Mild pork galbijjim for two while pregnant in Seohyeon: Gimcheongja

Why Gimcheongja near Seohyeon Station is a monthly return visit

Gimcheongja Maeun Galbijjim near Seohyeon Station is my personal go-to restaurant. I've loved this place since back when it was in Yuldong Park, honestly. I love spicy food and always used to get the spicy version, but now that I've got a little one on the way I have to eat mild — a bit of a shame, but their spicy galbijjim (braised rib stew) is still soooo good!!

How to get there from Seohyeon Station Gate 6, and how long is the evening wait?

Come out Seohyeon Station Gate 6 and walk about 3 minutes and you're there! It's on the 2nd floor of Cheonji Officetel. If you see a 7-Eleven on the 1st floor, that's the building — 2nd floor, haha.

After 6:30pm on weekdays a wait line forms. Of course, on Thursdays and Fridays it seems to start even earlier. So I usually get there right at six and order ahead of the crowd, but this time I went a little late and sure enough — a wait. Still, I was 1st in line so it was only about 10 minutes. That's pretty good, honestly~~

The order: mild pork galbijjim for two, egg custard and sweet potato fritters

Both the beef and pork versions are delicious. I order whatever I'm craving that day, and today it was pork, haha. Mild pork galbijjim for two, egg custard, sweet potato fritters, and two bowls of rice, coming right up~~!

Perilla leaf pickles only come if you ask

Five side dishes come as the basic spread. They usually have perilla leaf pickles too, but they weren't out this time, so I asked and they brought them over, haha. It feels like they only give it if you ask. But the perilla pickles are so good, so please make sure to ask for them and try them!!!

Good side dishes to pair along with it, haha. I refilled the beansprouts, seaweed, and perilla leaves twice each, haha.

Finishing off the corn salad before the galbijjim arrives is basically a house rule, haha. It's actually meant to be eaten alongside the spicy dish to cool your mouth down, but I'm always too hungry and end up finishing it before the galbijjim even comes out, hahaha.

The fluffy egg custard I ordered arrived. It's also meant to be eaten alongside the spicy heat to calm your mouth down, but since I got the mild version I just ate it as a protein top-up, haha. Ugh... once I've had the baby I want to go back to the spicy version, sweating buckets while drinking soju-and-beer 😂

It's the mild option — so why is the galbijjim this red?

The galbijjim finally arrived!!! That color is gorgeous, haha. At Gimcheongja Maeun Galbijjim, mild, medium, and spicy all look exactly the same shade of red, hahaha. My husband saw the color and asked "wait, this is really the mild version?" — yep, it is, hahaha.

This isn't heat from capsaicin — it comes from ground red chili powder, so the difference is really just how much chili powder goes in, and there's also a base garlic heat. That seems to be what drives the savory flavor (not totally sure, haha, just my theory).

They told us to let it simmer another 3-4 minutes before eating. That waiting time is the most agonizing part, haha.

I've come here so many times and never noticed, but it seems like leaving a Naver receipt review gets you a cheese topping. I saw the table next to us with their lid closed and thought, huh, did they have a cheese topping?? Went to add it and it's not even on the menu... must be a review event. Next time I'm leaving a review to get that cheese topping!!!! Hope everyone reading this gets the cheese topping from the review event too, it looks amazing.

This is the sweet potato fritters. They come out fresh from the fryer, so super super hot. But you have to eat them hot to really enjoy them, so I scarfed them down while dipping into the galbijjim broth. The kimmari (fried seaweed roll) is good too, and the sweet potato fritters are good, haha.

Portion size for two, how tender the pork is, and the glass noodles and rice cakes

While I filled my starving stomach with the egg custard and fritters, the galbijjim finished cooking!! Turn off the flame and dig in for real. Even though it's for two, the portion is substantial. There's so much meat that even eating steadily, there's still plenty left, haha. Both beef and pork are incredibly tender — tender enough to eat with your gums, basically. A big pile of tender meat, plus glass noodles and rice cakes included as standard.

My husband is Team Glass Noodles, I'm Team Rice Cakes, so it works out great. There isn't a ton of glass noodles but there's a decent basic amount, so if you love it, I'd recommend adding an extra portion! The rice cakes come in a pretty generous amount already, so you probably don't even need to add more.

My favorite way to eat it: the best bite combination

My favorite combo is stacking seaweed + perilla leaf + beansprouts + galbijjim on top and eating it all together, hahahaha. Or mixing rice into the broth and piling meat on top. Either way, it's delicious. The house rule is to stir-fry the leftover broth into fried rice at the end, but!!!!

Writing this makes me want to eat it again... it's genuinely so good it feels addictive, I think about it every month. I think I really do go every month, haha, my cooldown resets fast. Once I have the baby I'll probably have to order delivery for a while. Oh but whenever I check the delivery app, it's always only side dishes... I wonder if they deliberately leave the main menu off, I keep meaning to ask each time I go and forget. If it comes to that, I'll just have my husband go pick it up for takeout.

Who should eat at Gimcheongja Seohyeon Station Branch?

Cleaned the whole thing up and walked out completely stuffed. Great for a meal with drinks or just a meal on its own — Gimcheongja Maeun Galbijjim, a favorite restaurant near Seohyeon Station. If you love galbijjim, if you love spicy food, this is my personal go-to, absolutely no way you'll be disappointed, highly recommend!!

I'm sure there are already a few posts about this on my blog, but I've skipped writing about way more visits than I've actually posted, so counting the real number of times I've gone, it's probably over 20. Wishing them all the success — please stay in business for a long, long time 💜