Gapyeong octopus restaurant: rice bowl vs hot-stone pot rice, Paldang

After riding the Cheongpyeong ferry on Cheongpyeong Lake, we drove over to Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi for a meal. Heading from Cheongpyeong toward Seorak in Gapyeong, we were looking for somewhere to have a late lunch, and this place turned out to be right by Seorak IC, so it was easy to stop by on the way!

That day we ordered the grilled octopus rice bowl two ways — with regular rice and with hot-stone pot rice — and also tried the handmade pork loin cutlet. If you're doing a Gapyeong trip that includes Cheongpyeong Lake or the Cheongpyeong ferry, it's a convenient spot to drive to for a meal.

Where Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi is and when it opens

Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi is located at 150 Hanseo-ro, Seorak-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (1st floor). Hours are Monday 11:00–21:00, Tuesday 11:00–21:00, closed Wednesdays, Thursday 11:00–21:00, Friday 11:00–21:00, Saturday 11:00–21:00, and Sunday 11:00–21:00, with last order at 20:00.

• Free parking
• Group seating available
• Takeout, delivery, reservations
• Wi-Fi
• Baby chairs

There may be separate closures on public holidays or Korean holidays, so it's worth checking Naver Place before you go!

Inside Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi: self-serve bar and parking

The Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi sign is big on the storefront, so it wasn't hard to spot while driving by. Inside, the space was bigger than I expected, with generous spacing between tables.

Overall it had a clean, bright atmosphere, and with several tables, it looked like a comfortable place for a family meal or a group! There was a drink fridge near the entrance, and further inside there was a separate kitchen area and self-serve bar.

As you can see in the photo, the self-serve bar had several side dishes ready, so you could take as much as you needed. There were also multiple baby chairs available, which looked convenient for families visiting with kids~

Free parking was another plus. In Gapyeong, you often move around by car, so whether a place has parking matters quite a bit when you're looking for a good restaurant in Seorak, Gapyeong — and here, there was no stress about coming by car.

What we ordered in Gapyeong and what it cost

We ordered three things: the grilled octopus rice bowl for ₩13,000, the grilled octopus rice bowl with hot-stone pot rice upgrade for +₩3,000 (₩16,000 total), and the handmade pork loin cutlet for ₩11,000.

We ordered the same grilled octopus rice bowl twice — one with regular rice, one upgraded to hot-stone pot rice for ₩3,000 more. Since I like octopus, I was curious which would pair better, regular rice or pot rice, so I got both to compare haha.

The bean sprout soup served first

Before the main dish arrived, we were served bean sprout soup. It was a basic combination — clear broth with bean sprouts and green onion — but it was good to sip on between bites of the spicy octopus~

As you can see in the photo, there were plenty of bean sprouts, so each spoonful came up with sprouts attached. When my mouth got spicy from the octopus sauce, a sip of this broth balanced it out well.

How smoky is the flame-grilled octopus?

The main dish, the grilled octopus, came out generously piled on a plate, coated red with sauce, and up close the octopus pieces were quite large. Rather than octopus just stir-fried in sauce, it's cooked over direct flame, so a smoky aroma hit before you even took a bite.

The sauce was on the spicy-sweet side, and it clung thickly to the octopus, which paired perfectly with rice. I personally prefer octopus that isn't cut too finely, so you really feel the texture in one bite, and here there were plenty of pieces with plump legs and a hefty body.

When I lifted a piece to photograph it, the legs were curled up plump, and biting into them gave a really chewy texture. If you're looking for octopus near Seorak IC, this smoky char alone makes it worth trying.

Mixing the octopus into the rice bowl

The grilled octopus rice bowl doesn't come with rice served separately — it arrives in a big bowl with bean sprouts, chives, seaweed flakes, and other toppings all together. You add rice and as much octopus as you like, then mix it all together. At first I mixed in just a few pieces of octopus, and since the sauce color was so deep, even a little turned the whole bowl red.

Next I added more octopus and mixed it properly. With the bean sprouts in there, it had more crunch than just mixed rice alone, and the chives added a nice bite too. As the octopus sauce worked its way between the grains of rice and mixed with the seaweed flakes, every spoonful had octopus and vegetables together.

