Live octopus clam hot pot near National Assembly Station: Gaetbeol-ui

Gaetbeol-ui Jogae (갯벌의조개) Yeouido Main Branch is on the 2nd floor of the Geukdong VIP Building at 15-1 Gukhoedae-ro 70-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, open daily from 11:00 to 22:00. There's free underground parking in the building.

Today's post is about a great spot near National Assembly Station and a Yeouido clam hot pot restaurant — perfect for these days when you're craving something hot and brothy.

What is Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch like inside?

Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch is on the 2nd floor of the Geukdong VIP Building. Just walk straight in toward the back.

The interior is bigger and cleaner than you'd expect. The tables aren't cramped together, and there are tables big enough for groups, so it works well for office lunches or dinner get-togethers. True to its reputation as a go-to spot near the National Assembly, it had that relaxed feel workers in the area come for.

They give you heotgae tea (Hovenia dulcis tea) as a default drink, and honestly why is it this nutty and delicious? I think I drank a whole pot's worth.

The Gaetbeol-ui Jogae menu ranges from simple lunch items to clam hot pot dishes for drinking company, covering both lunch and dinner. The small plates are shaped like clams, which is a cute touch. The hourglass on the table is for timing the kalguksu.

What's on the free self-serve bar?

The self-serve bar at Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch has various side dishes and free barley rice you can use to make yeolmu (young radish) bibimbap!! I can never resist barley rice.

Koreans can't live without rice — nibbling on barley rice while waiting for the clam hot pot to boil is honey-sweet.

The geotjeori (fresh cabbage kimchi) is made and seasoned in-house, so it stayed nice and crunchy. Eating it with the kalguksu is insanely good.

Small clam hot pot for two: price and what's included

The small clam hot pot (2 people) at Gaetbeol-ui Jogae is 59,000 won, and you can add live octopus for 20,000 won.

Here comes the main event, the giant clam hot pot 🐚. First I was just stunned by how full the massive pot was — scallops, mussels, all sorts of clams and shrimp, packed in generously. Fish cakes and vegetables were mixed in too, so there was plenty of fun in picking through everything.

I love live octopus so I added it. Sorry, and I love you...❤️

How long does the clam hot pot take to cook?

You have to cover the pot and wait 15 minutes for the clams and seafood to cook through properly. When the time's up, the staff will open the lid and handle everything for you, so don't touch it yourself — it's dangerously hot.

When the timer's up, they open the lid!! Clams with their mouths wide open, well-cooked seafood and vegetables all come into view. The staff cut up the octopus and squid into easy-to-eat pieces for us.

Kiya, can you imagine the flavor of a broth with all that seafood mingling together? It's the real deal, truly rich. As the seafood cooks and releases its flavor, the broth gets deeper and deeper, and you just keep reaching for the spoon.

Every single clam was big, so there was real fun in cracking open the shells to eat them.

Dipping the plump clam meat into a mix of vinegar-chili sauce and soy sauce, to your own taste — insanely good✨

Is clam hot pot good with cheese?

On one side of the Gaetbeol-ui Jogae clam hot pot, there's melted cheese ready to go — dipping a clam into the hot, gooey cheese is a real treat! The plain clam paired with the savory cheese made for a whole different flavor, and I kept reaching for more.

Is the 20,000-won live octopus add-on worth it?

Do I even need to explain? The live octopus was chewy and bouncy in the mouth, absolute explosion of texture 🎆. Happiness wasn't far away — turns out it was here in Yeouido (?).

The octopus head was insanely nutty. So glad I added it, so glad😙

The rice cakes, fish cakes, and vegetables turned out to be surprisingly special too. The rice cakes soaked up the seafood broth so they were soft and chewy, and the more you chewed, the more that salty broth flavor came through. Green onion, mung bean sprouts, mushrooms and other vegetables cooked down fully and released their sweetness, making the broth even cleaner and more refreshing. Eat a piece of seafood, then a rice cake, then a spoonful of broth — it's an endless loop. And pulling the fish cake off the skewer? So good.

This is my favorite combo, cheese + vinegar-chili sauce. Wow, this is the kind of combo that could stop a crying baby. If you like cheese, you'll go crazy for this😋

Should you add kalguksu noodles to the clam hot pot?

The kalguksu noodles at Gaetbeol-ui Jogae are 3,000 won, and personally, I highly, HIGHLY recommend adding them!! Stopping before this would be a shame. Adding kalguksu noodles into the broth, fully steeped from the leftover clams and seafood, basically starts a whole new dish.

Endure 5 minutes with the hourglass, and once it's done, it's honestly to the point where you could say you came here just for this. The noodles soak up that rich, refreshing broth, and even when you're full, you keep eating. Save some broth while eating the clam hot pot... you're not really done until you've had the kalguksu😋

Paired with the house-made geotjeori, this is pure heaven.

Who is Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch best for?

Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch🐚 is a great Yeouido restaurant where you can enjoy an abundance of seafood — clams, shrimp, octopus — all in one pot. If you're craving a hot, refreshing clam hot pot, or looking for a good spot near the National Assembly to visit with a group, definitely stop by. And once more... don't forget to add the kalguksu noodles 🍜