IFC Mall solo dining: mild set and vegetable fritters at Hyeonseonine

Everybody move😤 my blood tteokbokki level just dropped and I'm getting dizzy!

Location: Hyeonseonine Premium, basement level 2, IFC Mall, 10 Gukjegeumyung-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

Hours: Weekdays 11:00–21:00 / Weekends 12:00–22:00 / Last order 20:40.

I heard there was a famous tteokbokki spot in Yeouido, so I went to take it on.

How to find Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch

Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch is on basement level 2 of IFC Mall. If you go down at entrance 3-3 like I did, walk straight to the left as soon as the door opens and you'll find this tteokbokki place. Seriously, there could be someone out there who can't find it like I almost couldn't.

Before going in, I gave the menu a quick scan. (Oh man, having the prices and menu right outside the store... love it. You get to decide before you even walk in.)

Solo-friendly seats and picking the mild spice level

Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch has a lot of two-person tables, so it's great for solo dining or coming as a pair. (There are four-person tables too.) I went with the mild spice level — right before eating I looked it up and thought, wait, is this place notorious for spice-fanatic heat? Still think it was the right call.

Before the food arrived I thought I'd just drink some water, and I noticed they had little side plates set up with pickled radish, salt, and soy sauce dishes.

What comes in the 23,000-won Hyeonseoni Set

Here it comes~ here it comes~! My order arrived! I got the Hyeonseoni Set (tteokbokki + fried snacks + sundae + gimbap, ₩23,000) plus... a Coke... (Pepsi, actually...)

Whoa... it's seriously packed. The table's basically groaning under it. First up: the wildly varied fried snack platter.

Oh, you look good. Second: the glossy, sesame-topped gimbap (seaweed rice roll) platter.

Next up, let's see who this is. Whoa... sundae (Korean blood sausage)? And with liver and lungs too? Case closed, this is what a tteokbokki set is all about. This is snack food done right. And then there's the fish cake broth for when your throat gets tight.

And now, today's main event. Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki. Look at that color — there's no way this could taste bad.

First thing that caught my radar right away... the vegetable fritters. Vegetable fritters are the greatest of all fried snacks. If you can't admit that, you just don't know good food.

Tteokbokki and gimbap, bite for bite

Let's start with the star of the show, Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki.

The flavor is that distinctive sweetish gochujang-based, absolutely classic tteokbokki.

Next up to bat for my mouth — rice means gimbap, right?

Took one bite. Wait... huh?? Whoa... what is this? That's literally what went through my head. And the reason is — see that right there? They just poured on the sesame oil. These people really know what they're doing.

After more rice, straight back to the tteokbokki.

After running through this gimbap-tteokbokki-gimbap-tteokbokki back-and-forth, next batter up. Sundae, come on in.

Vegetable fritters and Shorts: solo dining done right

Next up, the vegetable fritters. Wow... just... no words needed. This is the vegetable fritter in its purest form. They could rebrand Hyeonseonine as a vegetable fritter specialist and I'd believe it.

And what does eating alone mean it's time for? Watching Shorts, obviously. Here it comes~ here it comes~ the emotionally unstable hamster is back from leave! Welcome back, hamster.

Bring in the rest of the fried snacks~ let's keep the Shorts going~

I forgot. Watching this I was thinking, wow, Lee Young-ji can really rap? Then I remembered — I forgot she actually came up as a high school rapper, haha. I thought she was just a comedy character, lol.

Next, chugga chugga, here comes the tteokbokki train. Coming in one by one would take too long, so bring them in two at a time~

Next up~ the kimmari (seaweed noodle roll) fritter~ yes, next~ the squid fritter, sir~ yes~ next, the fried mandu (dumpling), sir~

After hammering through three fried snacks in a row and then relentlessly shoveling in tteokbokki after that, I'm about to burst.

After I finished eating and was still sitting there, all I could hear was Big Bang songs playing nonstop in the store. Ah, eating tteokbokki and suddenly it's Big Bang. My nostalgia just exploded. All the old songs came on.

And then, one last Shorts for the road. Someone on a blind date saying they wish their match had a puppy-dog face, lol, and then a literal puppy shows up, lol.

Ah~ I'm about to burst.

Is the mild set at Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall worth it?

Taste verdict: wow... 20 years in business, well earned. This is the classic tteokbokki flavor, through and through. (TMI: the writer worked part-time at an instant tteokbokki place for about 2 years back in college.)

Ah~ seriously. This is so good. I'm just happy I got to eat tteokbokki that actually tastes like real, classic tteokbokki.

Ah... you have to finish the Coke to the very end...

If you're in Yeouido looking for a snack restaurant near The Hyundai Seoul, an IFC Mall restaurant, or somewhere to eat lunch alone at IFC Mall Yeouido, go to Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch right now. Seriously, highly recommend.