Oido kalguksu restaurant with kids: octopus pancake at 52 Degree

I took a weekend trip to Oido with the kids. Wanting to see the sea and eat some good seafood, I looked for lunch spots and ended up at 52 Degree Kalguksu Oido Main Branch (오십이도칼국수 오이도본점). This place is known for its signature seafood hot pot kalguksu, and after actually visiting, I get why it's so often recommended as an Oido kalguksu spot. Best of all, the location lets you see the sea and eat a meal together, which made it a nice weekend family outing course.

Where to park along the Oido seaside road

You'll find 52 Degree Kalguksu as you head along the Oido seafront. The restaurant has its own parking space, but many reviews mentioned it can get crowded with visitors on weekends. We visited during weekend lunch and ended up using the public roadside parking along the seaside road right in front of the restaurant.

As expected for a weekend, spots weren't plentiful. After circling a few times, we got lucky and found an open space. Since Oido draws a lot of weekend visitors, if you're coming by car, it's worth giving yourself some extra time to find parking.

Weekend lunch at 52 Degree Kalguksu: almost full by noon

After parking, we went inside and, maybe because it was lunchtime, there were already quite a lot of customers. The dining room was nearly full, and we waited a bit before being seated. Luckily, we were shown to a window seat on the 2nd floor — and once we sat down, the wait didn't feel like a waste at all.

Through the window you could see the Oido sea, and even the Songdo skyline in the distance, so we got to look out at the sea while eating with the kids. Food matters when looking for an Oido restaurant, but a seat with a sea view like this really adds to the outing feeling.

Does Oido seafood kalguksu taste like Jeju?

Something else that stood out right when we walked in was the interior mood. Unlike a typical kalguksu restaurant, the decor brought to mind Jeju Island's stone walls. With its basalt-like stonework and Jeju-inspired styling, it felt for a moment like we'd been transported to Jeju even though we were in Oido. Eating seafood kalguksu while looking out at the sea really did feel like eating seafood kalguksu by the sea in Jeju.

Which menu should you order at 52 Degree Kalguksu?

I hesitated a bit over the menu. Since we were eating with kids, I first thought about ordering the chicken kalguksu. But since we'd come to 52 Degree Kalguksu, I felt we should try the signature dish, and the seafood hot pot kalguksu looked so good in other reviews' photos that we ended up ordering it.

We also ordered the geomeong octopus pancake (거멍문어파전) alongside it. It's one of the dishes often ordered together with the seafood hot pot kalguksu — as the name suggests, it's a green onion pancake with octopus in it.

Geomeong octopus and green onion pancake: better than expected

Honestly, this was my first time eating a pancake with octopus in it. But it turned out to be really tasty. The outside was crispy, and with octopus inside, the texture was great to chew on. It was a good dish to order alongside the kalguksu if noodles alone feel like not quite enough, and if you're eating with kids, adding a pancake to the table isn't a bad idea at all.

How much seafood is in the seafood hot pot kalguksu?

And then the seafood hot pot kalguksu finally arrived. The moment the pot came out, both the kids and I had our eyes wide open. Of all the seafood kalguksu I've had, this was the first time I'd seen so many different kinds of seafood in a single pot. From octopus to shrimp, abalone, crab, and various shellfish — the variety was really something. The menu description lists octopus, red crab, abalone, shrimp, scallop, hard clam, surf clam, Manila clam, and more.

It looked so hearty that I couldn't not take photos. Dishes like this really are prettiest the moment they land on the table.

How we ate it with the kids: barley rice first, noodles last

Since we were eating with the kids, we didn't add the noodles right away. First, once the broth had boiled a bit, we scooped out some vegetables and mixed them into barley rice for the kids. We got the kids' barley rice ready first while we ate the seafood.

After eating a good amount of seafood, we added the kalguksu noodles and let it boil again. In the end, we finished off the noodles together with the kids. Eating this way meant we could go seafood → noodles even within a single pot, which worked out nicely. If you're visiting an Oido kalguksu place with kids, this order might work well for you too.

Why the broth turns out so rich

What I liked most was the broth. With so much seafood in the pot, the more it boiled, the richer the soup got. Rather than adding the noodles right from the start, eating the seafood first and letting it simmer longer meant the flavor from the seafood carried into the broth, making the noodles delicious too. With shrimp, abalone, crab, and more in there, it's hard for the broth not to taste good. We ate the seafood first and added the noodles at the end with the kids, and honestly, that order worked even better.

Is 52 Degree Kalguksu worth it for a family day out in Oido?

After the meal, instead of heading straight home, we walked a bit along the Oido seaside path. Walking slowly by the sea on a full stomach turned out to be better than I expected. The kids enjoyed watching the sea while walking, and getting some sea breeze after a while felt properly refreshing for me too. Personally, I think pairing lunch at 52 Degree Kalguksu with a walk along the Oido seaside path makes for a nice combo.

Verdict on 52 Degree Kalguksu Oido Main Branch

Visiting for a weekend Oido outing with the kids, between the sea-view window seat on the 2nd floor, the distinctive Jeju stone wall-style interior, and the hearty seafood hot pot kalguksu and geomeong octopus pancake, it was an overall satisfying meal.

In particular, the seafood hot pot kalguksu had such a wide variety of seafood that it made an impressive first impression the moment it arrived, and eating the seafood first before adding the noodles made the broth richer, so it was delicious right to the end. If you're heading to Oido with kids and looking for an Oido restaurant or Oido kalguksu, this is a good place to combine sea views with a meal. A slow walk along the seaside path after eating, like we did, is also a nice option. Weekend lunchtime can get crowded, so I'd recommend visiting with some extra time to spare.

52 Degree Kalguksu Oido Main Branch: address, hours, parking

• Address: 113 Oido-ro, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Regular hours 11:00–22:00
• Parking: On-site parking available / weekends may also require nearby public parking lots
• High chairs available
• 2nd floor window seats with sea view
• ※ Hours and parking availability may change, so checking the latest info before visiting is recommended.