Pocheon Korean restaurant for a hearty family meal: Haepumgye

I stopped by Haepumgye Pocheon Main Branch with my family while we were out for a trip recently, and it was such a satisfying restorative meal—so I had to share the review!

Haepumgye Pocheon Main Branch: location and parking

Haepumgye Pocheon Main Branch is on the first floor of Building A, 164 Solmoru-ro, Soheul-eup, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, and is open daily from 11:00 to 21:30. Given the location, I imagine many people come by car. There is a large parking lot in front of the restaurant, and it is free, so you can visit without worrying about parking.

That eye-catching haesintang (seafood-and-chicken soup)—let's go eat it right away!

A tidy restaurant that's great with kids

The bright, tidy atmosphere immediately stood out. There was even an indoor play area off to one side for children. It really had a warm family feel.

A real hidden gem that plenty of celebrities have already visited too..!

I am way past play-area age, but I had a look anyway haha. It seemed safe and nice for kids to play while the adults eat.

Such a neat spread of banchan (Korean side dishes)..! I really like how hygienic it looks when the utensils come wrapped in paper.

Any extra side dishes we needed could be refilled for free at the self-service bar. Everything was tasty, but the kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) was seriously good.

Ordering Haepum Haesintang by kiosk

Each table had a kiosk for ordering, and I ordered Haepumgye's pride and joy: Haepum Haesintang!

Besides haesintang, it looked like there were plenty of menu choices for weekday lunch too, including clam kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) and samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup).

You could freely add all kinds of shellfish, seafood, and sides to the soup. If you join the review event, you can also add abalone or octopus for free, so definitely make the most of it...!

Enough haesintang left over after three adults ate

The presentation overwhelmed me the moment it arrived. Three adults ordered nothing extra except two bowls of glutinous rice, and there was still so much that we could not finish it. Four people could eat very generously too.

Once you are seated, the staff prepare everything for you like this, making it even easier to enjoy. At a place like this, you want to chat away over the meal rather than rush through it—but that is hard when there is lots to prepare, right? They prepared it all in front of us, so all we had to do was relax and enjoy.

A mountain of assorted vegetables is provided separately so you can enjoy it like shabu-shabu. Haepumgye's generosity is amazing..☆

With the big round of preparation done, let's properly dig into the haesintang.

There were loads of fresh scallops too! The flesh was so sweet and savory.

Even taking just one each of the minari (water parsley), shrimp, octopus, white wood ear mushrooms, and more filled a whole plate hahaha.

Everything was so tender and delicious ㅠㅠㅠ But there was so much that even after eating until we were sick of it, there was still some left hahaha.

The octopus we added with a coupon from making a reservation..! It was so large that, if there had not been any actual octopus, I might have mistaken this nakji (small octopus) for one haha.

But the thing is, this is haesintang. We were already quite full from the seafood, and only then did the huge chicken start to come into view.

The size was absolutely explosive... hahaha. The meat was so tender that even though I was full, I could still keep eating it.

People usually split into seafood lovers and meat lovers, but haesintang feels like a dish everyone can enjoy together regardless of preference.

And it is not like there are only a few shellfish thrown in as a side. It had more Manila clams and white clams than most clam kalguksu bowls.

Round three with the vegetables we had not even touched yet hahaha.

A solid selection, even including fish cakes. We let them cook for about 2–3 minutes, and because the broth was so refined, even the fish cakes tasted refined hahaha.

Glutinous rice soaked in the broth

Glutinous rice is unlimited at weekday lunch! It does not come automatically with the haesintang, but because the portion was so large, we ordered just two bowls to enjoy it almost like juk (rice porridge). It was ₩2,000 per bowl..!

Soaking it in the richly developed broth made it perfectly seasoned and delicious, almost like porridge.

On the way out, mushroom tea, coffee, and maesil (plum) drink were all available for free.

Hoping desperately that I would digest everything, I finished the plum tea too! Considering that four people would have more than enough to eat, Haepumgye's haesintang actually felt like a great-value meal..! If you are passing through Pocheon, I really recommend stopping by. (I will be back.)