Clam hot pot restaurant with fried squid banchan, Daejeon: Widaehan

A chilly autumn evening at Widaehan Jogae Jeongol in Dong-gu, Daejeon

Widaehan Jogae Jeongol is a clam hot pot and clam kalguksu (noodle soup) restaurant at 38 Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon, behind Woosong College. We'd been wandering around all weekend and were too lazy to cook again once we got home, so we decided to eat out and scoped out restaurants around Yongjeon-dong. Felt like clam hot pot for the first time in a while, so we went here.

The heat's finally breaking and temperatures have dropped a lot, so it really feels like autumn has arrived. Sleeping with the window open at night gets way too cold now. Maybe that's why we suddenly craved hot soup — something that didn't sound appealing at all during the hot months!

The street has that lively food-alley feel, with a beer place and a meat restaurant right next door, so it looks like a good spot for a first-round, second-round kind of night!

What two people ordered: 2-person clam hot pot plus clam kalguksu

The menu looks like this, and since we came craving hot soup for two, we ordered the 2-person clam hot pot plus clam kalguksu. We always do the same thing at Oh-ssi Kalguksu — moot-tang (whelk soup) plus a bowl of surf clam kalguksu — so I love a menu loaded with clams like this.

True to a clam hot pot restaurant, the place had its drink fridge packed full, and there's a water dispenser where you can scoop hot water if you want.

While looking around after ordering, I noticed there were baby chairs, so it's not a bad spot for a family visit either. There was some kind of award sitting on top of the fridge, haha, but I didn't get a close look.

Fried squid legs and other banchan served while the hot pot heats

The 2-person clam hot pot arrives! The pot is set down big enough to cover almost the entire table, and the owner tells us to put it on the burner and wait.

While waiting, we dug into the banchan. My partner doesn't eat the silkworm pupae so I finished them off solo, and the fried spring rolls were surprisingly good dipped in chojang (vinegar-chili sauce). The freshly fried squid legs were the real star though — crispy, hot, and chewy, way better than the fried squid you buy at snack shops these days!! The owner runs the whole place solo, cooking and serving the floor, super busy, but still seems to fry these fresh to order.

Since it's the leg part that's fried, it's bouncy and chewy, and honestly it was hard to give up the last piece to each other, haha.

The kimchi pancake tasted like the usual freebie kind you get at restaurants! But it had a good amount of filling in it, so it felt substantial.

Finished off the appetizers and now just waiting for the clam hot pot to boil...

Does the owner clean the abalone, fan mussel and squid at your table?

With Widaehan Jogae Jeongol's clam hot pot, you wait while the pot rattles away, and the owner times it and lifts the lid for you. Unveiling time~

It's bubbling away, and the owner cleans the fan mussel, abalone, and squid for us.

She served the abalone one per person onto separate plates, apparently so we wouldn't fight over it, haha. It wasn't tough at all — soft yet firm, and really good dipped in chojang.

The pot is so big it doesn't all fit in one shot, but everything you'd expect in a clam hot pot is in there! And beyond the small clams, hard clams and scallops made up a bigger share than I expected, which made it feel more premium.

Once all the prep was done, here's the aerial shot~ From here you just fish everything out and eat. The surf clams were nice and plump too, so the seafood quality here was clearly a step above the so-so seafood kalguksu places.

Clam kalguksu: why the broth gets richer with the noodle water

The clam kalguksu we'd ordered came out next, in order. Since the clam hot pot took up a burner, they cooked it on the empty burner at the next table!

Once ladled into bowls, there was plenty for two people to share. The clam kalguksu was loaded evenly with hard clams, scallops, and mussels, so it was fun to pick through, and the broth tasted much richer once mixed with the starchy noodle water. The hot pot broth is delicious on its own, but does anyone else agree the broth with noodles in it is even better?

So this must be what they mean by ssaksak kimchi (fully cleaned bowl)? The broth was so good I wanted to keep spooning it up, but we were too full to fit in any more. A little regretful, but we called it a night here...

Restrooms, baby chairs and other amenities at Widaehan Jogae Jeongol

Widaehan Jogae Jeongol has both a men's and women's restroom inside, and the women's restroom is spotless!! There's hand wash and clean dry towels, so even though your hands can end up smelling a bit fishy after eating, you can wash up nicely before heading out.