Yongsan bunsik restaurant for solo dining and takeout: Hyeonseonine

I was passing through Yongsan Station for a personal errand and needed to grab a meal solo — what should I eat alone...? Then I remembered the main branch of a bunsik (Korean snack food) place I'd visited once before and really enjoyed was near Sinyongsan Station, so I decided to stop by.

It's "Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch," which apparently started as a small food cart back in 2004 and, over more than 20 years, has grown into a place with 8 directly-run branches serving genuinely delicious tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes). I honestly don't like bunsik at all, and yet this is the place that comes to mind whenever I think "what should I eat for bunsik?" — so I really wanted to recommend it, and here's my heartfelt review!!

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch

Where is Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, and what are the hours?

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch is about 200m from Exit 6 of Sinyongsan Station. Note there's no dedicated parking, so if you're driving, find a nearby paid lot before heading in!

Follow the yellow chimney with "Hyeonseonine" written large on it, and you'll arrive right at the store.

Even from outside, the place already looked packed — I wondered, will I even get a seat?! And this was just slightly after lunchtime.

Some of you might be curious about hours: open 11am to midnight, Monday through Sunday. Last order is 10:40pm, and the hall closes at 11:59pm. Unusually, there's a break time only on Mondays, from 2:30pm to 4pm — if you're planning a Monday visit, keep that in mind!

Seated right away as a solo diner: the big dining room and CatchTable waitlist

Walking in, I saw tables packed full of people enjoying their meals. I was honestly surprised how spacious the place is for a tteokbokki restaurant...?!

The CatchTable kiosk is inside the store, so if the wait is long, you could put your name down and step out somewhere else for a bit. There are two separate waitlists — one for instant tteokbokki and one for original tteokbokki.

Luckily, being solo meant I got a seat quickly. Looking around, the staff were clearly swamped with so many customers, but they handled everything fast and kindly, which was really satisfying to see.

With over 20 years of history as a well-loved spot, quite a few celebrities have apparently enjoyed bunsik at Hyeonseonine. It was surprising to see that a director and an actor I like both have a connection to this place!

Up near the ceiling, photos telling Hyeonseonine's history are lined up in a row, which made me feel like I'd stumbled into somewhere quite special haha.

Hyeonseonine's menu, kiosk ordering and the self-service bar

A menu board is thoughtfully placed right in front of the drinks fridge so you can scan the whole lineup at a glance.

You order via kiosk here, not through staff.

The kiosk is organized into categories: set menus, single dishes, drinks & alcohol, instant tteokbokki, and sides.

I ordered the Hyeonseon-i set that I'd enjoyed before at the Cheonggye branch. It covers everything — tteokbokki, fritters, sundae (Korean blood sausage), and gimbap (seaweed rice roll) — so I highly recommend it!

Once you've ordered, there's a self-bar right beside it where you can grab whatever you need.

There's fried-batter crumbs for the fish cake broth, pickled radish, salt, and soy sauce, all set up. You can also grab aprons, small plates, and utensils here!

What comes with the Hyeonseon-i set in the 20,000-won range?

While I was still at the self-bar, the food was already ready! They really are the speediest people — for someone like me who's always in a hurry and short on time, this place could easily be recommended as a lunch/dinner spot on that point alone.

Above all, getting this generous a portion for around ₩20,000 is definitely something worth recommending!

The five kinds of fritters at Hyeonseonine

I doubt there's another place that piles a single order of fritters this generously. I'm someone who doesn't like fritters at all, honestly — greasy food, and especially visibly dirty oil, instantly kills my appetite. But Hyeonseonine's fritters felt so clean and light that even fritter-haters could probably tolerate this menu.

There's a filling gimmari (fried seaweed roll), vegetable fritter, mandu (dumpling), sweet potato, and squid (I forgot to photograph the squid and just ate it lol) — five items split in half, perfect for two people to share.

Fish cake skewers, mul-tteok (rice cake in broth) and mini gimbap

There are three fish cake skewers included! The broth was really clean too, so I happily drank it down.

A few pieces of mul-tteok came along with the fish cake, making it even better to enjoy,

And mini gimbap can't be left out! Small as they are, nothing's missing from the filling — the compact, well-packed rolls were really delicious.

Ordering the sundae without liver

Now for sundae, which I absolutely love! I don't like liver, so I asked them to leave it out and add more of the other parts instead.

The warm sundae and organ meat were both incredibly delicious, with that tender-yet-chewy texture at its best!

Which tteokbokki spice level should you order?

And now, Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki! You can adjust the spice level. I meant to order mild but ended up trying one level up — and honestly thought afterward that I should've just gone mild lol — but it had that satisfying "deliciously spicy" quality, so unless you're as spice-sensitive as I am, ordering the most popular spice level should leave you satisfied.

Even I, who doesn't like tteokbokki, thoroughly enjoyed Hyeonseonine's version!! Try it once and you'll definitely become a fan.

They also give you a generous amount of broth, so dipping the sundae or fritters in it takes the flavor to another level!!

You can use the pickled radish and fried-batter crumbs from the self-bar to make the bunsik even tastier,

Pile this crumb onto the fish cake and let it soak up a bit of broth, and you get a proper crunchy texture — definitely recommend it if you're into texture!

Packing the leftover tteokbokki and fritters to go

Finishing two servings solo was too much lol, so I ate everything that was awkward to pack up in-store and asked them to pack just the tteokbokki and fritters. They packed everything really neatly, which I appreciated.

After eating well and stepping outside, I noticed a claw machine right in front of the store where you can win Hyeonseonine merch.

If you're bored while waiting, or you finished your meal and want a Hyeonseonine item, killing some time on the claw machine could be fun too >_<!

If you want bunsik near Yongsan Station or Sinyongsan Station, Hyeonseonine is a must...! I'm not even someone who likes bunsik, and I still sought this place out — that says it all, doesn't it?! It's the kind of bunsik restaurant where anyone can enjoy a delicious meal, so please give it a visit!