Family lunch near Sillim Station: braised skate rice set at Yeseoban

I took my parents out for lunch here. This is a restaurant we all genuinely love. The soft braised skate is seriously delicious!!! Even though we came right after opening, the place was already packed with customers. That's how loved this restaurant seems to be.

Where is Yeseoban, and when is it open?

Yeseoban (예소반) sits roughly halfway between Sillim Station and Seowon Station. It's across from Dongsan Presbyterian Church, down the hill.

The address is 225 Munseong-ro, 1st floor, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It's open daily from 11:00 to 21:00 with a break time, and closed every Tuesday.

Home-style Korean cooking served as a full set meal

They say it's run by masters of home-style cooking and Korean fine dining, who prepare everything with real care. The side dishes and the braising sauce were genuinely delicious!!

Inside Yeseoban: seating for families and groups

It has a clean, unpretentious neighborhood restaurant vibe. We arrived early but there were already quite a few customers, so I couldn't get a full shot — there are actually more tables than shown. There were about six tables for four and some tables for six. Even for early lunch, there were group reservations.

Yeseoban menu and prices

• Braised pollack (small) ₩30,000
• Braised pollack with dried radish greens (small) ₩34,000
• Braised skate (small) ₩40,000
• Stir-fried baby octopus ₩13,000
• Ttukbaegi bulgogi (hot pot beef) ₩13,000

What the braised skate (gaori jorim) tastes like

The braised skate (gaori jorim) has a genuinely delicious sauce. Freshly cooked clay-pot rice is included as standard. Overall the banchan (side dishes) were clean and tasty too!! The basic table setting includes radish pickles, gungchae namul, konjac braise, lotus root salad, roasted seaweed, fresh kimchi, and bean sprouts.

Braised skate, famous in Sokcho, is really good!!! The flesh is soft yet chewy, and even the bones have a crunchy, cartilage-like texture that's pleasant to eat. The flesh is great, but chewing on the bones was actually the best part texture-wise!

I usually go for braised codfish (kodari jorim) since I eat it fairly often, but braised skate isn't something you can easily find all the time. This place has a good price and really great value!! The portion looks bigger than expected once you dig in, so it's plenty.

The skate itself isn't heavily seasoned, so it's mild and clean-tasting. That's why loading it up with sauce is absolutely the best way to eat it!!! It melts in your mouth, and there were no small bones to worry about. The sauce and the flesh don't separate at all — it clings perfectly!!!

Rice cake, tofu, braised radish, bean sprouts — having such a variety of ingredients mixed in made it even better. I don't usually go out of my way to spoon up the sauce, but this braising sauce is genuinely the best!!!

Spicy sauce with freshly cooked clay-pot rice

Because the rice is freshly cooked, it's fluffy yet sticky and delicious. So mixing in a generous scoop of sauce is heavenly!!! Putting rice, sauce, skate, and bean sprouts into unseasoned raw seaweed (gim) makes the best combination ever!!

The savory scorched rice (nurungji) at the end was the perfect finish!!! I eat clay-pot rice pretty often, but this day it felt especially sweet and tasty!!! I don't usually eat much rice, but I really enjoyed this one.

Is Yeseoban worth it for a spicy Korean lunch?

If you love spicy Korean food, I highly recommend the tender, soft braised skate — you have to try it!! If you're looking for a lunch spot in Gwanak-gu, I strongly recommend Yeseoban!!!