Kkachisan Station rice bowls eaten unmixed: pork galbi set, Hekbap

I went through a phase where I was totally hooked on rice bowls and ate my way around town. Recently Dudu said she wanted a rice bowl, so we headed to Hekbap Kkachisan Branch, a well-known spot near Kkachisan Station.

Hekbap Kkachisan Branch: location and hours

Hekbap Kkachisan Branch is a Japanese home-style restaurant at 35 Gangseo-ro, 2nd floor, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is open 11:00–21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 16:30.

It's by Exit 3 of Kkachisan Station. Come out and keep walking straight, and you'll reach the Lotteria building. Hekbap is on the 2nd floor.

Hekbap specializes in Japanese home-style rice bowls (donburi) and ramen. They also sell soba, udon, curry and katsu. I came because I wanted a rice bowl.

Seating: is it okay for solo diners or kids?

There are tables for 4 and for 2, plus a bar table by the window for eating alone. The inside was very clean, and the tables are spaced apart, so it felt comfortable. The 4-person seats at the very back looked the most private.

If you come with a baby, there are baby chairs, plus hair ties and phone stands for people dining solo. Lots of people were eating alone, but oddly nobody was using the stands. If I came alone, I think I'd use one all the time.

Aprons are set out where you can see them.

How to order, and single items vs sets

You order and pay right at your seat with a kiosk. The menu has rice bowls, soba, ramen, udon, curry and katsu, and everything except katsu comes as either a single item or a set.

A set comes with fried food and mini udon. Rice bowl and curry sets come with 2 pieces of fried chicken and mini udon, while soba, ramen and udon sets let you choose fried chicken or tonkatsu (pork cutlet). The tonkatsu set costs ₩500 more than the fried chicken set.

Dudu and I came for rice bowls, so we picked from that section.

• Dudu: salmon rice bowl ₩15,900
• Me: pork galbi marinade rice bowl set ₩13,900

After you pick a menu item, there are options, but sets aren't chosen as an option. They're separate menu items. Look closely at the photos and you'll see the compositions differ.

There's a Naver receipt review event for a free drink, so I took my receipt, wrote the review and got a zero cola. If you search Hekbap Kkachisan Branch on Naver, there are 5 coupons: a mini tonkatsu for birthdays, 2 croquettes if you write a Naver review and live in Hwagok, and a coupon for mini udon and 2 karaage (fried chicken pieces). Check them and ask when you order!

Spoons and chopsticks are hygienically wrapped and kept in the drawer beside you, along with tissues and wet wipes.

How to eat a Hekbap rice bowl

Each table has a "how to enjoy it" guide for each menu, and I read it while waiting for the food. We were eating rice bowls, so I only looked at the rice bowl one.

• Before eating, don't mix. Scoop up the rice first
• Put the toppings on top of the rice
• Add wasabi if you like, and eat it all in one bite

It says not to mix the bowl but to scoop it with a spoon so you can taste each ingredient. And you shouldn't scoop lightly: dig deep, so you get the sauce at the bottom too.

The wasabi doesn't come with the food. It's set out separately on the table, along with shichimi (Japanese seven-spice pepper) and black pepper.

Pork galbi marinade rice bowl set, ₩13,900: what you get and how it tastes

The pork galbi marinade rice bowl set came out first. A robot sometimes does the serving, but ours was brought over by a staff member.

The set is the single bowl plus mini udon and 2 pieces of karaage. The single item comes with pickled radish cubes (kkakdugi), yellow pickled radish (danmuji), rice cake, salad and soup. In the set, noodles are added to the soup and karaage sits on top of the salad.

I started with the rice cake as an appetizer. It's sweet, and I like it best when I eat it first.

The karaage came drizzled with mayo sauce and went so well with the fried chicken. You'd expect it to be heavy, but it wasn't at all. The meat was tender.

The pork galbi bowl is topped with meat, onion, mushrooms, green onion, cherry tomatoes and shishito-style peppers (kkwari gochu).

I eat my rice bowls with wasabi, so I set the wasabi out, followed the guide, scooped rice onto my spoon with my chopsticks, added pork galbi and vegetables, then topped it with fresh wasabi to complete the Japanese-style rice bowl. It's sweet, and the wasabi wraps it up cleanly at the end.

If it feels heavy, eat the kkakdugi or danmuji, though I didn't need them. The kkakdugi wasn't spicy at all and tasted refreshing, and the danmuji had a nice crunch. If it starts to feel like only sweetness, bite into the pepper. It was spicy for me. I also finished the mini udon and salad, and even got a second helping of salad.

Salmon rice bowl, ₩15,900: what you get and how it tastes

The single Hekbap salmon rice bowl comes with kkakdugi, danmuji, rice cake, salad and soup. The bowl is topped with radish sprouts, egg yolk, pickled onion, salmon and flying fish roe, with a soy-based sauce drizzled over it.

Break the egg yolk, scoop deep into the rice soaked with soy sauce, and add pickled onion, salmon and flying fish roe. Dudu ate hers plain, and I tried mine with wasabi. It was clean, with no fishy taste.

Thanks for the meal!

Does Hekbap Kkachisan Branch do takeout?

Every menu item can be taken out. A lot of delivery orders go out too. There's also a mirror so you can check how you look before you leave, so take a quick peek, haha.

If you're looking for a comfortable place to eat alone near Kkachisan Station, a Japanese home-style restaurant serving rice bowls, soba, ramen, udon, curry and katsu, or a spot where a group can order a variety for lunch or dinner, stop by Hekbap Kkachisan Branch for a good meal.