Jonggak Korean office lunch: octopus, sujebi perilla soup, Bonghyejane

Office workers near Jonggak Station, heads up~~~ Here's one restaurant recommendation from a Jongno office worker of many years.

Where is Bonghyejane Jubang Jongno Tower branch?

Bonghyejane Jubang Jongno Tower branch (봉혜자네주방 종로타워점) is on the B2 floor of Jongno Tower, the floor where all the good restaurants are clustered. Everything is packed down there, but if you love Korean food, you only need to remember this one: Bonghyejane Jubang!

Walk in that way and there's a whole row of restaurants, and there was a new one I'd never noticed!? Of course I had to try it, right? Friends visiting the area come here together, and at lunchtime the place fills up with office workers.

Bonghyejane Jubang menu and prices

The set meals at Bonghyejane Jubang range from ₩13,000 to ₩16,000.

• Octopus stir-fry set ₩16,000
• Pork stir-fry set ₩15,000
• Charcoal-grilled beef bulgogi set ₩14,000
• Spicy seafood soft tofu set ₩13,500
• Mushroom perilla soup set ₩13,000
• Bossam (boiled pork wraps) set ₩15,000

There are also sets for two. You can pick either a small bossam or perilla soup, and if you don't order a set, rice has to be ordered separately~!

• Whole octopus stir-fry set for 2: ₩42,000
• Spicy webfoot octopus (jukkumi) stir-fry set for 2: ₩40,000

Other side-dish style menus include a giant pork cutlet for ₩14,000, spicy cold noodles with flat dumplings for ₩12,500, a 1988 hamburg steak for ₩13,500, and more. The variety is huge, so a table of five or more all ordered different things and shared. Nice, nice,, As for us, we ordered the octopus stir-fry set and the seafood soft tofu stew set!

What comes in the Bonghyejane Jubang octopus stir-fry set, and how does it taste?

The octopus stir-fry set (₩16,000) comes with stir-fried octopus, rice, perilla soup, pumpkin porridge and seaweed. As someone who has spent N years of lunch money around Jonggak, I can confirm that this price is absolutely reasonable,,!

The stir-fried octopus was springy, plump and so tasty. (Evenly cooked and all that...) I thought the portion might be small, but once I mixed it with the rice it was just the right amount, so I was personally super duper satisfied.

Perilla soup with sujebi dumplings served with the octopus set

The perilla soup (deulkkae-tang) included in the octopus set felt a little like a health tonic. You've heard perilla seeds are really good for you, right? This one even had sujebi (hand-torn dough flakes) in it, so it was warm and perfect for this season when the weather is turning colder. Hehe

Put the prettily stir-fried octopus on top of rice and yum! It really wakes up your appetite.

It was so pretty I felt the octopus could just be served already piled on the rice like that. Hehe, you all agree that lunch break is incredibly precious for office workers, right?? I'd say this is a great place to invest that precious lunch break!

Mixing rice with the Bonghyeja sesame oil on every table

Every table at Bonghyejane Jubang has a bottle of Bonghyeja sesame oil. It's said to be rich, mill-style sesame oil pressed at low temperature. Just drizzle it on and mix it all up, and wow, the flavor you know is scary good!!!

Mixed properly, how delicious could it be~? Nutty, spicy, all of it, slurp. As always, drooling again while looking at the photos for this review is basically the rule.

How was the spicy seafood soft tofu set at Bonghyejane Jubang?

The spicy seafood soft tofu set (₩13,500) had the same lineup as the octopus set, except the perilla soup is left out since you get a stew. Oh, and the pumpkin porridge is secretly a highlight!!! Super sweet and warms your stomach right up!

The spicy seafood soft tofu was more intense than I expected, and the silky-soft tofu was totally my type! (The portion is quite big!)

Would I go back to Bonghyejane Jubang for a Jonggak office lunch?

For a Jongno office worker's lunch pick, the spicy seafood soft tofu set at Bonghyejane Jubang felt like it would work surprisingly well as a hangover cure too, so I'll be coming often in this cooling season. :-) I'm definitely not forgetting to come back, lalala~!! One more for the restaurant list! A very satisfied review, the end~!