Hanam Korean restaurant for spicy braised pollock: Appa Jjim

I went out for a meal near Pungsan Station in Hanam this time and visited Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch, a great place for braised pollock in Hanam :) It sits along a stretch near Pungsan Station where restaurants are gathered, so it looked like a nice spot for a family meal too, haha. Since you can enjoy everything from braised pollock to agu-jjim (spicy braised monkfish) in generous portions, I thought I’d introduce it to anyone looking for somewhere to eat out near Hanam Pungsan Station!

Appa Jjim near Hanam Pungsan Station and parking

Appa Jjim is located close to Pungsan Station in Hanam. 🅿️ You can park in front of the restaurant, and there is also a separate parking area! These braised dishes are the sort of thing families often go out for, right?! Parking can be a concern if it is inconvenient, but that part was fine here.

As I entered, the signed walls caught my eye. There were quite a lot of celebrity signatures—more than I expected? I heard celebrities living in Hanam had visited too, so I found myself looking over them one by one~

The restaurant was more spacious than I expected, too. We sat at a regular table near the outside, while farther in there were seats that felt a little more private~

And when I visited, it was the height of summer, but the air-conditioning was blasting so strongly that it was almost a little cold, haha. When you are having spicy jjim (Korean braised dish) on a hot day, a cool dining room really is best☺️

At the table, the spoon and chopsticks were individually wrapped, and there were plenty of wet wipes prepared as well.

Ordering the small siraegi braised pollock

You can order conveniently from your seat through the table ordering system. After taking our time looking through the menu, we ordered Appa Jjim’s signature siraegi braised pollock—siraegi is dried radish greens. There were two of us, so we chose the small size, and we could adjust the spice level to our taste! We also added one whole cuttlefish because we wanted an even more generous meal. Instead of regular rice, we ordered pressure-cooker rice :)

Appa Jjim sells agu-jjim as well as braised pollock as a main dish. I heard that its agu-jjim is prepared using a maekbanseok stone and steam^^ We really enjoyed the braised pollock, so if I come back next time, I would like to try the agu-jjim too.

A generous spread with added cuttlefish

After a short wait, our siraegi braised pollock finally arrived! Since we had added one whole cuttlefish, it looked quite generous from the start~ A big cuttlefish sat in the middle, with plenty of pollock, siraegi, radish, tofu, and more around it.

Prepared pollock and banchan pairings

And one thing I really liked! A staff member came over and prepared the pollock for us so it would be easy to eat. Braised pollock is delicious, but sometimes picking the flesh off the bones feels like a hassleㅠㅠ Once it had been prepared, we could comfortably pull off pieces of fish and eat them with the sauce.

You can enjoy the banchan (Korean side dishes) served with the siraegi braised pollock alongside it. Personally, we thought the bean sprouts would go so well with the braised-pollock sauce that we added a whole lot of them together, haha. The crunchy bean sprouts with that spicy sauce really were a great match.

Finishing with pressure-cooker rice and nurungji

Another quietly satisfying part of the meal that day was the pressure-cooker rice. We ordered two portions, and rather than receiving them separately, both portions came together in one pot. Maybe because I often have convenient instant rice at home, but freshly cooked warm rice like this was just unbelievably tasty >_<

We ate the warm rice with the braised-pollock sauce, then finished with the savory nurungji (scorched rice) that formed at the bottom—just perfect, right?! After spicy braised pollock, a spoonful of warm nurungji made my mouth feel soothed again,,💜 Personally, if you order braised pollock, I would recommend getting the pressure-cooker rice too~

The chewy cuttlefish add-on was satisfying too

Personally, I was happy that we added the whole cuttlefish too. It was cut into easy-to-eat pieces, which we thoroughly coated in the braised-pollock sauce, and the chewy cuttlefish went quite well with the spicy sauce. The pollock alone would have been enough, but having cuttlefish here and there changed up the texture, so we could keep eating without getting tired of it^.^

For two people, the siraegi braised pollock with added cuttlefish and pressure-cooker rice made for a truly filling meal :) We had the siraegi braised pollock this time, but next time I would like to try Appa Jjim’s agu-jjim too. If you are looking for a great braised-pollock restaurant in Hanam where you can fill up on spicy braised pollock and freshly cooked pot rice near Pungsan Station, keep Appa Jjim in mind👏🏻