Gangnam Korean restaurant for spicy squid and boiled pork: Haetan

Haetan for dinner near Seolleung Station

Haetan (해탄) was already famous near Seolleung Station as a great restaurant..! I kept saying I should go for a work lunch, then finally visited for a dinner appointment.. haha. It was also known around my office for its delicious spicy squid stir-fry, but somehow I had never tried it for lunch.. But after going for dinner this time, I’m planning to come back for a work lunch soon.. Seriously.. every single dish was so good!

• Units 203 and 204, 2F, 15 Seolleung-ro 86-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• 229 m from Exit 2 of Seolleung Station
• Mon–Fri 11:00–22:00; last order 21:20
• Weekends 11:00–22:00; break 15:00–16:00; last order 21:20
• Paid parking available at the WeWork Seolleung No. 3 (889 Tower) parking lot

Haetan, a great spot by Seolleung Station, is on the second floor of the building. By the way, people at my office seriously raved about how good this place was, and I finally made it here.. sheesh.. haha. I think I’ll come back for lunch next time too!!

A busy dinner crowd and a self-serve bar

The interior is fairly spacious? Even though it was dinner, it was seriously packed.. I thought only lunchtime was busy, but dinner was bustling too..!!

There’s also a self-serve bar with all sorts of side dishes, miyeokguk (seaweed soup), sungnyung (scorched-rice tea), and more :) All those side dishes, seaweed soup, and scorched-rice tea! I did want to try the sungnyung and seaweed soup, but I was so full that I couldn’t possibly serve myself any.. hahaha.

Haetan menu

Squid and boiled pork with the Haetan Table set

Here’s the menu at Haetan, a great restaurant by Seolleung Station. The set menus were especially well put together, and I think their stone-plate squid is the most famous dish? Stone-plate squid, stone-plate spicy pork.. I wanted to try it all, but we went with a set.

• Haetan Table set ₩65,000: squid stir-fry for 2 + small flower pork belly boiled pork + seasoned squid salad + half portion of fried squid
• Beer ₩5,000
• Zero Coke ₩2,000

The basic sides were kimchi, pickled radish wraps, assorted wrap vegetables, and corn! The wrap vegetables were really fresh too :)

First up were the vinegared squid salad and baekkimchi (mild white kimchi)~ That squid salad was so tangy and delicious, and the squid was fresh, you know? Big.. and substantial.. I could see why people say the squid here is so good.

Thick, crispy fried squid

And then the fried squid~ It was totally crispy.. The squid was seriously so thick. I think the quality of the squid here is just great..? Crispy squid.. There was a generous amount too, and it was nice getting it as part of the set!

Cheers with beer.. Soju doesn’t taste good to me these days.. Beer is the best.

I thought it was a squid place, but the boiled pork is amazing too

Then came the boiled pork!! It was flower pork belly boiled pork, and even the small portion was quite generous. I also loved that it was cut thick :) No off smell at all.. the pork quality was so good.

I thought this was a great squid spot, but it’s also a great boiled-pork spot.. ㅠㅠ It was so soft and tender, yet thick, that it melted in my mouth.. It was honestly so delicious that I’d rank it among the best boiled pork I’ve had recently :)

Stone-plate spicy squid stir-fry packed with squid

And then the squid stir-fry for two! It came on a stone plate, and there was quite a lot of it—the amount of squid was incredible too.. Other places pile on vegetables, but here there was lots of squid itself: big and seriously substantial!! The seasoning was pleasantly spicy too.. Now I understand even more why people at my office rave about this spicy squid stir-fry.

The spicy squid stir-fry was insanely delicious.. I thought the kind I eat at home was good too, but this one is the best, haha..

It was even more insanely good wrapped in greens.. The wraps here were super fresh too, so good.

As we were leaving, there were candies and coffee out front too.. good.. And there was even an ice cream machine outside the restaurant!

I wasn’t going to have any, but I did—and the ice cream here was insanely good.. You’re missing out if you skip it.. Haetan by Seolleung Station was perfect from the spicy squid stir-fry, fried squid, and boiled pork to dessert. Every dish was ridiculously tasty, the restaurant was reasonably spacious, and the staff were kind, so it was such a pleasant spot. I visited for dinner, but I think it would be really great for lunch too!! Planning to go back soon for a work lunch~ ><