Amsa Station Korean restaurant: minari seafood pancake, Gapmaejeong

What is Gapmaejeong near Amsa Station?

Gapmaejeong (갑매정) is a newly opened cuttlefish restaurant near Amsa Station in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Even the name has a real specialist-restaurant vibe. Heading out with my wife to find good food always gets me excited.

It's Monday... is there anything out there that'll whet our appetite?!

We both love seafood, and Gapmaejeong near Amsa Station popped up on our radar, so we went to check it out.

Where to park for Gapmaejeong

It seems Gapmaejeong doesn't offer its own parking. So before going, we checked the "Modu-ui Jucha-jang" (Everyone's Parking) app carefully and found a shared parking spot nearby. This part of Amsa has quite a few hidden-gem restaurants, so parking is something you do have to think about.

We parked for about an hour and a half on a weekday and it came to around ₩1,800, so I'd say you can eat comfortably without worrying about parking fees. If you're driving, a good tip is to check the shared parking lots around the restaurant in the app beforehand.

How was the owner's service at Gapmaejeong?

The owner was so kind that side dishes got refilled before we even asked. When we walked in, he greeted us with a really bright smile, and the first impression was already very friendly. That kindness carried on through the whole meal. Whenever the side dishes on the table were running low, he noticed before we asked and kept refilling them generously. It may be a small thing, but the thoughtfulness made us feel looked after and made the meal feel much warmer.

Gapmaejeong's signature menu and seating

At Gapmaejeong, we ordered the signature minari cuttlefish stir-fry (minari is water dropwort, a fragrant Korean leafy vegetable) for two. I'd noticed it on the restaurant's Naver Place page, so we picked it right after sitting down, with barely any deliberating.

Looking around, I saw that the 2nd floor is also laid out with quite a lot of seating. It seems popular with locals for company dinners and family gatherings.

One customer at the next table even came in saying, "Last time it was full and I had to go home without eating," and was thrilled to finally get a seat. The place clearly has a growing reputation around Amsa Station.

How does Gapmaejeong's minari cuttlefish stir-fry taste?

The minari cuttlefish stir-fry arrived at the table in a vivid red, alongside tidy side dishes. It came out after a short wait, and the sweet-spicy sauce and fresh minari aroma hit my nose and made my mouth water on their own.

Midway, I ordered a cider (a clear lemon-lime soda) to refresh my mouth, and the owner even brought a well-chilled cup for it. It really felt like he cares about the small details. After a sip of cold soda, we dug properly into the stir-fry.

I first tried a piece of the well-seasoned cuttlefish, and my first thought was that the quality is excellent. The flesh is so thick and springy that it doesn't compare to ordinary squid, and the chewy, bouncy texture with every bite was just wonderful.

I heard Gapmaejeong prepares its ingredients fresh every morning, delivered directly from the source. Maybe that's why there was no fishy taste at all, just a clean, sweet flavor. The generous amount of minari was a stroke of genius: its fresh, slightly bitter fragrance blended gently with the spicy sauce, so my chopsticks kept going without ever getting tired of it.

What makes Gapmaejeong's minari seafood pancake different?

Gapmaejeong's minari seafood pancake (haemul pajeon) uses as little flour batter as possible and is piled with big pieces of cuttlefish. It showed up at just the right moment while we were enjoying the stir-fry, and it really left an impression. At other pancake places the batter is often thick, so you get full fast and it's a bit disappointing.

Here, the batter is kept to a minimum, the minari is spread thin and wide, and big-cut cuttlefish is generously piled on top before grilling. You could see with your own eyes that they didn't skimp on ingredients.

The edges of the pancake were crisp like a cracker, while the inside combined crunchy minari stems with chewy cuttlefish for a great texture. It's light and fragrant rather than greasy, so I think it would make a great snack with drinks or a treat of its own.

Can you make fried rice with the leftover sauce?

At Gapmaejeong, if you ask, the owner will stir-fry rice in the leftover sauce from the minari cuttlefish stir-fry. When we first ordered, we got one bowl of plain rice to eat with the stir-fry sauce. The sauce was so good that skipping fried rice at the end would have felt like a shame. When I asked the owner, he fried rice up in the leftover sauce for us, and it was a truly satisfying, filling way to finish.

The slightly scorched fried rice from the bottom of the pan, wrapped in crisp dried seaweed (gim), was a surprisingly addictive combination and my hand kept going back. My wife and I finished a lunch so satisfying we were stuffed.

Who should try Gapmaejeong near Amsa Station?

Thanks to the kind owner's cooking and the fresh ingredients delivered every morning, Gapmaejeong near Amsa Station gave us a really nice meal out for the first time in a while. If you're tired of the usual meat menus and crave something special with lively seafood texture, or want to taste the pairing of fragrant minari and thick cuttlefish, it's worth considering Gapmaejeong.