Hanam restaurant for family dinner: O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang

When choosing somewhere to take elders for dinner, I find myself searching for parking before the menu. If you are already worn out trying to park, the mood drops before the meal even begins. This time it was my girlfriend, her mother, and me, the three of us heading out for nurungjitang (crispy-rice soup) in Hanam. To give away the ending first: her mother was happy with the generous seafood. My girlfriend and I, both seafood lovers, ate well too, and there was no parking stress.

A Hanam dinner that was easy from the parking lot onward

As soon as we arrived at O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang Hanam Misa Main Branch (오형제황제누룽지탕 하남미사본점), the parking spaces caught my eye. The lot extends not only in front but along the side and behind the building. If you are driving, you probably will not have to circle around looking for a spot.

There is even a separate parking map in front of the building. Arrows mark the entrance and exit directions, so it is not confusing even on a first visit. The spaces looked wide enough that even new drivers would not feel much pressure.

Inside was just as spacious as the parking lot. There are partitioned booth seats along the walls and long tables in the middle. When it is a Hanam family meal with elders, you quietly end up thinking about the space between seats too, but that was not a concern here.

Tablet ordering and the self-service bar

You order from the tablet at each table. Seafood nurungjitang is ₩18,000, seafood abalone nurungjitang is ₩20,000, and mung bean abalone nurungjitang is ₩22,000. We ordered two seafood nurungjitang and one mini pork tenderloin tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour pork), for a total of ₩56,000 that day. Keep that in mind when planning a budget for nurungjitang in Hanam.

Water and side dishes are collected from the self-service bar. There are things like cabbage salad, pickled vegetables, seasoned greens, and oranges, while kimchi varieties such as green-onion kimchi and white kimchi are also sold separately. The notice says one menu item per person, and asks that fruit be eaten after the meal. Bottled water and takeaway containers cost ₩500, which is useful to know.

This was our first spread at the table: green-onion kimchi, white kimchi, radish water kimchi, seasoned greens, and salad. Perfect for picking at one by one while waiting for the nurungjitang.

A generous table of seafood nurungjitang

They put the scorched rice into a stone pot first, then pour the seafood sauce right over it. It starts bubbling furiously the moment the sauce hits; this is something you need to see moving rather than in a photo. I put the full pouring scene in the video at the very bottom of the post.

Bok choy covers the top, and beneath it you can see scored squid, shrimp, bamboo shoots, and wood ear mushrooms. This was exactly the kind of bowl I had hoped for while looking for nurungjitang in Hanam. This bowl is why her mother was pleased when she saw the amount of seafood.

Rich broth, but the stone pot is seriously hot

If nurungjitang makes you think of a mild, lightly seasoned flavor, this place is a little different. The broth is rich and clearly savory. But the stone pot is seriously hot. It keeps bubbling for quite a while after it reaches the table, so it is hard to eat right away; you need to ladle it into a small plate and let it cool. This was the one downside that day.

When I stirred it with my chopsticks, a little octopus-like fellow came up first. It was not finely chopped up; each piece was large enough to retain its shape.

The squid was cut into big scored pieces, and the shrimp came whole too. This is not a dish you can manage with a spoon alone; you keep needing chopsticks.

A lifted-up shot like this shows the quantity better than a photo that only pushes aside the bok choy. If I am going to call a Hanam nurungjitang generous in a review, I need at least this much evidence.

Mini pork tenderloin tangsuyuk for dipping

The mini pork tenderloin tangsuyuk comes in bite-sized pieces. Instead of arriving covered in sauce, the sauce comes separately for dipping. A welcome arrangement if you are on team dip-it. Bell pepper, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes come on the plate too, so it does not look plain. Pair it with the nurungjitang and you have a nicely rounded Chinese-style meal in Hanam.

My girlfriend loves seafood too, so she enjoyed the nurungjitang. When three people go out for a meal and it does not suit one person's taste, the other two start watching the room for no reason. There was none of that this time.

There is also a serving robot carrying side dishes around the restaurant. The aisles are wide, so it hardly looked like anyone would need to step aside when it passed. Both the parking lot and dining room are roomy, so it would be a solid choice for a Hanam family gathering.

There is also a takeaway discount notice inside. Takeaway orders get ₩1,000 off per item, and it says Coupang and Baemin delivery have started as well. Something to remember when you want to have it once more at home.

The address is 1F, 616-1 Misa-daero, Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (경기도 하남시 미사대로 616-1 1층). I added the location map at the bottom of the post. O Hyeongje Hwangje Nurungjitang was a place that earned points with her mother for its seafood quantity. If you are looking for nurungjitang in Hanam to take elders to, start as we did with the seafood nurungjitang and mini pork tenderloin tangsuyuk combination.