Yeonsu Korean restaurant pork rib stew: Haemokjeong

It had been a while since I’d craved spicy, warming galbi-jjim (braised ribs), so I headed to Yeonsu-dong for some! I’m leaving a review because the food was neatly prepared and the side dishes were delicious too!

Parking and waiting area at Haemokjeong Yeonsu Main Branch

I visited Haemokjeong Yeonsu Main Branch (해목정 연수본점). Parking is right on the first floor of the building. The parking area is very spacious, so it’s a great place to come by car for a meal out.

Since it’s a popular Yeonsu-dong restaurant, the waiting area is also quite roomy. I visited at around 2 p.m., and there were still a few tables of guests having a late lunch.

And don’t forget to have a cup of cold barley tea on your way out after eating at Haemokjeong!!

Every table seemed to be enjoying different dishes. The affordable lunch options caught my eye too. Each table is set up with a seriously large burner~

Right beside it, the ingredients used in Haemokjeong’s seafood dishes were being kept looking wonderfully fresh~

Seafood-based seaweed soup and chilled side dishes

Haemokjeong’s banchan (Korean side dishes)~ The miyeok-guk (seaweed soup) came out first. It wasn’t bland at all: the seafood-based broth was packed with seaweed, deeply flavorful, and nicely warming with a little kick. As you’d expect from a seafood restaurant, even the seaweed soup was excellent.

There was salad topped with sesame dressing and chilled shredded jellyfish. Since the main dish is subtly spicy, these cold sides go so, so well with it. They’re pleasantly tangy too~

Of course, you can help yourself to extra side dishes at the self-service bar if you need more.

Haemokjeong menu and lunch specials

Haemokjeong’s menu is made up of mains, lunch specials, and sides, and everything was very well put together. The Haemokjeong Special and abalone seafood hot pot, which come with a main plus plenty of seafood sides, seemed perfect for a family meal out in Yeonsu.

The boneless monkfish stew, small pork rib stew, and Family Set—which includes seafood pork rib stew, abalone seafood hot pot, and fried squid—also looked like exceptionally good value together.

In particular, the lunch-special kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) and stir-fried webfoot octopus let you sort out lunch for prices in the ₩10,000 range, which is crazy good value! I also really, really liked that you can add noodles or toppings to the main dishes.

Adding kalguksu noodles and fried rice to pork rib stew

While you nibble away at the seaweed soup and side dishes, the pork rib stew (₩35,000) arrives! I added snow cheese fried rice and kalguksu noodles. I’m attempting one meal a day, so I got a little greedy with the add-ons.... haha, I thought I was going to burst.

Haemokjeong’s pork rib stew comes with the main pork ribs, oyster mushrooms, and rice-cake add-ons. There are lots of very large chunks of pork rib too. It’s quite a generous serving for the price!

The pork rib seasoning is subtly spicy and sweet. Even though it has heat, it’s the kind you can still comfortably eat. For reference, you can choose mild or spicy. Choose spicy if you want more heat~

Bring some perilla leaves from the self-service bar and wrap them with cabbage around the meat to tone down the spice a little~

The three musketeers of rice cake! The rice cakes were soft, chewy, and so delicious.

Tender rib meat that slips right off the bone

At this popular Yeonsu-dong spot, Haemokjeong’s pork rib meat slips right off the bone, so gently~ The meat itself is incredibly tender. It was tender enough for older diners to enjoy too.

I’m not exaggerating: the moment you put it in your mouth, the bone and meat separate, haha. It really is wonderfully tender meat.

Kalguksu noodles soaked in the sauce

The extra kalguksu noodles came out. I ordered them because I thought they would be so delicious mixed into this slightly saucy seasoning. And as expected, my instinct was right. The chewy noodles quickly soaked up the sauce, making them another special treat ㅠㅠ

I would have been full even after this, but then I got curious about the fried rice cooked in that broth... so I accidentally ordered snow cheese fried rice too...

Finishing with snow cheese fried rice

The snow cheese fried rice came topped with flying fish roe, chives, and seaweed flakes. The snow cheese was served separately. After the fried rice is cooked, you simply sprinkle it over gently.

Put it all into the remaining sauce at once.

Sprinkle on the snow cheese gently, and because it’s thin, it melts quickly—so you can eat it right away.

The snow cheese fried rice was soft and delicious! The pork rib stew sauce is tasty, so naturally the fried rice is tasty too. If you order the rib stew, definitely add fried rice for dessert. I was so happy to find such a delicious Yeonsu-dong lunch spot after a long time!