Gangnam Korean restaurant after the COEX Baby Fair: Obongjip Samseong

Hi everyone, it's Mingdung! We did an opening-rush run to the COEX Baby Fair this time and I was completely drained afterward. My husband and I were trying to figure out what to eat when we remembered Obongjip was nearby, so we ran straight there! Being in my last month, digestion has been rough and I've had zero appetite, so all I could think about was spicy Korean food to wake my taste buds up... We'd had amazing meals at other Obongjip branches before, and since there happened to be an Obongjip Samseong Branch right near COEX, I didn't even hesitate — straight there we went!

How to get to Obongjip Samseong Branch, and is there parking?

Obongjip Samseong Branch is at 62 Teheran-ro 81-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in a Teheran-ro alley about a 13-minute walk from Exit 5 of Samseong Station. There's no dedicated parking space, so I'd recommend public transit! We used a parking app to book 5 hours at a nearby hotel garage, wandered the baby fair, then came here for lunch. Recommended as a Samseong Station restaurant, Samseong-dong restaurant, and COEX restaurant.

Inside Obongjip Samseong: a 75-seat hall and a private room for 15

Walking into Obongjip Samseong Branch, the space was really spacious and clean! With a large hall seating up to 75 and a 15-person group room available, it looked perfect for office workers near Samseong Station having lunch or a company dinner.

What we ordered and what it cost: 33,000-won bossam and 26,000-won lunch octopus stir-fry

Obongjip is famous for having no bad dishes on the menu, so we ordered our usual favorite combo!

• Obongjip Bossam (small): ₩33,000
• Lunch * fire-grilled octopus stir-fry (basic flavor, for two): ₩26,000
• Zero-sugar cola x2: ₩4,000

Ordering the fire-grilled octopus stir-fry as part of the lunch special gets you unlimited rice and banchan refills, which is seriously great value!

The banchan and seaweed soup that come on Obongjip's round tray

After a short wait, the banchan (side dishes) arrived neatly arranged on the nostalgic round country-style tray (obong)! The warm, deeply flavored seaweed soup was so soothing for my stomach, worn out from wandering the baby fair, and sides like bean sprouts, white kimchi, and seaweed flakes all paired perfectly with the main dishes :)

The seaweed soup was genuinely delicious, and it's refillable too!! It was so good I even mixed rice into it... me, who said I had no appetite, suddenly had my appetite completely back hahaha...

How spicy and how smoky is the basic fire-grilled octopus stir-fry?

The fire-grilled octopus stir-fry is a must-order at Obongjip! Thanks to their special fire-grilling method, the smoky aroma hit my nose the moment it was placed on the table :) The octopus was plump yet never chewy, with a springy texture that really came through. We went with the basic flavor, and the sauce was appropriately spicy with deep savoriness soaked in — enough to make even me, an appetite-less mother-to-be in her last month, devour it like a storm!

Mixing octopus bibimbap with a drizzle of sesame oil

I drizzled sesame oil over rice, piled on bean sprouts, seaweed flakes, and plenty of octopus stir-fry to make an octopus bibimbap (mixed rice bowl) — a total appetite-thief that truly brought my lost appetite back!

Is the small Obongjip bossam enough for two people?

An essential side to go with the octopus stir-fry is the Obongjip Bossam. Even in the small size, the amount of meat was quite generous, boiled soft and moist with absolutely no gamey smell.

Topped with crunchy, sweet bossam kimchi and dried radish strips, each big bite burst with juice — alternating a spicy bite of octopus with a soft bite of bossam meant we never got tired of it, and we cleaned the plate down to the very last piece!

Why Obongjip Samseong worked as a lunch stop after the COEX Baby Fair

We rushed here completely drained from the baby fair, and it exceeded expectations — the store was cleaner and the food tastier than we'd hoped, so my husband and I finished every bit and recharged our energy! If you're looking for a hearty, delicious Korean restaurant near Samseong Station or Samseong-dong, I strongly recommend Obongjip Samseong Branch!