Daejeon restaurant for spicy braise with ramen noodles: Seommaeul

Hi, I'm Geonnyi, a grad student. There's a place I always visit whenever I'm craving agujjim (spicy braised monkfish) or haemuljjim (spicy braised seafood). It's close to where I work so I go for lunch too, and this time I made time to visit with my wife. Today's post is about Seommaeul, located in Sinseong-dong.

Seommaeul hours and how to find it in Sinseong-dong

• Hours: Mon–Sat 11:00–21:30, closed Sunday
• Break time 15:00–17:00, last order 20:30
• Location: 1163 Yuseongdae-ro, 1st floor, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon
• Features: parking available, reservations possible, group seating available

Outside Seommaeul and where to park

This is the exterior of Seommaeul, a lunch spot in Sinseong-dong, Daejeon. It sits at the intersection leading into Jaundae, so it's easy to find.

There's also a separate parking lot connected to the restaurant, three minutes on foot, so you don't need to worry about parking.

Inside Seommaeul: group tables and private rooms

This is the interior of Seommaeul, a lunch spot in Sinseong-dong, Daejeon. Even after 17 years in business, the interior is quite clean, and a place run this cleanly probably keeps the kitchen just as spotless...

They usually get a lot of group customers at lunch, so there's separate group seating. There are also room-style spaces inside, so it's good to reserve ahead before lunch.

They also have homemade sikhye (sweet rice punch) simmered from scratch, great as a dessert on the way out, or a glass before the meal to whet your appetite!

They also run a Naver receipt review event, giving you a canned drink for a review — no reason not to do it!

Seommaeul menu and prices

This is the menu board at Seommaeul, a lunch spot in Sinseong-dong, Daejeon. Haemuljjim, agujjim, and nakjibokkeum (stir-fried octopus) are the signature dishes, and you can add abalone or octopus to them. They also had galbitang (short rib soup) and ppyeo-haejangguk (pork spine hangover soup), and I noticed they recently added ppyeo-jjim (braised pork spine) too!

Today's pick: small monkfish-octopus braise with ramen noodles

We ordered the small monkfish-octopus braise (36,000 won) plus ramen noodles (2,000 won).

Our order took about 10 minutes to come out, but if you call ahead to order, you can eat right away.

The side dishes are home-style and all delicious, so we refilled them, and the steamed egg in particular was soft in texture with just the right seasoning.

The monkfish-octopus braise we ordered came on a big plate — even the small size was seriously generous.

For just 4,000 won extra on the agujjim, you can get octopus, and you're immediately overwhelmed by its size.

Cooked too long, it can turn tough, but this was cooked just right, chewy in a good way — really delicious.

The monkfish meat in the agujjim was also plump on top — plenty of monkfish itself, and it blends really well with the sauce.

The sauce is really the kicker here. We always order it spicy whenever we come, and it's not just brutally hot — it has a mild, pleasant kind of spice that's really tasty!

Plus there's a lot of bean sprouts mixed in, so even the small size is plenty for three people.

We were debating fried rice but figured ramen noodles would be good too, so we ordered one. It blends really well with the sauce, and ramen noodles are basically an unwritten rule here, so definitely try it.

If you're looking for a good haemuljjim or agujjim spot in Daejeon, give Seommaeul a try. That's all for today!