Gwangmyeong jjukkumi restaurant with reservations: Jeongipum

Back at Jeongipum Jjukkumi in Gwangmyeong AK Plaza

My mom and I came out to shop in Gwangmyeong and were wondering what to have for lunch. Then Mom said she’d been craving jjukkumi (webfoot octopus), so I looked it up and immediately reserved Jeongipum Jjukkumi Gwangmyeong 1st Branch (정이품쭈꾸미)! We’d been here before, but there was a wait that time. Coming back today, I found they’d expanded the place altogether?! Popular spots really do need to grow like this so everyone can enjoy a good meal~~ The owner is the best, haha.

Jeongipum Jjukkumi location, parking, and hours

Jeongipum Jjukkumi is even bigger now, haha. It’s on the first floor of Gwangmyeong AK Plaza. It’s near the escalator going up and directly visible from the way down to the underground parking lot—this should make it easy to find.

📍Parking You can park in AK Plaza’s underground lot. I think they provide two hours. You can combine it with receipts from other AK purchases when settling your parking, so it would be nice to shop and eat while you’re there.

📍Hours 11:30–22:00 Break time 16:00–17:00 Last order 15:00, 21:00

The restaurant is wider than before, with sofa seating by the windows like this and regular tables farther inside. Every table was spacious, so even with just two people, we could eat comfortably with plenty of room.

Reserve ahead for your menu and spice level to be set up

When you visit with a reservation, they have a tablet ready with your name on it like this. If you note your menu and spice level when reserving, they even set everything up in advance for your arrival time. If you hate waiting, reserving before your visit and eating as soon as you arrive would be a great idea~

Tabletop jjukkumi + plentiful add-ons for 2 Drinks

There are three spice levels in total. I chose medium, and even my mom, who isn’t great with spicy food, enjoyed it. I recommend medium!!

Side dishes and how to eat tabletop jjukkumi

These are the basic side dishes and accompaniments that were set out~ You get cabbage topped with black sesame and sesame sauce, chilled seaweed soup, roasted seaweed, bean sprouts, pickled radish, perilla leaves, mayonnaise, and flying-fish roe. Everything except the flying-fish roe can be refilled. The roe is extra~

This is how it comes out at first. A staff member turns on the heat and comes over to check on the cooking too, so you can just wait without worrying much~

It sizzles away beautifully, haha. You just need to flip the pork belly once in a while, and after some time, a staff member tells you that it’ll be ready to eat in a few minutes.

Perilla leaf, seaweed, and minari wraps

This was my very favorite combination, haha: perilla leaf, roasted seaweed, pork belly, jjukkumi, minari (water dropwort), mayonnaise, and flying-fish roe = heaven!! Once you make wraps like this, finishing everything happens in no time..

The seasoning is clean-tasting first of all, and it goes so well with the perilla leaves that it was much tastier as a wrap than on its own. And the minari aroma is so good. They add so much that you can still notice it even after the minari wilts, and it’s wonderfully fragrant.

A meal made even better with complimentary steamed egg

They serve steamed egg as a complimentary side here too!! It comes in a fluffy earthenware bowl, and it goes so well with the jjukkumi that it’s just the best. It isn’t salty and has a mild flavor, so a bite of jjukkumi followed by a bite of steamed egg is perfect.

One bite with jjukkumi placed on the steamed egg~ It’s chewy and soft, so I just kept eating it..

In the end, we scraped it all clean~ I wanted fried rice too, but there was so much food that we couldn’t make it that farㅠ If you’re two people and really want fried rice, I think it’s best to leave a little and stir-fry the rice in it. The jjukkumi sauce here is so delicious. If you’re looking for a great jjukkumi spot in Gwangmyeong, I highly recommend Jeongipum Jjukkumi! And the owner and staff were so, so kind that we left after a really pleasant meal. I’ll be back 100%!!!