Bundang rice pot restaurant: octopus scallop sotbap at Morang Haemul

As the weather turns cooler, I keep craving a warm bowl of rice — and ideally, straight out of a hot pot. So off I went! Here's my visit to Morang Haemul Sotbap Jungja Station branch, a pot rice place right in front of Jungja Station.

Where is Morang Haemul Sotbap Jungja Station branch, and what are the hours?

Morang Haemul Sotbap Jungja Station branch is 275m from Exit 5 of Jungja Station, on the 2nd floor of Jeongja-dong 2-cha Pujeong City. The address is 213-214, 197 Jeongja-illo, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do.

• Hours: Mon-Fri 11:00 - 21:30 / Sat 11:30 - 21:30 / Sun 11:30 - 15:00
• Break time: 15:00 - 17:00
• Parking: Free in the building parking lot

Inside the dining room and how to order at the table kiosk

Head up to the 2nd floor and a much bigger hall than expected opens up. The ceilings are high too, and soft lighting lines the stairwell walls — total café mood.

The seating is spaced generously, so it'd be perfect for family gatherings or work dinners! Ordering is done via a table kiosk.

Just looking at the sotbap category, there's eel sotbap, abalone sotbap, beef eggplant sotbap, even oyster gukbap — so many kinds! On the left category there's also fried side dishes, drinking snacks, and makgeolli (rice wine) listed separately, so this place could work for a nighttime drink too. After some deliberation, here's my order!

Octopus scallop sotbap (16.0) / Seafood sotbap (15.0)

Water is self-serve.

What banchan and soup come with the sotbap?

The braised enoki mushroom (?) had a soy base with a slight tang — pretty unusual! Four banchan come out total: kimchi, radish salad, and fish cake stir-fry.

Bean sprout soup comes alongside too, clear and refreshing style. (Not gonna mention the photo's a bit blurry...)

Octopus scallop sotbap, 16,000 won: the soy-seasoned potato under the rice

The octopus scallop sotbap arrived first! The pot sits on a wooden stand surrounded by banchan, so the whole presentation looks super neat.

They give you seaweed too!

Up close: thick slices of octopus leg fanned out on top, and next to them, five plump chunks of scallop!

A light dusting of sesame and parsley on top made the colors pretty too. Pick up a scallop and you get a faint whiff of butter on the outside — bite in and the center splits softly apart.

One piece of octopus too. It's got real thickness, so the chew is satisfying. Chewy but not tough at all!!

The scallops are super plump!

But the real treasure was hiding underneath!!! Julienned potato cooked in with the rice, soaked in soy seasoning — you could eat just this and it'd steal the whole bowl.

Scoop up rice and potato together for one big spoonful.

Add a piece of octopus for another spoonful. Buttery-scented rice topped with chewy octopus — it's kind of like... Korean food but not quite, oddly upscale?

Wrapped in seaweed it's a whole different flavor. The salty seaweed reins in the buttery scent, so my hand kept reaching back for more. And now for the menu that lives up to this restaurant's name — the seafood sotbap!

Seafood sotbap, 15,000 won: oysters and whole shrimp covering the rice

My eyes went wide. A whole shrimp, baby octopus, oysters, squid, scallop, fish cake — seafood piled so high you can't even see the rice!

The oysters are pretty large, and popping one in your mouth brings a burst of ocean flavor. Zero fishiness at all.

There are baby octopus (?) friends in there too, and something new turns up every time you dig around. Kind of like a treasure hunt (?) — quite fun.

One oyster on a spoonful of rice! The broth from the seafood soaks into the rice, so it's perfectly seasoned even without adding soy sauce!!

A sotbap where you see seafood before you see rice — I'm a big fan of this kind of thing

This mystery ingredient wasn't tough at all either, cut cleanly with each bite!

Which Morang Haemul Sotbap dish should you order near Jungja Station?

Five minutes on foot from Exit 5 of Jungja Station! Free parking in the building made driving there easy too. If you're after a sotbap place with generous seafood, go for the seafood sotbap!!! If you want the chew of octopus and scallop, go for the octopus scallop sotbap!! Recommended either way.

Both are under ₩16,000, which isn't bad value considering how much eating out costs these days! Next time I'll have to come back for the abalone sotbap and a bowl of makgeolli. If you're looking for a Jungja Station restaurant for a group dinner, check out Morang Haemul Sotbap!