Mapo eel restaurant airport lunch: Ryeok Minmul Jangeogui Jeonmunjeom

I’m absolutely energized, haha.

Getting to Ryeok Minmul Jangeogui Jeonmunjeom in Sangam-dong

Restaurant exterior and parking

Today, we went to Ryeok Minmul Jangeogui Jeonmunjeom (력 민물장어구이전문점), a great eel spot in Sangam-dong! Why Seoul all of a sudden, you ask? We’re off on our summer vacation—to Kazakhstan!!!!!! So we stopped by on the way to Incheon Airport.

Spacious, tidy interior

The dining room is spacious and tidy! Apparently, office workers around here often come for lunch gatherings too.

Lunch eel rice bowl menu

We ordered the special eel rice bowl, eel-and-egg rice bowl, and yu rin gi! It looks like they serve eel rice bowls for lunch and grilled eel for dinner.

Trying the eel-and-egg bowl and special eel bowl

It had been a while since our last trip to Seoul, so daytime drinks were a must, haha. Soju felt a bit much, so we went for a light beer.

We ordered yu rin gi to get some protein in—so refreshing. Yu rin gi can only be ordered as a side when you order a lunch special!

This is the eel-and-egg rice bowl, with eel on top of a soft rolled omelet! As someone who loves both eel and eggs, it’s the perfect menu item for me. Just cut the whole eel into whatever size you like.

It also comes with salad, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), seaweed soup, plus cake and yogurt for dessert.

Putting savory eel on top of the sweet rolled omelet really gives you energy.

This is the special eel rice bowl at Ryeok Minmul Jangeogui Jeonmunjeom, a great place for a Sangam-dong lunch gathering! It even has cute ginseng in it, haha.

They say the eel rice bowl is extra tender because it is flavored with house-made eel tare sauce, then repeatedly steamed and grilled in the traditional Nagoya style!

Cut it into four portions and enjoy it in different ways.

Sprinkle on sansho pepper powder to taste. I’m a fan of it, so I added plenty.

I also mixed it with pickled mustard greens. I liked that there were thin strips of eel and egg omelet too.

There’s also a way to eat an eel rice bowl as ochazuke (green-tea rice soup): with green tea, seaweed flakes, and scallions. Personally, though, I liked the classic way best—rice topped with ginger, wasabi, and eel, haha.

Come out of Exit 9 at DMC Station and turn right in—it’s right there!

A filling lunch before taking the airport rail

We came here for lunch at DMC Station, close to Gimpo Airport, to kick off our Kazakhstan trip. If you’re about to fly out, the airport rail is easy to reach—so how about an energizing final Korean meal at Ryeok: an eel rice bowl!