Neon-lit basement tteokbokki and fritters in Sinsa: Mil Tteok Factory

I'm back with another Sinsa Station restaurant review today!

Mil Tteok Factory Main Branch: location and hours

Mil Tteok Factory Main Branch (밀떡팩토리 본점) is at 64 Gangnam-daero 152-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on basement level 1. Hours are Mon–Thu and Sat–Sun 11:30–21:20, and Fri 11:30–21:20 (break time 15:00–16:00).

It's a 7-minute walk from Sinsa Station, and it sits right on the main stretch of Garosu-gil!

Exterior and interior: is this really a tteokbokki place? (basement level 1)

The entrance to Mil Tteok Factory Main Branch is inside the Seongmi Building on Garosu-gil. Follow the rabbit neon sign, then head down to basement level 1. My first impression was that it looked more like a bar than a tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) restaurant.

Just follow the rabbit neon sign into the Seongmi Building!

Then head down to basement level 1! With such a hip vibe, I honestly wondered on the way down whether this was really a tteokbokki place, hahaha.

The lighting on the way down was so stylish 🫶 You can't see the restaurant as soon as you get down, so you might get a little confused, but once you're in, just go left...

Ta-da ❤️ It's not the entrance to some moody bar, it really is the tteokbokki place! There seemed to be a waiting area out front.

The neon logo is sooo cute, and I liked that the restroom is inside, so it's clean!

The interior felt simple, minimal and modern!

The neon sign is the focal point and gives it that hip feel!

The lighting and rough concrete walls make it feel like a stylish bar rather than a typical snack shop!

And this is the self-service bar! It had pickled radish, a ladle, tongs and other utensils!

Menu and ordering: ₩38,000 for two

The menu at Mil Tteok Factory Main Branch was nicely simple! We ordered brisket tteokbokki (M) for ₩20,000, handmade crispy fritters for ₩10,000, 3 topping fritters for ₩3,000 and 2 drinks for ₩5,000.

Brisket tteokbokki (M) and handmade crispy fritters: what they look like

The brisket tteokbokki is instant-style (cooked at your table), but what stood out is that the brisket isn't raw. It comes already grilled and piled on as a topping. Every table has an induction cooktop and a kiosk, which made ordering and cooking easy.

Every table has an induction cooktop and a kiosk! They also run Naver receipt review and Google review events, so keep that in mind!

Even the water bottle and water have a cool vibe, haha.

This is such a smart touch 😍👍!!!! The apron was super cute too, and the neck length is adjustable!!! At a tteokbokki place an apron is a must anyway, and for someone like me who always splashes the gap between neck and apron, it was a sensational item!

Bowls and utensils, all set!

The brisket tteokbokki arrives!!! It's instant-style, and the unusual part is that the brisket is a grilled topping, not raw meat! It was loaded with different kinds of tteok, ramen noodles, quail eggs, perilla leaves and more!

And this is the handmade crispy fritters! They came with enoki mushrooms, crown daisy, shrimp, sundae (Korean blood sausage), sausage and more, plus soy sauce for dipping!

These are the 3 fritters I ordered as a topping! You get a gimmari (seaweed-wrapped glass noodle roll), a fried dumpling and fried squid!

Our favorite drinks, pear and Welch's 🤤

Jjolmyeon and ramen come standard, plus both wheat and rice tteok

The brisket tteokbokki at Mil Tteok Factory comes with jjolmyeon (chewy wheat noodles) and ramen included. It arrives mostly cooked already, so you only need to cook the vegetables on top for about 1–2 minutes!

At first I wondered if there was too little meat? But no way, haha. A whole handful!! It was definitely not too little for two people.

And one more special thing about Mil Tteok Factory! Jjolmyeon and ramen both come included, so you get to enjoy ramen and jjolmyeon together!

Mukbang time, for real 😆!!!

It has both wheat tteok and rice tteok, so the textures are varied, which I loved!!

I love rabokki (ramen plus tteokbokki) already, but jjolmyeon soaked in the sauce is seriously insanely good.. so great that you can eat both.

But what I fell for was the brisket and the tteokbokki sauce!!!!! The brisket is already seasoned, sweet and salty and delicious, and the smoky grill flavor is crazy good 😍!!!! I totally recommend scooping up some jjolmyeon together with it.

Handmade crispy fritters taste like tendon tempura

The handmade crispy fritters at Mil Tteok Factory have a thin batter, closer to the tempura you get on a tendon (tempura rice bowl) than to typical snack-shop fritters. The soy sauce served alongside is a savory-sweet, umami-rich sauce that isn't too salty even when you dip a lot.

Dip the fritters in lightly and pull them right out to eat!! The gimmari is so good ><

The fried squid was packed full of squid too, so it was springy and tasty!!

I started with the enoki fritter, my favorite! The soy sauce is a savory-sweet, umami sauce that isn't too salty even when you dip a lot! The batter isn't thick but thin, so it was really crunchy!

The eggplant fritter was tasty too.

The shrimp and sausage were yummy too!! They felt less like snack-shop fritters and more like the tempura you get with a tendon 😮🧡

Verdict: I couldn't manage the fried rice, but...

I was so full that I left a bit of the fritters, but I cleaned out the tteokbokki!! I was planning to finish with fried rice, but I was just too full, sob. I wish I had at least tasted it! I bet it would have been really good!! I highly recommend the smoky brisket tteokbokki!!!!

That's the end of my review of Mil Tteok Factory Main Branch, a Garosu-gil spot with a hip, surprising interior and instant tteokbokki so good I'd call it the best of my life!