Galbi kimchi hot pot in Hansol-dong, Sejong: Chung-sil Hoegwan

Sunday I drank a whole bottle of wine, then spent all of Monday drowning in a hangover.... I was craaaving something spicy..... and at times like this, only kimchi stew will do!!!

I found out about Chung-sil Hoegwan (충실회관), a Sejong restaurant famous for its lunchtime kimchi stew, so I went to check it out :)

I'd heard this place serves kimchi stew together with sotbap (hot pot rice), so I was excited even before I arrived ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

Where is Chung-sil Hoegwan? Hours and parking in Hansol-dong, Sejong

Chung-sil Hoegwan is at 94 Noeul 3-ro, 1st floor units 101–102, across from the Hansol-dong post office in Sejong. It's open Tue–Sun 11:00–22:00, with break time 14:30–17:00, last order 21:00, and closed every Monday.

Chung-sil Hoegwan is right across from the Hansol-dong post office, and the building has underground parking too, so it was easy to visit by car.

Inside Chung-sil Hoegwan: is it good for groups?

The interior at Chung-sil Hoegwan is clean and pleasant overall, with generous spacing between tables!! It's nice for two people dining together, but

it also seemed like a good spot for group gatherings or a quick lunch. When I visited, there was already a group eating at one table, and more group customers came in while I was there too〰️

What's on the Chung-sil Hoegwan menu?

Chung-sil Hoegwan isn't just for kimchi stew — it's also pretty famous as a Hansol-dong samgyeopsal spot. The savory smell of meat grilling from the next table drifted over, but I was hungover and worn out.....ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I couldn't give up on kimchi stew...ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Honest review of the 30,000-won galbi kimchi hot pot

ෆ I ordered the galbi kimchi hot pot for two (₩30,000)

The basic side dishes were seaweed, seasoning sauce, dried radish, bean sprout salad, and stir-fried fish cake! Honestly I'm usually the type who thinks you don't need many side dishes with kimchi stew haha, but the bean sprout salad was so crisp and savory that it actually paired surprisingly well with the stew haha

You can grab more side dishes at the self-bar if you run out, and there's ramen sari (extra noodles) ready there too — just take as much as you want!

The meat looked like it came somewhat pre-cooked, but you need to simmer it once more at the table! Even for two people it looked pretty generous. While waiting for the hot pot to boil, the sotbap showed up next✨

Freshly cooked sotbap and the nurungji at the end

The best part about Chung-sil Hoegwan is that you get to eat freshly cooked sotbap alongside your kimchi stew👍🏻ˎˊ˗ Kimchi stew really does need plain white rice, doesn't it?

They scooped all the rice out of the pot first, then poured water over the remaining rice grains to make nurungji (scorched rice). By the time the kimchi stew finished cooking, the nurungji was ready tooㅋㅋㅋ

The galbi kimchi hot pot started bubbling away! There was plenty of meat in it too, and they cut it into bite-sized pieces for me〰️

The galbi had a good amount of meat on the bone too.

The kimchi came in whole, large pieces as well, so you just snip it into bite-sized pieces with scissors.

The kimchi wasn't mushy at all — it had that perfectly cooked, still-crisp texture that went so well with the rice🤍 The broth was tangy and spicy, giving me that gut-cleansing kind of refreshment

Adding self-bar ramen noodles to the hot pot

You know kimchi stew just gets tastier the longer it simmers, right?ㅎㅎㅎ It was already delicious from the start, but we decided to simmer it a bit longer. And then suddenly I remembered the ramen sari!

The owner even brought over extra broth separately, telling us to add more if the broth ran low❣️

At first the broth looked like there was quite a lot, but once we added the ramen, it disappeared fast, as expected ㅋㅋㅋ

As the noodles cooked, the oil from the ramen combined with the savory flavor from the meat and the umami from the kimchi, and the broth just kept getting richer the longer it simmered!

Wrapping the ramen noodles up in kimchi and eating them like that... need I say more... pure deliciousness ( ᵕ̩̩ㅅᵕ̩̩ )

With the freshly cooked sotbap's steaming white rice right there, piling on kimchi and a piece of meat and wrapping it all in seaweed made it even more savory and even more delicious👍🏻ˎˊ˗

The galbi kimchi hot pot was clean-tasting yet deeply savory! There was plenty of meat and plenty of kimchi too, so the portion felt quite generous even for two people.

And then the nurungji from earlier! Piling the savory scorched rice with kimchi and galbi on top was another taste of honey...🤍 Ha,, my mouth is watering again just writing this ㅋㅋㅋ

On the day I visited, looking around at the other tables while I ate, quite a lot of people were ordering the kimchi stew! Chung-sil Hoegwan really is a kimchi stew spot👍🏻

Since it comes with sotbap too, this place is perfect for a day when you want hot rice with a properly spicy kimchi stew⋆⭒˚.⋆

Chung-sil Hoegwan: is the galbi kimchi hot pot worth it?

• Spacious, pleasant dining room
• Table spacing comfortable enough for groups too
• Generous amounts of galbi and kimchi
• Kimchi stew served together with freshly cooked sotbap
• Side dishes and ramen sari available at the self-bar
• Attentive service, right down to extra broth on request

After the spicy kimchi stew and freshly cooked sotbap, my hangover was completely cured(•̀ᴗ-ღ)

If you're looking for a satisfying lunch in Hansol-dong, try the galbi kimchi hot pot at Chung-sil Hoegwan :) 🌟Both the galbi kimchi hot pot and kimchi stew get ₩2,000 off for takeout🌟 If you'd rather eat comfortably at home, takeout is a great option too!