Keto vs regular gimbap cross-sections compared: 29 Tamago Euljiro

I went to Euljiro to grab some gimbap (seaweed rice roll) to go, and ended up getting distracted by the view outside the window before I even looked at the menu. This is 29 Tamago Euljiro Branch, tucked on the 2nd floor of a building near Euljiro3-ga. Once I got upstairs, a wide window looked out onto street trees — not exactly the gimbap shop vibe I was expecting.

I didn't eat in that day — I packed three rolls to go: keto vegetable, tuna-full, and keto tuna. But while I waited, looking out at the window seats, I honestly felt a little sorry to just grab my bag and leave.

29 Tamago Euljiro Branch: location and hours

• Location: 17-1 Mareunnae-ro, 2nd floor, Jung-gu, Seoul
• Hours: 10:30 - 20:30
• Break time: 15:00 - 17:00

It's a 3-minute walk from Euljiro3-ga Station, so it's a solid lunch spot for anyone working nearby.

The menu — just how many keto gimbap options are there?

29 Tamago isn't just a regular gimbap shop — it has a surprisingly wide range of keto gimbap. The menu includes keto tuna, keto vegetable, keto crab stick, keto chicken breast, and keto carrot rapée, along with rice-based rolls like tuna-full and fried tofu-full.

Receipt review event

A keto gimbap shop with this good a view?

Honestly, what surprised me most at 29 Tamago wasn't the gimbap — it was the atmosphere and the view. When I think of Euljiro3-ga restaurants, I picture buildings and traffic, but from the window here, the street trees lining the road are surprisingly close. Since it's on the 2nd floor, the trees sit almost at eye level, so more green fills the window than I expected. The window seats in particular looked great for solo dining, and I thought next time I should skip takeout and just eat sitting right there.

My order

• Keto vegetable: ₩9,500
• Keto tuna: ₩10,500
• Tuna-full: ₩10,500

Rather than picking three keto rolls in a row, I wanted to compare a rice-free option against a regular rice-based roll, so I added tuna-full to the mix.

Keto vegetable — crunchy veggies with ssamjang mayo

First up, keto vegetable. It's wrapped in seaweed and rice paper with green leaf lettuce, carrot, burdock root, red cabbage, bell pepper, cucumber, and a thick rolled egg. Even the cross-section was strikingly colorful — orange carrot, purple red cabbage, and green vegetables surrounding a thick chunk of rolled egg made the vegetables feel the most prominent of the three rolls.

With so many vegetables packed in, the first bite was all crunch. I worried a rice-free keto roll might feel too light, but the rolled egg in the center was thicker than expected, so it didn't end up feeling like I was just eating vegetables.

Unlike the other two rolls, keto vegetable comes with a ssamjang mayo sauce. Personally, vegetable-heavy rolls can taste a little plain without sauce, but the ssamjang mayo paired well with the vegetables, and I kept dipping in as I ate.

Keto tuna — filling even without rice

Next, keto tuna. Like keto vegetable, there's no rice — just seaweed and rice paper wrapped around green leaf lettuce, carrot, burdock root, red cabbage, cucumber pepper, tuna, and rolled egg.

Even from the photo, you can tell the filling looks heavier than keto vegetable. There's a generous amount of tuna packed between the vegetables and egg, so it kept the light feel of a keto roll while still feeling more like an actual meal. If keto vegetable is all about crunchy vegetable texture, keto tuna adds the savory, soft flavor of tuna on top of that.

Keto tuna came with a soy sauce mayo. Tuna naturally pairs well with mayo-style sauces, so a light dip in the soy mayo added a salty, savory kick for a richer bite. If you want to skip the rice but find an all-vegetable roll a little lacking, I'd say keto tuna is the safest, most well-rounded pick of the three.

Tuna-full — how it differs from a regular rice roll

Last up, tuna-full. It's the same tuna flavor as keto tuna, but this one is a regular gimbap with rice. It's made with seaweed, rice, green leaf lettuce, carrot, burdock root, red cabbage, cucumber pepper, tuna, and rolled egg.

Placed next to keto tuna, the difference is obvious right away. Tuna-full has rice on the outside, with a thick rolled egg, tuna, and vegetables packed tightly inside. True to its name, there's a wide layer of tuna next to the egg, so even a single slice looked generously filled.

So which one should you pick?

I got everything to go this time, but the window seating looked so good that I want to come back and eat in slowly next time. Keto vegetable is great for something light and crunchy-vegetable-focused, keto tuna is more filling without rice, and tuna-full is the pick if you want a familiar gimbap style. If you're looking for keto gimbap or a light lunch among Euljiro3-ga restaurants, or you want a relaxed solo meal with a view out the window, 29 Tamago is worth checking out.