Sinjungdong nakgopsae lunch with egg roll and cheese fondue: Jebijip

What is Jebijip in Sinjungdong, Bucheon?

Jebijip Sinjungdong Directly Managed Store (제비집 신중동직영점) is a newly opened nakgopsae restaurant on a street near Sinjungdong Station in Bucheon. I love nakgopsae (spicy stir-fried octopus, beef intestine and shrimp) with its spicy, slightly soupy sauce, so much that I need a regular fix, okay? Not long ago I was walking through the busy streets near Sinjungdong Station, spotted a brand-new nakgopsae place, and rushed right in!

It's a place called Jebijip, right in Sinjungdong, Bucheon.

It seems to have only just opened, but word is already getting around, and the clean-looking exterior pulled me in like I was hypnotized.

Jebijip Sinjungdong Directly Managed Store: info

• Address: 80 Jungdong-ro 262beon-gil, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, Gyeonggi, South Korea (1F, Units 101, 102, 105)
• Hours: 11:00–24:00, last order 23:00
• Closed: every Monday

What the couple ordered at Jebijip

Two of us ordered nakgopsae for two, plus a giant egg roll, cheese fondue, two bowls of rice and drinks. We were so hungry we were about to lose it, so we studied the menu seriously and finally placed a very smart order.

• Nakgopsae for 2
• 1 giant egg roll
• 1 cheese fondue
• 2 bowls of rice
• Drinks

You know how it's only natural to have a side dish with nakgopsae, right? I was so curious what the cheese fondue would look like that I added it too.

What side dishes are in the Jebijip self-bar?

The Jebijip self-bar has well over 20 items at a glance, including tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), assorted fried snacks, stir-fried sausage, salted seafood and seasoned dried radish. After ordering, I went to the self-bar at one side of the restaurant and honestly couldn't believe my eyes. Is this a nakgopsae place or a buffet?

There were easily more than 20 items! Not just basic side dishes but tteokbokki, assorted fried snacks, stir-fried sausage, salted seafood, seasoned dried radish...

It was packed with the kind of dishes you keep going back for. Before the main nakgopsae even arrived, I felt I could finish two bowls of rice with the self-bar alone. It was so generous I worried whether the owner was making any money.

Jebijip's heaped bowls of rice

Jebijip's rice comes in a bowl filled to the brim with fluffy grains. A few days earlier I'd ordered rice at another restaurant and was disappointed: the bowl was only half full, loosely packed, all "bowl" and not much rice, you know?

But at Jebijip the fluffy rice came filling the bowl, as if the kitchen auntie had pressed it down with all her strength! It may be a small thing, but as a rice lover, this kind of generosity put me in a great mood before the meal even began.

Is Jebijip's nakgopsae okay for people who can't handle spice?

Jebijip's nakgopsae is loaded with daechang (beef large intestine) and gopchang (small intestine), so the broth is rich and nutty, and the spice is clean enough that my boyfriend, who can't handle heat, enjoyed it. The main nakgopsae has finally arrived!

When it started bubbling, the savory smell hit my nose. With so much daechang and gopchang, the broth was deep and rich.

The spicy seasoning was just right, soaked in well, and there's nothing better for mixing over white rice. My boyfriend usually can't handle spicy food, yet he said the sauce here was deliciously spicy and ate it with gusto.

I liked that it's a clean spice that anyone can enjoy. And the funny thing is, there was a ton of green onion in it, right? I normally pick out every bit of green onion from my food because I don't like it, but here it had soaked up the sauce and was sweet and so good!

The shrimp bursts with springiness at every bite, the octopus is tender and chewy, and the daechang gets nuttier the more you chew. Truly a rice thief (a dish so good you keep eating more rice).

Jebijip's giant egg roll, with no vegetables

Jebijip's giant egg roll lives up to its name: big and thick, with only egg and green onion, so it's clean and mild. I ordered it to eat with the nakgopsae, and it really earns its name. It comes out truly giant and thick.

Personally, I'm not a fan of egg rolls with lots of tiny bits of carrot and vegetables, you know? I feel they spoil the soft taste of the egg.

But Jebijip's egg roll has just egg and green onion, clean and mild, exactly my favorite style! It was seasoned perfectly salty too, a fantastic side for rice. I'm an egg roll killer, and by my standards it earns a medal. An excellent choice!

The perfect combo: egg roll dipped in cheese fondue

Jebijip's cheese fondue tames the spice when you dip nakgopsae in it, and it's especially good with the giant egg roll. The wall said it's much tastier with the cheese fondue, so I ordered it half doubtful, and I would have regretted it for life if I hadn't. The moment it came out, the cheese flavor was crazy rich.

Dip the spicy nakgopsae deep in the cheese and the heat softens while the nuttiness explodes. (Spicy plus cheese is a universal truth!) But here's a big twist of a tip. Just in case, I dipped the giant egg roll into this cheese fondue too, and... wow, everyone, please try it this way!

The mildness of the egg meets the rich cheese flavor and the synergy is crazy. If you go to Jebijip, I really recommend ordering the egg roll and dipping it in the fondue.

How big are the portions at Jebijip?

With the nakgopsae portion plus the self-bar, we were so full that even this big-eater couple gave up on the final fried rice. Our original plan was to maybe add noodles midway, but then we thought, no! Let's finish with fried rice, the K-dessert! We had quite the grand plan, you know?

But we were so, so full that we ended up leaving without the fried rice (T_T)

We're big eaters who don't lose to anyone on quantity, but the nakgopsae itself is a big portion, and after eating heartily from the self-bar too, there was no room left in our stomachs. This is absolutely a good-value restaurant in Sinjungdong.

Still, feeling wistful, I scraped up the last of the rice, added lots of nakgopsae, tossed in sesame oil and seaweed flakes, and mixed it up. If it's this good just mixed roughly, how good must properly stir-fried rice be? Next time I'll pace myself and conquer the fried rice too!

Why Jebijip works for lunch in Sinjungdong

Jebijip Sinjungdong Directly Managed Store opens at 11 a.m., so it's good for an early lunch. I visited right at lunchtime this time and had a filling, satisfying meal.

If you're looking for a hearty, generous lunch near Sinjungdong, you can go without a second thought.

Next time I'll order the haejang nakgopsae (hangover version) to cure last night's drinking, and finally clear the fried rice I failed at this time! Thanks for the delicious meal today ✨