Geomdan restaurant clam soup and bossam dinner set: Taegine

I visited Taegine Jogae Jeongol, a place I had always loved for its generous portions and refreshing clam broth. It is especially famous for its clam hot pot, served in an enormous pot that fills the whole table. I recently heard there was a branch in Geomdan, and was delighted to find that they had added new set menus that make for a hearty meal, so I had to go.

A convenient Geomdan meal spot near Ara Station

• Address: 24 Ieum 5-ro, Geomdan-gu, Incheon, South Korea, 1st floor
• Hours: 11:00–22:00
• Weekday break: 15:00–16:00
• Parking: Use the parking lot in the building

It is about a six-minute walk from Ara Station, making it really easy to reach by public transportation. If you are driving, the building's underground parking is also convenient, so accessibility is excellent.

As soon as I walked in, I was surprised to see the spacious restaurant's many tables filled with diners. It was one of those moments when I could really feel that this is a popular place to eat in Geomdan New Town. The customers were a wonderfully varied mix, too—from groups of young people to families with small children, people of all ages were visiting. The whole interior was bright and kept very clean, making for a pleasant first impression.

The Tang Bossam Set with clam soup and bossam

Clam hot pot is undoubtedly the signature dish here, but this time the set menus that offer a lighter yet satisfying meal caught my eye. There was the Taegi Set, where you choose either clam soup or spicy seafood soup and enjoy bossam (boiled pork wraps), stir-fried webfoot octopus, and makguksu (buckwheat noodles) together. There was also the Tang Bossam Set, which pairs clam soup or spicy seafood soup with bossam for a reasonable ₩14,000 per person.

We chose the Tang Bossam Set for two and ordered the clear clam soup. I also loved that after finishing the meal, you can choose kalguksu noodles, ramen noodles, or a bowl of rice according to your preference.

A self-serve corner with barley rice, too

When you need more side dishes, you can help yourself at the self-serve corner. Neat basics such as bean sprouts, kimchi, and salad are available, but I especially loved being able to take as much barley rice as I wanted. I put a suitable amount into a bowl, mixed it with crisp yeolmu kimchi (young-radish kimchi) and a drizzle of nutty sesame oil, and it was perfect for taking the edge off before the main dishes arrived.

Clear clam soup filled with fresh shellfish

The clam soup arrived in a large pot, generously filled with enough fresh clams for two people. From scallops and dongjuk clams to fish-cake skewers, it was packed with a pleasing variety that already made me feel well fed just looking at it. The bossam platter that followed held glossy slices of pork, fresh lettuce, perilla leaves, cabbage leaves, myeongranjeot (salted pollock roe), and sweet-spicy red radish salad. Being able to enjoy two such generous dishes at once for such a fair price felt like a truly well-rounded set.

We set the clam soup to boil vigorously, then started eating in earnest once the fish cakes had cooked through and turned tender. The clam meat was plump with a great texture, and the broth was wonderfully deep and refreshing. A little chili pepper gave it a gentle kick and a clean savory flavor. If you cannot handle any spice at all, or are visiting with children, it would be a good idea to ask for the peppers to be left out when ordering. There was also plenty of fun in shelling and eating the chewy clams one by one.

Tender bossam with salted pollock roe

The bossam, wrapped in cabbage leaves, was better than I expected, too. Topping the tender pork with crisp radish salad and salty myeongranjeot made the seasoning just right—I could not help but be impressed. Even though this is a shellfish specialist, the bossam was moist and tender with not a trace of unpleasant pork odor; it would hold its own at a dedicated bossam restaurant. Alternating between the refreshing clam soup and savory bossam made for a meal that never had a chance to become tiresome, and made me twice as happy.

Kalguksu noodles for the final add-on

Once we had eaten most of the clams and pork, we chose kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) as our meal add-on. The noodles here are not especially thick, so they cooked quickly in the boiling broth. Scooping up the quickly cooked noodles with the refreshing clam broth without a long wait left me warm and satisfyingly full.

After finishing the meal, I wrapped things up neatly with the cool, sweet soft-serve ice cream at the self-serve corner. From the well-stocked self-serve bar to the clam soup, bossam, kalguksu noodles, and finishing soft serve, we enjoyed a satisfying full-course dinner at a fair price. Having experienced it for myself, I could absolutely understand why there were so many visitors.