Yongsan tteokbokki spot, 26,000 won fish cake combo: Hyeonseonine

2-13 Hangang-daero 39-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea (near Sinyongsan Station Exit 6) 11:00-24:00 Takeout and delivery available

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch: the Yongsan tteokbokki restaurant I keep craving

Yay everyone, happy fiery Friday, fire fire Friday~🎶🎵 Time to write a post that fits this fun Friday mood hehehe. It's a Yongsan restaurant, a Yongsan tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) spot, Hyeonseonine!

A few days ago, in the middle of a busy stretch of days, I found myself craving Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch and went. Hyeonseonine is a chain with branches all over, but I've only ever been to the Yongsan location — and I liked it so much I keep coming back to just this one. This time I visited as a blogger, but my very first visit was on a strong recommendation from my best friend — that's how we first met, haha.

How long is the wait at Hyeonseonine? About 30 minutes at peak time

Even though it wasn't quite peak mealtime, Hyeonseonine was nearly full — so just a heads up, there is a wait during peak hours haha. Last time I visited during peak time, I think I waited about 30 minutes.

Classic tteokbokki instead of instant, ordered at the kiosk

Ordering is done via kiosk, and the menu is broadly split into instant-style tteokbokki and non-instant classic tteokbokki. I've only ever had the basic classic tteokbokki here, and looking around, it seems like about 70% of people order the classic version. After ordering, you grab your own pickled radish, small plates, salt and everything neatly from the self-serve bar. Water and aprons are self-serve too.

Hyeonseoni Combo Set for 26,000 won: the fish cake is what the basic set is missing

Hyeonseoni Combo Set, ₩26,000. This is the most basic set here, and the difference between the Hyeonseoni Set and the Hyeonseoni Combo Set is the fish cake. As you can see, the combo set comes with

tteokbokki, fried snacks, sundae (blood sausage), gimbap (seaweed rice roll), and fish cake — a full spread. The basic Hyeonseoni Set is missing just the fish cake, and whenever we come, we always order this combo set instead. Why? Because there's nothing you'd want to leave out — it's all solidly good~

If you ask me what's best out of all this, tteokbokki aside, the gimbap and fish cake are the tastiest. The fish cake is really solid, so I recommend the Hyeonseoni Combo Set over the basic set.

How hot is medium spice at Hyeonseonine if you can't take heat?

At Hyeonseonine you can choose your spice level when ordering — mild, medium, or hot, three options total. We ordered medium spice this time,

and for reference, I'm someone who really can't handle spicy food, and by my standards medium spice was a little spicier than Shin Ramyun? But it's absolutely not to the point where you can't eat it — it's just genuinely tasty, pleasantly spicy? Something like that.

Honest verdict on the sundae, plus gimbap, fish cake and the self-serve fried-batter flakes

For eating alongside the other dishes, I think medium spice is the best choice by my standards. I'm a self-proclaimed sundae (blood sausage) lover, but honestly it's a little hard to say Hyeonseonine's sundae is amazing —

but aside from that, as I said, the gimbap and fish cake were so good and paired really well with the tteokbokki. Oh, and also, Hyeonseonine has separate fried batter flakes at the self-serve bar, so you can grab some and coat your tteokbokki or whatever else in it — that's a real treat too haha.

Why I go back to Hyeonseonine even though I don't really like tteokbokki

Like that, haha. And Hyeonseonine's fried snacks are also solidly decent. I sat and thought about why Hyeonseonine occasionally, or sometimes, or 'in a way' often, comes to mind for me. I'm known for not really liking tteokbokki haha — even though I went to an all-girls high school, I never really got into tteokbokki like other girls did, haha. Anyway, Hyeonseonine really seems to nail that exact classic flavor of tteokbokki, sundae, fish cake, gimbap, and fried snacks.

Whatever you order, it really just does the basics right, so no matter what you pair it with, it's subtly delicious and the flavor never overpowers. Would I go back? I'm already doing it, haha.