Date-night ochazuke and karaage in Bucheon: Haehwagaban Jungdong

My partner and I were on a date at Lotte Department Store Jungdong, wandering around looking at things, and slowly got hungry, so we headed down to eat.

While looking for something filling but not too heavy inside the department store, we found Haehwagaban Lotte Department Store Jungdong Branch! I like eel rice bowls and I like ochazuke too, so the moment I saw the menu I knew this was the place haha.

Post summary: thumbs up. I went with eel rice bowl ochazuke, my partner picked salmon rice bowl ochazuke — you eat it as a regular rice bowl first, then pour tea over it at the end, so it feels like two dishes in one, which was fun :)

Where is Haehwagaban Jungdong, and where do you park?

Haehwagaban Jungdong is on the basement first floor of Lotte Department Store Jungdong. You can use the department store parking lot, so it was easy to visit by car too.

It's also easy to reach by public transit, and since it's inside the department store, it's perfect for shopping and then heading down to eat, like we did.

Haehwagaban is located on the basement first floor of Lotte Department Store Jungdong, making it convenient to shop and eat in the same trip. Hours can shift a bit depending on the day, so if you're visiting late, I'd recommend checking the day's operating hours and last order time before you go!

What two people ordered at Haehwagaban, and what it cost

We ended up with three dishes total: eel rice bowl ochazuke for 19,500 won, salmon rice bowl ochazuke for 17,000 won, and karaage for 7,000 won.

I decided on the eel bowl from the start, and my partner wanted something lighter, so she went with the salmon rice bowl ochazuke. Since both could be eaten as ochazuke, it was fun to trade bites too haha. Adding karaage as a side made it a pretty filling meal for two!

What comes with a Haehwagaban set meal

When you order a rice bowl at Haehwagaban, it doesn't just arrive alone — it comes as a neat full table setting. The main bowl sits in the center, and

there's soup, a few side dishes, and even the tea used for ochazuke served alongside.

Seaweed comes with it too, so at first we just ate the rice bowl plain, or piled a spoonful onto the seaweed — both were delicious.

We only ordered one dish each, but there were so many ways to eat it from start to finish that the meal turned out more entertaining than expected!

Eel rice bowl ochazuke, 19,500 won

What I had was the eel rice bowl ochazuke! The moment it arrived, I was happy to see more eel piled on than I expected. It wasn't the style where you mostly see rice with just a few pieces of eel — there was enough eel that I could eat some with every bite.

Glossy, shiny eel topped with a sweet-salty sauce — paired with rice, it's a combination that's hard to make taste bad… ♥

The eel wasn't tough at all, it was soft, and the sauce had naturally soaked into the rice, so eating it plain without the tea was the tastiest way to start. If you love eel rice bowls, I'd definitely recommend eating the first half as is!

For Haehwagaban's eel rice bowl, the intended way to eat it is to enjoy the eel and rice first, then move on to ochazuke.

Salmon rice bowl ochazuke, 17,000 won

My partner had the salmon rice bowl ochazuke! Since the salmon comes grilled, it seemed like a good option even for people who find raw salmon's texture a bit much. I tried a bite, and overall it felt much lighter than the eel bowl!

Breaking up the grilled salmon into smaller pieces and mixing it with the rice lets the nutty salmon flavor spread naturally — really tasty. With ingredients like scallions and onion mixed in, the texture felt livelier than just eating salmon and rice alone.

If the eel bowl is rich and sweet, the salmon bowl is light and easy to eat! Since we each ordered one and shared, the difference in flavor really came through, which was nice haha. You can enjoy the grilled salmon with rice first, then finish the remaining bowl by pouring tea over it.

How to eat ochazuke, step by step

The heart of Haehwagaban's rice bowls is really the ochazuke! Rather than pouring the tea right away, it's better to fully enjoy the rice bowl on its own first.

We ate our rice down to about a third left, then poured in the tea that came with it.

• Eat the rice bowl plain at first
• Mix the eel or salmon well with the rice
• Leave about a third of it
• Pour in plenty of warm tea
• Finish it off mixed with the remaining toppings

The moment you pour the tea in, the whole mood shifts from what you were eating before!

For the eel bowl, the once-rich sauce softens and goes down warm; for the salmon bowl, the light salmon becomes even cleaner with the tea added. This is generally how the dish is meant to be enjoyed — pouring the tea in once about a third of the bowl remains. Getting two different flavors out of one order, a rice bowl plus ochazuke, was completely my kind of thing :)

Karaage on the side, 7,000 won

Eating just the main dish felt a little lacking, so we ordered karaage too! It comes out golden and fried, exactly the kind of thing you want to pick at as a side. Crispy outside and juicy chicken inside — great to nibble on between bites of the rice bowl.

Lemon came with it too — a light squeeze cuts the greasiness, and it's also good dipped in the sauce! If you're visiting as a couple, one rice bowl each plus one shared karaage made for a nicely filling meal.

Is Haehwagaban Jungdong worth a visit?

Haehwagaban was where we ended up eating during our date at Lotte Department Store Jungdong!

Being inside the department store made parking and getting there easy, and it's right by Sinjungdong Station, so accessibility was great too. Most of all, I loved the eel rice bowl ochazuke best. If you're looking for a good place to eat near Sinjungdong Station, or want a filling meal while shopping at Lotte Department Store Jungdong, I'd happily have Haehwagaban's eel rice bowl ochazuke again :)