Icheon seafood restaurant for octopus haesintang: Seonghone

Today I’m back with a record of a nourishing meal I had with my parents after quite a while! We went for octopus-and-abalone haesintang at Seonghone Wang Kodari Dongtaetang, Icheon Seolseong Branch (성호네왕코다리동태탕 이천설성점), a spot famous near the Icheon National Cemetery in Gyeonggi-do! With the big swings in temperature lately, there seem to be lots of people catching colds everywhere! I also heard COVID is going around again, and a few people around me had caught it. The chilly weather had us feeling a little under the weather, and since my mom was recently injured and in a cast, we went for a nourishing meal for the whole family!

Here is the octopus-and-abalone haesintang (a restorative seafood soup) we ate! These are the volcano cheese steamed egg and basic side dishes that come with the haesintang!

Seonghone Wang Kodari Dongtaetang exterior and parking

Seonghone Wang Kodari Dongtaetang was known as a great restaurant near the Icheon National Cemetery! It was about a 40-minute drive from Yeoju and about 10 minutes by car from Ganam. We arrived at around 5:15 p.m. on a weekday. Naver listed the break time as 3:00–5:00 p.m., but the owner explained that they open at 5:30 p.m.! Still, it was nice that we could go inside and wait!

The large sign outside even had photos of the menu items on it!

There was also a standing sign out front for the haesintang we had come to eat! There was plenty of parking space at the front and side. The store information said that even large vehicles such as buses can park here, with room for more than 30 cars!

There was a menu board and notices about TV appearances outside the restaurant too!

Inside atmosphere and dining information

The business hours were posted by the entrance, and there was a coffee machine for an after-meal drink!

We arrived before opening, so we went in as the first customers! It was set up with table seating like this!

We visited at around 5:15 p.m. on a weekday, ordered, waited, and then ate! It was not even 6 p.m. yet, but there were already so many customers, perhaps local residents! Including us, there were six parties, and customers also came in here and there for takeout. There were lots of customers even on a weekday evening—many groups having drinks with their food, as well as people dining alone~

There was information about pollock and the benefits of its different cuts! The Wi-Fi password and images from the TV appearances were posted too!

Apparently, you can order their frozen-pollock soup for delivery anywhere in Korea! The braised kodari (semi-dried pollock) is cooked to order and takes about 15 minutes, while the octopus-and-abalone haesintang we ordered takes about 30 minutes. If you want to eat as soon as you arrive, I recommend making a reservation before visiting! Registered members could use a discounted price. There were also notices about a receipt-review event and how to enjoy the food!

Aprons were available throughout the restaurant, which was convenient! The restroom was inside the restaurant. I also photographed the country-of-origin board!

Octopus-and-abalone haesintang menu and order

There were lots of different menu items!

The menu board was posted like this!

The octopus-and-abalone haesintang and flower-octopus braised kodari each had their own photo menu! We debated between the flower-octopus braised kodari and this, then ordered the octopus-and-abalone haesintang for a nourishing meal. My mom and I had never tried haesintang before, so we were curious!

• Medium octopus-and-abalone haesintang (serves 2–3), ₩115,000 — includes volcano cheese steamed egg
• 2 bowls of rice, ₩2,000 each
• Total: ₩119,000

From cheese steamed egg to octopus-and-abalone haesintang

First, they brought out the basic side dishes! This is the steamed egg that comes with an order of octopus-and-abalone haesintang. It was so fluffy and warm, right? It even had cheese sprinkled over the top! Steamed egg is always best eaten right away while it is hot, you know! My sweet dad served it onto our small plates~ The cheese made it rich, moist, soft, and so delicious!

The steamed egg disappeared in no time haha. Then our octopus-and-abalone haesintang arrived! Since it takes around 30 minutes to prepare, I recommend reserving ahead! The big octopus on top immediately caught my eye, and it was piled high with minari (water celery) and mushrooms too. I heard this haesintang is especially popular on boknal, Korea’s traditional hottest summer days!

This haesintang was based on sipjeondaebotang, a traditional herbal restorative soup, and filled with wholesome ingredients! It had minari, shiitake mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, white wood ear mushrooms, neungi mushrooms, garlic, ginkgo nuts, and carrots. There were also large pieces of octopus, abalone, shrimp, and chicken, so it was perfect for a restorative meal! Dad cut the octopus into easy-to-eat pieces with scissors.

They said you should take the octopus out once it is cooked! Otherwise it can become tough, so I recommend putting it on your small plate and eating it that way!

The octopus was tender, chewy, and delicious!

I tried the broth too! They explained that it had a sipjeondaebotang base; it had a deep flavor from medicinal herbs, and with the seafood, mushrooms, and minari, it really tasted like a restorative meal! I dipped it in the wasabi soy sauce. It had been such a long time since I had octopus, and I loved that it was not tough and had such a nice chewy texture! My mom loves seafood too, so I felt proud seeing how satisfied she was! Can you see all the mushrooms inside?

We also ordered rice to eat with the haesintang! I have been trying to diet lately, so Mom and I decided to split one bowl, half each!

I also took a photo of the full spread midway through!

I also liked that the rice was black rice! I love mixed-grain rice with that little pop of texture from black rice, brown rice, and oats, so I was happy with it! There were big pieces of neungi mushroom inside too. The octopus was so large that it kept coming even as we ate! I was so satisfied to be able to eat this much octopus~

There were three kinds of sauce, which was nice because we could dip according to our tastes! We also cut the neungi mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Eating the minari with the octopus added its fragrant freshness, and that combination was delicious too! With the mushrooms, minari, rich broth, and octopus, every bite seemed to spread a warm feeling through my body and fill that empty feeling inside.

I love neungi chicken soup, and having neungi mushrooms with octopus like this was so flavorful and delicious! It made me feel healthy! There were three abalones too. I ate them with white wood ear mushrooms and dipped them in soy sauce as well! White wood ear mushrooms with octopus were delicious too!

There was glutinous rice stuffed inside the chicken! I diligently ate it with the broth, mushrooms, and cut-up octopus! There was such happiness in having a mouthful of wholesome ingredients in the hot, rich broth. I peeled and ate the shrimp too! We cleaned it all up!

We had octopus-and-abalone haesintang at Seonghone Wang Kodari Dongtaetang, famous near the Icheon National Cemetery, and it truly felt restorative because it was full of wholesome ingredients like octopus and abalone! Many customers had come for the braised kodari, but they said the octopus-and-abalone haesintang we ate is ordered especially often on boknal. The braised kodari looked incredibly popular, so next time I would love to come back to try that too~