Cheonho octopus alley restaurant and Rich Gold Cheese Plate: Jjuksami

As soon as the weather turned cooler, I started craving spicy, chewy octopus. There's a spot that always comes up when you mention octopus restaurants in Cheonho, so I went to check it out myself. It was Jjuksami, an octopus specialty restaurant, one of the standout spots in the Cheonho octopus alley — I went in looking forward to spicy octopus paired with savory pork belly.

Where is Jjuksami Cheonho Main Branch in the Cheonho octopus alley?

Jjuksami Cheonho Main Branch is an octopus specialty restaurant located at 1st floor, 8 Cheonhodae-ro 158-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea, tucked into the Cheonho octopus alley. It's open daily from 12:00 to 01:00, offers reservations, takeout, delivery, and catering, and has wifi and separate men's/women's restrooms.

This whole alley is packed with octopus restaurants, so it's a great spot for doing a little octopus tour, comparing places one by one. Jjuksami has been around long enough to be featured on TV, so it felt like a safe bet. It's right at the entrance of the alley, so it was super easy to find.

Inside Jjuksami: the room and how to order

The interior at Jjuksami was bigger than I expected, set up with 4-person tables. The menu has octopus, octopus pork belly, octopus shrimp, and octopus pork belly shrimp — just pick whatever suits you.

I ordered octopus pork belly for two, plus the Rich Gold Cheese Plate as an add-on.

Of course, perilla leaves are the truth for wrapping octopus. Alongside came pickled radish, ssamjang (Korean dipping sauce), garlic, and scorched rice.

Octopus with pork belly for two plus the 2,000-won Rich Gold Cheese Plate

Jjuksami's Rich Gold Cheese Plate comes as an add-on for ₩2,000. It's served in a separate section next to the octopus pan, with mozzarella cheese, sweet potato mousse, and bean sprouts.

Even if you can't handle spicy food well, there's plenty here to mellow out the heat, so it seemed manageable.

Jjuksami's best trick: the staff stir-fry the octopus to just the right point

At Jjuksami, you don't have to stir-fry the octopus yourself. Once the octopus sauce starts to bubble a little, a staff member comes over and tosses it around, cooking it just right. Not having to do it myself was genuinely convenient.

Octopus pork belly cooked just right by a pro. It was even better with the enoki mushrooms piled in — I love that texture.

Spicy octopus and pork belly with a soju-beer mix, steamed egg and corn cheese

How could I resist a soju-beer mix with Jjuksami's octopus pork belly? Straight for it.

After cooking the octopus pork belly just right, the owner brought over steamed egg and corn cheese. There really is a lot to eat alongside the octopus.

This sweet potato mousse and cheese combo is genuinely delicious haha

Grab a plump octopus piece coated in tasty sauce, roll it up with the sweet potato mousse cheese, and

it's not spicy at all, just chewy, savory, and delicious — it has everything!

Eating it with the soft steamed egg and corn cheese makes the flavor even more varied.

Bean sprouts + octopus + mayonnaise is also a crunchy, spicy, savory combo that works really well.

Finishing with free spaghetti noodles or glass noodles

At Jjuksami, once you've finished the octopus, they give you spaghetti noodles or glass noodles for free. Spaghetti noodles soaked completely in the spicy octopus sauce made for a genuinely appealing finish.

You can also choose glass noodles instead, so pick whichever suits your taste for the finish. This spaghetti alone was so satisfying I didn't miss any other typical ending dish. I was debating whether to get fried rice but went with spaghetti noodles instead, and it felt totally different in a good way.

Is Jjuksami worth it? Final verdict

Among the octopus restaurants in Cheonho, Jjuksami stood out for how well-rounded the octopus pork belly plus Rich Gold Cheese Plate combo was. Spicy octopus with a glass of soju-beer mix, finished off with sauce-soaked spaghetti noodles — it felt like a fully satisfying meal on its own!! It's been around long enough to be featured on TV, so I get why people in this alley keep coming back to this particular spot.