Cheese fried rice finish at Jjigaen Jjukkumi, a Yongsan octopus spot

Hi, this is Goni.

I was craving something a little spicy near Yongmun Market in Yongsan. My friend asked how about jjukkumi (octopus), so we turned into the market alley — and there was Jjigaen Jjukkumi. Straight in we went. Jjigaen Jjukkumi review, let's go.

Where is Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch, and when is it open?

• Address: 60 Wonhyoro 41-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:30) / Sat–Sun 12:00–21:00 (last order 20:30)

How to get there from Hyochang Park Station, and parking

My friend and I walked from Yongsan Station, which took about 10 minutes. Hyochang Park Station turned out to be closer. The restaurant sits right in an alley inside Yongmun Market.

Inside Jjigaen Jjukkumi: seating and atmosphere

Jjigaen Jjukkumi Yongmun Market Branch is a decent size with reasonable spacing between tables, so it never felt cramped.

It looked like a good spot for a small gathering or a casual get-together of 4 to 6 people.

Menu prices and what two of us ordered

The signature menu here is grilled octopus (철판쭈꾸미) ₩14,000, octopus with pork belly (쭈삼겹) ₩16,000, cheese octopus (치즈쭈꾸미) ₩16,000, and octopus with squid and pork belly (쭈우삼겹) ₩18,000.

At lunch there's a spicy grilled octopus special for ₩10,000. No burden at all having octopus for lunch. Fried rice is a must.

My friend and I ordered 2 servings of octopus with pork belly, 1 serving of grilled octopus, and finished with fried rice. What, how many of us? Just 2. Nod nod.

Side dishes and the flying fish roe and mayo combo

Once you sit down, the basic side dishes come out — perilla leaves, lettuce wraps, stir-fried fish cake, and pickled radish. I knew garlic and chili peppers go well with this too, so I asked, and they brought them right away.

The distinctive thing here is that mayo and flying fish roe come out together, and mixed with the octopus, it's an addictive combination. It wasn't super spicy, and neutralizing it with the mayo makes it absolutely amazing.

Jjuksamgyeop, griddled octopus and the 48-hour aged sauce

The core of this place is the handmade sauce aged for 48 hours. The moment the octopus hits the hot plate, the sauce color already looked serious. (Looking so tasty, so tasty.) The smoky char rising as it cooks really gets the appetite going~~

With the pork belly simmering in the sauce alongside the octopus, the flavor gains a nutty richness — a step up from the octopus on its own. The octopus itself was plump and springy, meaty enough to have a real bite to it.

I originally wanted to combine the octopus with pork belly and the cheese octopus, but the owner told us mixing those two wouldn't taste right — they don't go together.

So we settled on octopus with pork belly and grilled octopus. Yep yep, I'm an obedient customer.

Put the octopus on a lettuce leaf, top it with flying fish roe and mayo, and that's it. So delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheese fried rice finish: worth it even when you are full

Once you add rice into the leftover sauce, the owner comes and fries it up personally. As the sauce and rice fry together on the hot plate, the crispy bits that catch turn wonderfully nutty — fried rice is non-negotiable here. Order it even if you're stuffed.

The two of us finished 2 servings of octopus with pork belly and 1 serving of grilled octopus and were already very full, but couldn't bring ourselves to stop. We were craving the cheese we'd skipped earlier, so we ordered cheese fried rice.

When you want a good-value spicy meal near Yongmun Market in Yongsan, this place also works well for a small drinking session or casual get-together. Other tables besides ours were having daytime drinks — just saying, quietly.

An affordable jjukkumi restaurant near Hyochang Park Station that nails the aged sauce flavor — that was Jjigaen Jjukkumi. And the fried rice — a must, must, must. So delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!