Daejeon octopus hot pot set with soju in Tanbang-dong: Chongil Nakji

Where is Chongil Nakji, Tanbang branch, and when is it open?

Chongil Nakji, Tanbang branch is an octopus specialty restaurant in Tanbang-dong, close to Daejeon City Hall and Lotte Department Store. I went to eat yeonpo-tang (octopus hot pot) at Chongil Nakji, a local Daejeon favorite that's basically a lunch pilgrimage spot for office workers!

• 📍 23-19 Gyeryong-ro 571beon-gil, Seo-gu, Daejeon, South Korea
• ⏰ 11:00 - 21:00 / closed every Sunday (break time 15:00-17:00, last order 20:30)
• 🚗 Paid parking

I'd stopped by the hospital and happened to have time match up with a friend, so we met up for a spontaneous dinner. If you're taking the subway, just come out Exit 5 of Tanbang Station.

Chongil Nakji, Tanbang branch is on the first floor, so it's really easy to get to!

Menu prices and how kiosk ordering works

Chongil Nakji is famous for its nakji-bokkeum (spicy stir-fried octopus), yeonpo-tang, and cheonggukjang! There's also a huge menu including soy sauce bulgogi set meals. They're even running a discount on bundled takeout orders.

There are dine-in customers as well as a lot of takeout customers, so you order through the kiosk at the entrance!

The second I saw the photo of the nakji-bokkeum I started drooling... (the visuals are insane). The spice level comes in 3 stages so you can pick according to your taste, which is such a nice touch.

For the restroom, you use the one shared with the building (it's clean). If you're eating in, you can get refills of cheonggukjang and side dishes!

Arriving at 5pm: what the dining room is like

The place is clean, isn't it? There were more tables than I expected. We rushed in right at 5pm when break time ended, and by 6pm the whole place was packed — proof this is a genuine local favorite!

• Yeonpo-tang set ₩39,000
• Soju ₩4,000
• Ramyeon noodle add-on ₩2,000
• Rice ₩1,000

The side dishes they brought out right after we ordered! The mu-saengchae (spicy radish salad) was seriously... so good.

What comes with the 39,000 won yeonpo-tang set?

Our yeonpo-tang arrived! It's meant for two people, and while there's a basic version for 29,000 won, we ordered the 39,000 won upgraded version, which has more octopus and scallops added to the base octopus hot pot.

Shabu-style beef comes with it too! It's really substantial, isn't it? All this for just 39,000 won — the value is insane...! (Elsewhere, a yeonpo-tang would cost you at least 50,000 won)

It came out already partly cooked, and the owner told us just three more minutes of simmering and it'd be ready. Start trimming from the biggest pieces first!

How the broth, octopus and nakji taste

There was so much radish in it that the broth was genuinely refreshing and clean. I was curious about the nakji-bokkeum too, but since my friend and I were both feeling a bit run down lately, we ordered the yeonpo-tang as a boyangsik (energy-restoring dish) instead — and the second I tasted the broth, ahh~ (such a great choice)

Once the trimming was done, it came to a rolling boil, so we dropped in the shabu beef piece by piece and tried it right away. Honestly, need I say more — amazing! The shabu beef add-on is 7,000 won!

The octopus wasn't chewy at all, so incredibly tender. I get why Chongil Nakji is famous as an octopus specialty restaurant!

Soju, rice and ramyeon noodles in the hot pot

The broth was practically calling for soju... (I really tried not to drink) but I gave in and ordered a bottle of Chamisul. The rice is just 1,000 won but the portion is enormous.

You can't resist adding noodles to a broth this good, right?! I was looking for kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) sari, but it turns out Chongil Nakji doesn't have that — they add ramyeon noodles to the yeonpo-tang instead?!

My friend and I were like, hmm, will ramyeon noodles actually go with this broth? Let's just try it out of curiosity! — and it turned out to be the owner's deep wisdom. Why do ramyeon noodles go so well with this?! It's so good!! Adding ramyeon noodles is genuinely a must!

In the end... wanting to drink one more bottle of soju, we asked the owner for more broth, and they brought us a whole bowl of it, so we really ate like kings! That yeonpo-tang broth... you really have to drink it with soju. You end up drinking soju infinitely with it!

Receipt review perks and the stamp coupon

Write a Naver receipt review for Chongil Nakji, and you get a whopping... 8,000 won's worth of soy sauce bulgogi to taste! There's no reason not to write a review, right?!

They're also running a stamp coupon event — one stamp per visit regardless of amount spent! Visit 5 times and you get the octopus yeonpo-tang I had, free (the free yeonpo-tang is only available in the evening). I'll go 4 more times to try the nakji-bokkeum and bulgogi set meal, then cash in the free yeonpo-tang!

Is the Chongil Nakji octopus hot pot set worth it?

Chongil Nakji is a place where you can eat a hearty, restorative yeonpo-tang at a reasonable price! Best value for money, but also great quality and flavor — they nailed both!! The stamp coupon and receipt review events are really amazing... make sure to take advantage of them!! Plenty of people eat in, but I noticed a lot of people also take it home for an even more reasonable price! I'll be back soon to try the nakji-bokkeum and bring you a review :)