Hapjeong bossam restaurant for a post-workout dinner: Pyeongidambaek

A bossam (boiled pork) spot near Hapjeong worth knowing: Pyeongidambaek Ppyeo Kalguksu Main Branch ✔ Hours: Mon-Sun 11:00-22:00 Break time 15:00-17:00 Last order 14:30, 21:30 ✔ Takeout available, separate men's/women's restrooms

Why we picked this Hapjeong bossam restaurant after the gym

It seems like more and more new restaurants these days are serving bossam and kalguksu together. Last Saturday, my boyfriend and I worked out together and then went for dinner at a bossam place near Hapjeong. Partly to refuel on protein, partly just to eat something good, haha.

Pyeongidambaek Ppyeo Kalguksu, a bossam spot near Hapjeong, is a 6-minute walk from Hapjeong Station Exit 2 and a 7-minute walk from Mangwon Station Exit 1, located in the alley near the Seongsan Elementary crossroads. 🚨 No parking 🚨

There's a parking lot on the left side of the building, so I thought parking might be possible, but unfortunately it wasn't reserved for the restaurant. You'll need to use a nearby paid lot. 🅿️ Cheonggiwa 2 Public Parking Lot, Hyundai Distribution Parking Lot

Finding Pyeongidambaek: the storefront

The exterior of the restaurant is clean and modest overall! The sign has 'ppyeo kalguksu' written in big letters, so it really catches your eye as you pass by.

Inside the restaurant

The inside was fairly spacious, and even though it was Saturday evening, customers kept streaming in nonstop. Guess it's already a well-known spot around here.

Further inside there were quite a lot of seats, so it looked like a good place for group gatherings or work dinners too.

There was also a restroom inside the restaurant. The sink was set up outside separately, and the men's and women's restroom doors were clearly separated. Haha, but I didn't look properly and assumed there was just one unisex restroom, so I walked into the door right next to it, did my business, and came out to find a male customer waiting..? Turns out I'd used the men's restroom. So embarrassing, haha ( ´ö` ). The right side is the men's restroom, the left side is the women's — don't just walk in mindlessly like I did!

Pyeongidambaek menu and prices

True to being a bossam spot near Hapjeong, the bossam menu stood out the biggest on the menu board. There was also squid and chive pancake, acorn jelly salad, seasoned oysters, tofu pan-fried in perilla oil, and pork-chive dumplings — all the kind of dishes that go great with makgeolli. And there were a whopping six kinds of noodles that pair well with bossam.

• Ppyeo kalguksu
• Spicy ppyeo kalguksu
• South Sea anchovy kalguksu
• Bibim kalguksu
• Perilla oil kalguksu

There was also a rice dish called ppyeo-tang-bap (bone soup rice). We went with a combo of bossam and South Sea anchovy kalguksu (•'ٮ'•)৴

• ✔️Bossam (medium) ₩42,000
• ✔️South Sea anchovy kalguksu ₩5,000
• ✔️Chamisul soju x2 ₩10,000
• 💸 Total ₩57,000

I also snapped a photo of the origin labeling sign.

The table setting and six side dishes

The table came with water cups, salt, and pepper shakers as a default setup.

The banchan and our ordered bossam and kalguksu came out almost right after each other. By the time I got back from the restroom, the table was already packed with food.

The banchan were plated really neatly, like at a hanjeongsik (Korean set-meal) restaurant. Kimchi, diced radish kimchi, braised beef, seasoned squid, garlic scapes stir-fried with dried shrimp, and stir-fried anchovies.

And there was quite a variety to eat alongside the bossam too — garlic, chili, salted shrimp sauce, ssamjang (thick dipping sauce), and radish salad.

There were three side dishes tossed in red seasoning, and while the seasonings were each a bit different, they were all in a similar flavor family overall, which went well alongside the bossam. I always feel the kimchi needs to be good when you're eating bossam, and this kimchi really suited my taste, so I was happy( ◜𖥦◝ )

Medium bossam with napa cabbage wraps

You can tell just from the photo how the bossam was cut into thick, rustic chunks, and the actual texture was tender — totally my style.

For wrapping the bossam, they gave us napa cabbage as the wrap vegetable. They shook out even the small leaves and piled the plate high. My boyfriend prefers small leaves and I prefer big ones, so it worked out perfectly!

Put a piece of bossam on a cabbage leaf, add garlic dipped in ssamjang, top with kimchi, and — nom.

My boyfriend, who grabbed a big cabbage leaf, basically turned it into a spoon while wrapping ㅋ⫬ㅋ⫬ㅋ⫬ㅋ⫬

South Sea anchovy kalguksu: mix all the dadegi in

Honestly, the signature noodle dish at Pyeongidambaek Ppyeo Kalguksu is the ppyeo kalguksu, but I wanted anchovy broth rather than the milky white broth, so I ordered the South Sea anchovy kalguksu instead.

And if you order the bossam, you can get the anchovy kalguksu for just ₩5,000.

It comes out with dadegi (spicy chili paste) already mixed in, though you can ask to leave it out depending on your taste — but they said mixing it all in is the recommended way to eat it. Even without mixing, you can taste the rich anchovy broth's charm, but mixing in all the dadegi wasn't spicy at all — if anything, it brought out even more umami.

Visually it resembled janchi guksu (feast noodles), and the noodles themselves were a properly chewy kalguksu texture, so the mouthfeel was great too.

It was delicious eaten together with kimchi too~~

Side dish refills and a mint candy to finish

The braised beef and seasoned squid were especially good, so we asked for a refill of those once more.

On the way out after finishing, we cleansed our palates with some colorful mint candies 'ڡ'

A place that satisfied with neatly plated banchan, and a great combo where you can add South Sea anchovy kalguksu for just ₩5,000 alongside the bossam.