nakgopsae is the usual go-to, but we always get an upset stomach from large intestine, so we picked the beef tripe nakgopsae instead. It's basically a drinking-food classic, which made it a little funny to eat for lunch 💦 You order from the tablet at each table :)

• Beef tripe nakgopsae (medium) ₩34,900
• Rice bowl x 2 ₩2,000

What comes with it: side dishes and free seaweed soup

The basic spread comes with perilla leaves and radish wrap, mayonnaise, diced radish kimchi, and white kimchi .ᐟ Exactly the right combo for wrapping nakgopsae ♥

Seaweed soup comes free too, and I expected it to taste store-bought but it was surprisingly clean and delicious .ᐟ I kept spooning it up the whole meal haha

Is the medium beef tripe nakgopsae enough for two? Portion and taste

Our medium beef tripe nakgopsae arrived - ✨ We came straight from choir practice on the subway and I was starving, but they prepared it so fast 🥹

Wait, the tripe pieces in this nakgopsae are this big and generous?! We didn't even order the tripe hot pot, boss ...

These ingredients are pricey to begin with, and it's meant as a two-person dish, so I was planning to just fill up on rice — but the portion was way more than expected .ᐟ .ᐟ .ᐟ

Stir it well so nothing sticks to the bottom while it simmers - 🫧

Once the plump tripe is cooked through, they cut it into bite-sized pieces with scissors ✂️ These scissors were seriously sharp — weird thing to praise in a nakgopsae review, but you know how annoying it is when scissors don't cut well. These cut through everything so cleanly it was satisfying

Ah - this visual is unbearable, I want to eat it again just looking at this photo 🤤 Let's dig in .ᐟ

The side plate is wide and flat, perfect for mixing with rice .ᐟ And the noodles were hiding in there in generous amounts too — the owner doesn't skimp on ingredients ...

The glass noodles were chewy, the rice cakes were delicious too ... 🤍 The shrimp were plump and springy 👍🏻 and the octopus was genuinely huge with amazing texture .ᐟ Out of every nakgopsae I've had, these were the biggest and heartiest ingredients, and the portion was massive too (・Д・)

Perilla-leaf wraps with white kimchi at Gungmin Nakgopsae

Nakgopsae has to be eaten in a wrap 💚 Fresh tender perilla leaf, a bit of refreshing radish wrap, nakgopsae on top, a touch of mayo — it's incredible (⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

When it gets a little too spicy, white kimchi and seaweed soup cool your mouth right down 🧯 You need that cold, tangy white kimchi broth alongside it for the full experience — the seaweed soup I basically just drank ...

Mixed with rice, it's an absolute rice-thief 🔎 That sweet-spicy sauce soaks all the way into the rice and it's just ... so good. I have nothing else to say, it's just delicious. This is genuinely a great restaurant, you have to go ♥

Restrooms and the verdict on lunch at Gungmin Nakgopsae

🚻 The restroom is spotlessly clean, so feel free to use it. So many restaurants like this have unisex restrooms that make me uneasy, but here it's comfortable to use - 👍🏻

After the meal, even dessert came along haha. The owner couple were so kind and clearly proud of how good their food is — I'll be back on a date with a boyfriend who loves nakgopsae next time ♥

• A Gangseo, Balsan Station nakgopsae restaurant great for lunch or dinner
• A Balsan spot for spicy beef tripe nakgopsae
• Recommended for group meals, family dinners, and dates near Balsan Station