Jung-gu snack bar for a mild tteokbokki feast: Hyeonseoni-ne

Hyeonseoni-ne, a place I started seeking out from the original branch

One of Ayo's favorite tteokbokki places is Hyeonseoni-ne! The first time I ate at the original branch, I was properly hooked—“Oh, the tteokbokki here is good...” Since then, whenever there is a Hyeonseoni-ne branch nearby, I have quietly made my way through them one by one haha. I visited the original branch, then the IFC Mall branch, and this time, Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch!

This was before heading to Seoul Station 5K with a friend. We were looking for something to eat nearby when I spotted it: Oh? There’s a Hyeonseoni-ne? Then we have to go ^_____________^ So naturally, we went haha. Since I had already eaten here several times, I was less worried about the flavor and more curious about what the Cheonggye Instant Branch would feel like.

A pojangmacha-like atmosphere tucked into an alley

You might think, “There’s a tteokbokki place in here?” But the moment you enter the alley, the mood completely changes. Rather than a typical neat Korean snack shop, it somehow has an Euljiro-style yajan feel—like an outdoor drinking spot. Ayo loves yajan, so I was oddly into it~

Before going in, I had a look at the menu too. Even though Ayo has been to Hyeonseoni-ne a few times, you still need to check each branch’s menu. Tteokbokki, handmade sundae (Korean blood sausage), mini gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), assorted fritters, fish cake, ramyeon, even instant tteokbokki—you can tell at a glance. Today was a day for a proper full spread of Korean snacks.

Ordering a little of everything at the kiosk

You order at the kiosk in front of the restaurant. This was my friend’s first introduction to Hyeonseoni-ne, and it would be rude to eat just one or two things, right? We ordered a good variety, from tteokbokki to sundae, assorted fritters, mini gimbap, and fish cake.

This is the atmosphere once you come inside! The kitchen is right in view, with tables set around it. Maybe because it is hidden deep in the alley, it feels like a pojangmacha (Korean street-food tent) even though it is indoors.

And while we were eating, office workers at the next table were having instant tteokbokki with beer. My friend and I looked over and said, “This would be perfect for tteokbokki and beer after work.” Hahaha. It had a great atmosphere for people working around Cheonggyecheon or Euljiro to stop by for a light drink after work.

Then our food appeared. As each dish arrived, the table gradually filled up. There were definitely only two of us... We asked, “Can we finish all this?” But to tell you the ending first, we finished it perfectly ^^ (Neither of us could eat the sundae offal though haha.)

Mild tteokbokki that was still a little spicy for my friend

First, Hyeonseoni-ne’s tteokbokki! I have had it several times, from the original branch to other locations, but I am always happy to see that red sauce haha. Hyeonseoni-ne seems to have become known for spicy tteokbokki. We chose mild from the mild, medium, and spicy options, but even then my friend said it felt a little spicy!

Ayo is also weak with spice, but I am surrounded by people who are even more spice-sensitive than me. My friend really cannot handle spicy food, so every time we eat together, it gives me a spicy-food confidence I never had. (It was not spicy at all to Ayo, and the friend who said it was a little spicy completely cleared that tteokbokki—cheers.)

And tteokbokki is not a food where you only eat the rice cakes, right? Dip the fritters, dip the gimbap, dip the sundae... Basically, the final destination of everything we ordered that day was the tteokbokki sauce. There was plenty of it, so it was perfect for dipping all sorts of things.

Fritters that kept going back into the tteokbokki sauce

The assorted fritters came with a nice variety too. Familiar ones like gim-mari (fried seaweed noodles) were there, along with fried squid, which I would have really missed if it were absent. Ayo does not usually like vegetable fritters much, but strangely, among the fritters dipped in tteokbokki sauce, vegetable fritters might be the best. So I ate them all very thoroughly. I was definitely getting full, but I kept reaching for more haha.

In between, we had sips of the hot fish-cake broth. When you keep eating tteokbokki and fritters, you start craving broth now and then, right? A bite of fish cake and a spoonful of broth felt like a reset for the palate, which was lovely. There was a generous amount of fish cake too—plenty to share between two.

Everyone has their own way of dipping sundae

And then, sundae! Something funny was that my friend could only eat the liver too. Ayo could only eat liver as well, though lately I can manage lung, maybe? Haha. Oh, did you know? In Gyeongsang-do, people dip sundae in ssamjang (savory soybean paste). They give you onions too! I hear people in Jeolla-do dip it in chojang, a vinegared red-chili sauce...

Ayo, a Gyeongsang-do girl who lived there as a child, was shocked that Seoul people dip it in salt. But after trying it once, I was like, “This is totally my style!!” Since then, I have dipped sundae in salt and the liver and onions in ssamjang. Anyway, Koreans really know good flavor combinations.

Mini gimbap that paired even better in bite-size pieces

And mini gimbap. Personally, I think bite-size mini gimbap like this works better beside tteokbokki than big gimbap rolls. Ayo loves gimbap so much—funny, right? Gimbap and mini gimbap somehow feel like they taste different. I had gimbap yesterday and the day before too, but today’s mini gimbap was delicious again.

It had familiar ingredients such as egg and danmuji (pickled radish), so it was easy to pop into your mouth in one bite. I ate one plain, then one dipped in tteokbokki sauce, and while chatting with my friend, the gimbap quietly disappeared too...

Two people who ended up with empty bowls

And this was the result. My friend is normally a very light eater, but... they would not put the spoon down hahahahaha. “Are you okay? You do not have to force yourself to eat,” Ayo kept worrying, but my friend kept saying, “I’m full, but I can keep eating. It’s so good.” Watching them made it look delicious again, so Ayo joined in too—and WOW, we really ate it all.

For some time now, blogger Ayo has made a point of taking a proof shot of the empty dishes. Since my appetite used to be so small, an empty plate carries a sense of accomplishment—and the hidden meaning that it was delicious, perhaps.

Delivery orders kept coming at the Cheonggye Instant Branch

Another thing that kept catching my eye while we ate was the delivery orders. It was not just one or two—they kept coming in throughout the meal. Delivery riders were constantly coming and going, so I thought this must be a place people around here order from quite often. I remember there being loads of deliveries when I visited the original Hyeonseoni-ne branch too, and the Cheonggye Instant Branch was similar.

Personally, beyond Hyeonseoni-ne’s food itself, what I remember most about the Cheonggye Instant Branch is the atmosphere of this alley-side restaurant. From outside, you would never expect a space like this, but you slip in beside the stairs and suddenly there is a tteokbokki restaurant, with office workers inside drinking beer with instant tteokbokki. It feels a bit like “how to have fun after work in Euljiro,” haha.

We stopped by before going to Seoul Station 5K with my friend, but we ate so much that we walked all the way to Seoul Station to digest it—that is the review.

Ayo first tried Hyeonseoni-ne at the original branch and loved it so much that I have been seeking out its branches whenever one is nearby, and this Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch was a success too! It seems like a good fit not only for Hyeonseoni-ne fans, but also for anyone looking for a filling Korean snack meal around Cheonggyecheon or Euljiro, or somewhere to have tteokbokki and a beer with coworkers or friends after work. Especially if you love that distinctive hidden-alley yajan mood, do enjoy the Cheonggye Instant Branch atmosphere too :)