Cheonho octopus restaurant date night with roe fried rice: Jjuksami

It had been a while, so on the way home from work I wanted to eat jjuksam (spicy octopus and pork belly stir-fry) in Cheonho's octopus alley, so my husband and I made a date of it. Walking into the alley from Cheonho Station Exit 6 leads straight to the octopus alley, and we went to Jjuksami, a place that's been on TV food shows. The food was solid and the vibe was nice too — perfect for a Seoul date, so let me introduce the menu at this Cheonho restaurant 💚

How to find the octopus food alley at Cheonho Station Exit 6

To reach the Cheonho octopus alley, exit Cheonho Station at Exit 6 and walk into the alley between Kookmin Bank and a pharmacy. If you're driving, note there's no dedicated parking lot since it's an alley, so you'll need to park at a nearby public lot and walk over!

Jjuksami Cheonho Main Branch: the basics

Located right at the entrance of the Cheonho Station octopus alley, Jjuksami is known for its octopus and pork belly stir-fry and was featured on 2TV Saengsaeng Jeongbo. Wrapping the spicy stir-fried octopus and pork belly in a perilla leaf and dipping it in mayonnaise makes it the perfect drinking snack.

Inside, the tables are set with round table tops. Even though we visited on a weekday evening, plenty of people were already there enjoying their octopus.

What we ordered at Jjuksami

At this Cheonho restaurant, octopus is the base and you can choose pork belly or shrimp to match your taste — though there's no spice-level adjustment.

You can add cheese or sweet potato toppings around the edge of the pan, and if the jjuksam feels too spicy, eating it with cheese cuts the heat noticeably.

There's also a range of add-ins available, like flying fish roe and yaki-mandu (pan-fried dumplings). ✅ Note: spaghetti or glass noodle sari comes free, so just ask if you'd like it 💚

We ordered the octopus + pork belly for 2 with the Rich Gold cheese plate, and added flying fish roe fried rice for dessert.

Side dishes included: wrap vegetables, scorched rice and steamed egg

Lettuce wraps, pickled radish, and mayonnaise come as standard sides, and they're great for cutting through the spiciness of the octopus and pork belly stir-fry.

Scorched rice and steamed egg also come out, helping calm down a tongue that's gone numb from the octopus's heat.

Corn cheese is one of my personal favorites, and this one had stretchy melted cheese over golden-browned corn — a great appetizer.

Octopus + pork belly for two with the Rich Gold cheese plate

A staff member grills the jjuksam for you, and since it's octopus and thinly sliced pork belly, it cooks quickly. It looked like a small portion at first, but sharing it between two people, it turned out to be quite generous 😊

For the Rich Gold cheese plate, they mix the cheese and sweet potato mousse together with chopsticks right in front of you. Since it stays on the grill, the cheese doesn't harden and stays stretchy, making it easy to scoop onto the octopus.

Wrapping it in perilla leaf lets you taste the spicy sauce as is, but if it's too spicy for you, adding cheese cuts the heat quite a bit.

Finishing with flying fish roe fried rice

After enjoying the jjuksam, you've got to have Korea's classic K-dessert: fried rice! You can choose between cheese or flying fish roe for the fried rice, and we went with flying fish roe. ✅ Note: since the fried rice is made using the leftover octopus sauce, leave a little sauce in the pan instead of scraping it all clean — it makes for tastier fried rice 💚

We chose the flying fish roe fried rice, and the popping roe combined with bits of leftover octopus made it even better. The fried rice can be a bit spicy, but adding leftover bean sprouts or cheese helps tone the heat down enough to enjoy!😊

Is Jjuksami worth visiting in Gangdong, Seoul?

Jjuksami in the octopus alley is a great place to visit in Gangdong, Seoul, if you want spicy, chewy octopus and pork belly — a perfect Seoul date spot. It's on the spicier side, so if you can't handle heat well, adding cheese or flying fish roe can help cut the spiciness enough to enjoy it comfortably.