As you can see in the photo, when you load a chunk of octopus onto the spoon and eat it with rice, it's genuinely a full bite haha. I especially loved eating the leg parts with rice — they're plump and chewy, so the texture really comes through even mixed into rice. So I'd recommend mixing the octopus and sauce thoroughly into the rice rather than eating the octopus on its own!!

Is the 3,000 won hot-stone pot rice upgrade worth it?

For one bowl, we paid an extra ₩3,000 to upgrade to hot-stone pot rice. As shown in the photo, freshly cooked rice arrives separately in a pot, and compared to regular steamed rice, the grains were a bit fluffier and you got to eat it piping hot, which I liked.

We scooped the rice into the big bowl, then mixed in the bean sprouts, chives, seaweed flakes, and octopus. Since the grilled octopus sauce soaked straight into the hot rice, I personally thought the pot rice version worked really well too. We piled on a big piece of octopus and ate it with the rice, and also took big spoonfuls with the chives and bean sprouts.

There was plenty of rice, so it didn't run short even when we mixed in a lot of octopus. The regular rice bowl is plenty good on its own, but if you prefer fluffier rice, upgrading to the pot rice for ₩3,000 more seems worth it!

The octopus pieces were unusually big

I took a lot of photos of the octopus this time — as you can see below, even lifting a single leg showed how plump it was, evenly coated in red sauce. The curled leg parts especially had a distinct springy bite when chewed, and the body wasn't tough either.

The smoky flavor wasn't just a light hint in the first bite — it kept coming through the whole meal. So even though the sauce itself was quite bold, it wasn't just spicy and sweet; the grilled aroma came along with it, which kept me reaching for more rice.

Eaten with the bean sprouts it was crunchy, and with chives and rice all together in one spoonful, you got several flavors at once~ If you're looking for a good octopus spot in Gapyeong, the grilled octopus dish here seems like the first thing to try.

Handmade pork loin cutlet for 11,000 won

We also ordered the handmade pork loin cutlet. It arrived on a big plate generously drizzled with sauce, with rice, cabbage salad, macaroni salad, and pickled radish on the side. Even in photos, the cutlet looked quite large, and the breading had real thickness to it.

Cutting it into bite-size pieces, the loin inside was thicker than expected. Personally, I find it disappointing when a cutlet has thick breading but thin meat — here, the cross-section clearly showed meat inside.

The outside was fried crisp and the loin inside was juicy — it was genuinely delicious! The sauce was generous too, so it never ran short from start to finish, and the edges without sauce showed off the crispy texture even more.

Since the octopus was spicy, eating a piece of cutlet in between worked well. If someone in your group can't handle spice, or you're with kids, ordering one octopus dish and one cutlet together seems like a good combo.

Sikhye to finish the meal

After finishing the meal, we had a cup of sikhye (sweet rice drink) for dessert. As shown in the photo, it was served in a paper cup — after eating the spicy grilled octopus, a cold, sweet cup of sikhye was a great way to wrap things up haha.

Final verdict on Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi

At Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi, cooking the octopus over direct flame really came through in the smoky flavor, and the octopus itself was large and chewy, which was satisfying. The bowl-mixing style — with bean sprouts, chives, and seaweed flakes plus rice and octopus you mix yourself — also let us control how much sauce went in, which I liked.

Ordering one regular bowl and one with the pot rice upgrade to compare, like we did, worked out fine. And the handmade pork loin cutlet was thicker and tastier than expected, so we came for the octopus but left having enjoyed the cutlet just as much haha.

If you're looking for somewhere to drive to for a meal after seeing Cheongpyeong Lake or riding the Cheongpyeong ferry like we did, it's convenient to stop by on the way toward Seorak IC. With parking available and a fairly spacious dining room, if you're after a good restaurant in Seorak, Gapyeong for a family meal, an octopus spot near Seorak IC with real smoky char, or a Gapyeong octopus restaurant worth stopping at during a trip, give Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi a try :)