IFC Mall snack restaurant with a self-serve broth bar: Hyeonseonine

I went to check out the pop-up stores at The Hyundai Seoul Yeouido over the weekend, and I found out there's a well-known tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) spot near IFC Mall, so I dropped by~! It's Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki at IFC Mall. Since The Hyundai Seoul Yeouido and IFC Mall are close together, it was great for a quick meal before or after pop-up hunting, and they even have a set menu with gimbap (seaweed rice roll), sundae (Korean blood sausage), and fried snacks alongside the tteokbokki, so I got to try a bit of everything.

It's honestly kind of hard to find a proper old-school snack restaurant these days, right? I found this place while looking for IFC Mall restaurants and walked straight in — and the taste was exactly the school-gate tteokbokki style I love! So here's my review of Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki at IFC Mall~~~~!

Where is Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch and how do you get there?

Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki at IFC Mall is on basement level 2 of IFC Mall, 10 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Hours are Mon–Fri 11:00–21:00, Sat–Sun 12:00–21:00.

This Yeouido tteokbokki spot is easy to find — just walk from Yeouido Station Exit 3 toward IFC Mall and you'll see it. Since it's on B2 of IFC Mall, it's also close if you're coming over from browsing The Hyundai Seoul Yeouido. A solid location for anyone like us looking for a simple meal before or after checking out the pop-ups.

Inside Hyeonseonine Premium: interior and seating

Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch has quite a few tables set up inside, plus seats out on the terrace. There were a lot of customers when I visited, but being a snack restaurant, the turnover seemed pretty fast. It looked like a comfortable spot whether you're eating alone or coming with someone to find a good IFC Mall snack restaurant.

Menu and prices at Hyeonseonine Premium: the Hyeonseonine Set for two

The menu has pretty much everything you'd expect from a snack restaurant — tteokbokki, instant tteokbokki, gimbap, sundae, ramyeon, fried snacks. There's also a set option with several dishes served together, perfect for someone like me who wants to try a bit of everything. Since there were two of us, we ordered the Hyeonseonine Set for 23,000 won.

Side dishes at the self-bar: pickled radish, salt and broth

You grab your own basic sides from the self-bar inside the restaurant. There was pickled radish and salt ready to go, and you could also help yourself to broth. A warm sip of broth between bites of tteokbokki actually paired really well~!

Hyeonseonine Set, 23,000 won: how mild is the mild tteokbokki?

First up, the star of the show — the tteokbokki! You can adjust the spice level, so we went mild. The first bite hit exactly the school-gate tteokbokki flavor I love~~~!

It's not overwhelmingly spicy for spice's sake — it's that familiar sweet-and-spicy taste, so I kept reaching for more. The rice cakes soaked up the sauce well, and with fish cake mixed in too, there was fun in picking through it all. If you're looking for Yeouido tteokbokki with that old-school snack-shop feel, this should suit you well.

The gimbap that comes with the Hyeonseonine Set

You can't have tteokbokki without gimbap! Gimbap was included in the Hyeonseonine Set, so we got to enjoy it without ordering separately.

The fillings were done right by the basics, and dipping it straight into the tteokbokki sauce made it even better. Honestly, I can't resist the tteokbokki + gimbap combo..!

Assorted fried snacks: sweet potato, squid, fried mandu and kimmari

Then the assorted fried snacks I'd been looking forward to! Sweet potato tempura, squid tempura, fried mandu (dumplings), kimmari (seaweed-wrapped glass noodle rolls) — lots of varieties, great for picking one at a time.

I especially dipped the sweet potato tempura into the tteokbokki sauce — crispy outside, soft inside, and delicious.

The squid tempura had nice plump pieces of squid, and there was kimmari too, my personal favorite — satisfied!

The fried snacks are tasty on their own, but dipping them deep into Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki sauce was still the best way to eat them.

Sundae at Hyeonseonine Premium, lung and liver included

The set also came with sundae — and not just the sausage itself, but a generous helping of lung and liver too.

I first tried the chewy lung and liver dipped lightly in salt — clean, no gamey smell, nicely mild.

And then the chewy glutinous sundae, which I love~~! Dipping the sundae into the tteokbokki sauce added that sweet-spicy kick and made it even better. Being able to eat tteokbokki, gimbap, fried snacks, and sundae all in one spread was the biggest advantage of the Hyeonseonine Set.

Verdict: an IFC Mall snack stop to pair with The Hyundai Seoul pop-ups

I ended up here almost by accident while pop-up hunting at The Hyundai Seoul, and it turned out more satisfying than I expected as an IFC Mall restaurant. I especially loved that the tteokbokki had that sweet-spicy school-gate feel I'm into, and being able to get gimbap, fried snacks, and sundae all in one set made it a good fit for two people too.

If you're shopping at The Hyundai Seoul Yeouido or IFC Mall and looking for a good Yeouido tteokbokki spot or IFC Mall snack restaurant, Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki at IFC Mall is worth a simple meal stop!