Octopus set with raw beef tartare and egg custard: Min Nakji, Ansan

I was craving something spicy for the first time in ages, so I went with my mom to Min Nakji Ansan Seongpo Main Branch! Lately I've wanted both something spicy and some yukhoe (raw beef tartare), and it just so happened they had a set that let me have both at once, so this time I really went for it, haha.

Cutting to the conclusion — maybe because I got to eat everything I was craving that day, it was so, so good ><. Let's get into the review!

🚗 Parking at Min Nakji, a Seongpo-dong, Ansan restaurant

I drove there, and parking was convenient since the building's underground lot was available. Parking can sometimes make me hesitate about visiting a restaurant, but being able to use the underground lot meant I could go without any worries!

🐙 Min Nakji, home to a wide range of octopus dishes

Min Nakji's menu was more varied than I expected. From octopus rice bowls to stir-fry to hot pot, there were several options, plus a range of dishes using live octopus.

What I liked most was how many set menus they had! It seemed like a great option when you want to try a little of several dishes at once.

Since I was visiting with my mom, we ordered the set for two! It comes with octopus bokkeum + yukhoe + minari pancake + steamed egg, and we also ordered two bowls of rice on top of that. With spicy octopus bokkeum, yukhoe, pancake, and steamed egg all together, the table looked really full from the start, haha.

🥗 Clean, simple side dishes

The side dishes were also clean and simple. Salad, radish, and eolgali kimchi (young cabbage kimchi) came as the basics,

and seaweed soup came along with it too. Eating the spicy octopus bokkeum and then having a spoonful of seaweed soup felt like it reset my palate — the combination was great. Especially with spicy food, having a warm, mild broth alongside really works, haha.

🥩 Yukhoe made the combo amazing!

I started with the yukhoe. It came with egg yolk and sliced pear, and mixing the yolk, yukhoe, and pear together was fun to eat! The crisp, sweet texture of the pear made the yukhoe taste even better.

Above all, the umami of the yukhoe itself was really good. I'd been wanting both spicy food and yukhoe lately, and getting to have both together was exactly the combination I wanted ><. Taking a bite of spicy octopus bokkeum, then a bite of yukhoe — each had such a different charm, it was great to alternate between them!

🌿 Minari pancake packed with minari

And another dish I really enjoyed — the minari (water dropwort) pancake! It was packed with so much minari that its distinctive fragrant flavor really came through. If you like minari, you'll definitely enjoy this, haha. Dipping it into the seasoning sauce that came with it made it even better.

The minari pancake also went surprisingly well with the octopus bokkeum. Eating the fragrant pancake between bites of the spicy octopus kept me reaching for more!

🥚 Soft, cozy steamed egg custard

Having steamed egg custard included in the set was really nice alongside the spicy octopus bokkeum. The custard was soft and cozy, so alternating it with the spicy octopus made a great combination. Both the minari pancake and the egg custard paired well with the octopus bokkeum, which made me think the set was well put together.

🌶️ Finally, the main event! Octopus bokkeum

And the main dish of the day, octopus bokkeum! Since I'd come specifically craving something spicy, this was the dish I was most looking forward to, haha. There were vegetables mixed in with the octopus, and picking up octopus and veggies together, then piling them on rice, was really delicious.

And the rice had gim (seaweed) sprinkled on it, which turned out to be a surprisingly important detail!

Mixing the spicy octopus bokkeum with the vegetables, rice, and gim all together, the nutty flavor of the gim on top made it completely irresistible, lol. Once I started eating a spoonful, I just couldn't stop. In the end, I finished a whole bowl of rice in no time, haha.

Days when the set for two is a great call

I visited Min Nakji Ansan Seongpo Main Branch craving something spicy after a while! With octopus rice bowl, octopus bokkeum, hot pot, and other octopus dishes, plus a variety of set menus, it seemed like a great place to visit when you want to try several dishes together.

If, like me, you're craving both octopus bokkeum and yukhoe on the same day, the set for two would be perfect, haha. Having a generous spread of spicy octopus bokkeum, yukhoe, minari pancake, and steamed egg together was really satisfying!

Getting to eat all the dishes I'd been craving in one sitting made this meal so, so good ><. If you're looking for a Seongpo-dong, Ansan restaurant or an octopus bokkeum spot in Ansan, give Min Nakji Ansan Seongpo Main Branch a try~! 🐙💛