Yeongdeungpo seafood restaurant, yeolmu self-bar: Gaetbeol-ui Jogae

Maybe because the weather has gotten quite cool, I found myself craving seafood. Since I was at The Hyundai Seoul anyway, I looked around for somewhere nearby to eat and found a place whose clam hot pot looked delicious, so I paid a visit!

Walking from The Hyundai Seoul to Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch

Recommended great-value clam hot pot spot: Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch

I walked over from The Hyundai Seoul, and it was easy to find because the huge sign on the building exterior was visible even from far away!

There were signs everywhere from the building entrance to beside the elevator, so it was really easy to find. Some restaurants and stores only have signs outside the building, with none inside, so I have sometimes wondered whether I was going the right way—but Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch was easy to get to.

At the entrance, there was a display model. Doesn't it look so pretty and delicious right from the color alone? Of course, the actual dish probably would not come out exactly like this, but I was happy thinking it would look roughly like it.

There were lots of standing menu boards too, and it looked like they had a wide range of dishes. After looking at the food photos, I went inside.

Partitioned seating, private rooms, and a yeolmu bibimbap self-bar

I really liked that the seating was divided by partitions like this. The restaurant extended farther back and was quite spacious, so there were lots of people there for company dinners too!

There were rooms like this as well, making it nice for a private meal. There was also a self-bar with kimchi and yeolmu kimchi (young-radish kimchi). I hardly ever see places with yeolmu kimchi, so that was interesting.

Next to it was barley rice, set out so you could make yeolmu bibimbap (rice mixed with young-radish kimchi). Yeolmu bibimbap alone seemed like it could fill you up, so I was surprised it was available at the self-bar rather than as a separate menu item.

A menu from clam hot pot to seafood boil

Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch menu

There was a brief menu at the corner of the table, but it was better to look at it on the tablet when ordering. There were various kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) options for the lunch special, plus cockle bibimbap, pajeon (scallion pancake), and shabu-shabu. The clam hot pots differ by ingredient, so you can choose according to your taste.

They also have seafood boil! I had actually gone there to eat seafood boil, but unfortunately they said they were out of ingredients, so I had clam hot pot instead. There were various drinking snacks including spicy vinegared cockle salad, as well as sides such as steamed egg and mini pajeon.

Giant clam hot pot with pen shells and crab

Giant clam hot pot!!

After ordering and waiting, a staff member brought over a huge pot—ta-da... it was packed with such a wide variety of ingredients! There were pen shells, squid, mussels, scallops, crab, and so much more seafood! It was presented so neatly too, which I loved.

The huge pot needed to cook with the lid on for a while, so I looked around as I waited. Large menu photos and names were displayed all over the restaurant. I definitely think it is much nicer to look at when there are photos alongside the dish names.

Macaroni and wasabi from the self-bar! I think wasabi goes so well with seafood that I cannot eat seafood without it. My friend was hungry while we waited, so he brought back a bowl of yeolmu bibimbap.

Once it was mixed, it looked so delicious! But I was planning to fill up on clams, so I held out until the end.

The giant clam hot pot was finished cooking!! Ahh, doesn't it look so good? Taste matters, of course, but how food looks matters too, and this looked incredibly delicious. Those big pen-shell adductor muscles... I wanted to eat them right away.

Seafood cut up for easy eating

A staff member cut things up herself. She did not prepare every shellfish, but she did cut up the pen shells, squid, and crab. Still, it was convenient to eat because they were cut into easy-to-eat pieces.

She cut up the assorted seafood and placed it on top of the pen shell, arranging it so neatly.

All right, let's dig in! There was cheese too, so if you love cheese, have it together with the seafood! There was so much that it barely seemed to go down no matter how much we ate.

The clams and mussels were plump and meaty, a totally different league from shellfish with hardly anything to eat. At first I dipped them in soy sauce with wasabi, then thought, clams really call for chojang (sweet-tangy red chili dipping sauce), and switched to that. There were even fish-cake skewers, so I got to try lots of flavors!

Even though two men ate until we were full, there was so much that we could not finish it all.

Keep in mind that the types and quantities of seafood served change with the season and market prices. Maybe because it was live seafood, the clams seemed especially fresh!

Next to the register, there were candies, floss, and even mouthwash—a small thoughtful touch for this age of self-care. I grabbed a candy and some mouthwash!

The location is good too, making it a great spot for a hearty meal before or after looking around the Han River or Yeouido!