Korean seafood restaurant in Yeoksam: eel rice bowl lunch at Gogaebul

What is Gogaebul near Yeoksam Station like?

Gogaebul Gangnam Yeoksam Main Branch (고래불 강남역삼본점) is a seafood Korean restaurant right next to the Yeoksam 1-dong community center. The writer has been coming since their early years in the workforce, when it was the go-to for a dignified business meal in Gangnam thanks to its skilled cooking. With a lunch coming up in Yeoksam after a long gap, they dropped in again.

Not long ago a celebrity filmed a YouTube video here eating Dokdo flower shrimp, which got people talking, and the restaurant was once featured on the TV show Wednesday Food Talk for its gomchi soup (sea snailfish soup) and boiled octopus. So seafood is clearly its specialty. This time, for a Yeoksam Station lunch, the writer enjoyed seasonal croaker soup, haha.

How do you park at Gogaebul Gangnam Yeoksam Main Branch?

You can use the restaurant's valet, or the paid parking lot at the Yeoksam 1-dong community center right next door. The restaurant itself is just beside the community center.

Is Gogaebul a good place for business entertaining?

Gogaebul is set up with private rooms, so it can offer upscale food and service, which is why the writer used it so often for entertaining clients. Even after a long break, the interior felt familiar since they had been here so many times. Since this was a meal with an elder, the writer arrived a bit early.

Private rooms like these are exactly why Gogaebul was such a regular for entertaining.

What did we order for lunch at Gogaebul?

The Gogaebul course menu is a seriously big spread, so sadly we skipped it. Since I was meeting a teacher who loves croaker soup, I ordered the croaker soup, plus eel rice bowls for an energy boost. Honestly, the croaker soup alone would have been enough, haha.

Are the side dishes at Gogaebul refillable?

Yes, the side dishes at Gogaebul keep getting refilled. Nice, right? What more is there to say? It's a definite yes. I usually skip seasoned vegetables, but Gogaebul is different. I inhaled both the stir-fried zucchini and the stir-fried eggplant. And of course I got refills, haha.

Octopus pancake, refilled twice

The octopus pancake (nakji-jeon) here was so good that I had it refilled twice. Don't dismiss it as a free pancake. It's fried crisp and packed with octopus inside. I'd come back just for this pancake. It would be perfect with soju or makgeolli (rice wine)...

Braised tofu is rarely served as a side dish these days. At Gogaebul, well, this is nothing special for them...

And here is the plain roasted seaweed I love so much. The nutty seaweed is great, and the sauce you sprinkle on it is delicious too. Apart from the eel rice bowl, I ate two more bowls of rice, haha.

The stir-fried anchovies were reliably good too. As for the octopus pancake, I was eating so much of it that my teacher, sitting with me, graciously gave up his share, haha.

The stir-fried zucchini was amazingly good. I normally don't eat it, yet this was delicious. The aroma is wonderful.

The stir-fried eggplant and braised tofu were both great, and freshly grilled mackerel comes out too, haha. The side dishes alone are enough for a full bowl of rice, and since the seasoning isn't strong, it's perfect when you bring elders.

The full spread and stone-pot rice at Gogaebul

And finally, the table is full with two eel rice bowls and one croaker soup. Ordering only the soup felt awkward, so I added one eel rice bowl each, but maybe that was unnecessary. Not that the eel rice bowl is bad, but the croaker soup alone is plenty... total nutrient overload, haha.

For a Yeoksam Station lunch, stone-pot rice is the way to go. The happy smell of freshly cooked rice is so good. Then scorched rice (nurungji) afterward... I was stuffed to bursting that day.

How does Gogaebul's seasonal croaker soup taste?

Gogaebul's croaker soup comes as a maeuntang (spicy fish stew), and it contains only boneless croaker fillets, so it's very easy to eat.

Look at the fillets in the soup. The croaker is in season and simmered into the stew, so the flesh is incredibly soft. I normally love very intense spicy stews, yet I liked this mild croaker soup at Gogaebul. They say the fish is delivered directly from the source six days a week, so the quality of the ingredients shines through, which naturally makes for quality cooking.

There's zero fishy smell. The broth is simmered with croaker bones, so it's wonderfully rich. In the end the two of us scraped the bottom of the pot and happily finished the seasonal croaker soup, haha.

How is Gogaebul's eel rice bowl different from hitsumabushi?

Gogaebul's eel rice bowl has a different charm from a hitsumabushi (Japanese-style grilled eel rice) restaurant. The eel is grilled beautifully plump, and not overcooked at all. Hitsumabushi specialists, step aside.

Ah, and the seasoning is great too. It's never too sweet or salty, so you fully taste the flavor and aroma unique to grilled eel. Even people who aren't big on seafood can enjoy it, so the eel rice bowl seems like a good choice for a Yeoksam Station lunch.

See that? The eel is grilled medium, wonderfully plump.

Finishing the meal at Gogaebul, and final thoughts

Gogaebul finishes the meal with fruit and tea. What do you think? A 24-year heritage, and a choice that never fails. It's great for a precious lunch among coworkers, but even better for important business meals or taking elders. I'd love to come back to Gogaebul near Yeoksam Station often.