Express Bus Terminal stew restaurant: jjaglie with spam, Bapjangin

Where is Bapjangin at Express Bus Terminal Station, and why go?

There's a restaurant I end up going to a lot around the express bus terminal — Bapjangin! In the evenings there's even a line, but it moves fast, haha.

• Address: 194 Sinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea (B1, Seoul Express Bus Terminal, Unit 20, Exit 1 of Express Bus Terminal Station)
• Hours: Daily 10:00-22:00 (last order 21:10)
• Parking: Not available
• Free corkage available
• Vegan menu available

It's inside the express bus terminal, so no parking. But here's the great thing about Bapjangin — they do vegan food! Vegan friends heading off on a trip, eat this first!

What's on the menu at Bapjangin?

The menu has jjaglie (thick stew), kimchi jjigae, potato stew, doenjang jjigae, bulgogi, stir-fried squid, and bulgogi with squid combined. I love bubbling, saucy soup that you mix into rice, so I always get the jjaglie stew whenever I come.

My boyfriend comes and goes from the express bus terminal whenever he's in Seoul, so we eat here a lot. His taste is similar to mine, so he loves the jjaglie stew too.

Looks like plenty of famous people have visited too.

Inside Bapjangin: solo dining tables included

Bapjangin near the express bus terminal has tables for various group sizes — 2-seaters, 4-seaters,

and even solo tables where you can eat alone.

The kitchen is semi-open, so you can see how clean it is.

The banchan and table setting at Bapjangin

The basic banchan (side dishes) are radish salad, bean sprouts, and kimchi. The seasoning is saltier than I expected. I barely touched the kimchi, but I got refills on the radish salad and bean sprouts. Bapjangin also individually wraps the cutlery, which feels even cleaner.

Jjaglie stew for 12,000 won, plus ramyeon, Spam and bulgogi

I ordered the bubbling jjaglie stew (₩12,000) with an extra half serving of ramyeon noodles (₩1,000) and two extra slices of spam (₩1,500). I also ordered the smoky bulgogi (₩14,000).

A hearty spread all set out.

How spicy is Bapjangin's spicy level 3?

The bubbling jjaglie stew lets you choose a spice level. There are five levels, and I always order level 2, but this time I tried level 3. Level 2 felt pretty mild, and level 3 felt a bit spicier. On the menu, level 2 is compared to Shin Ramyeon and level 3 to Yeopgi Tteokbokki, but honestly it's not as spicy as Yeopgi Tteokbokki. Still, it's a bit spicy.

There's soft tofu in it by default,

and once you add spam it looks really hearty. If you're eating alone or don't have a big appetite, adding spam elsewhere can feel like too much, but here you can add just two slices, which I was very happy about.

Each slice of spam is pretty big, right? Quite substantial. And once the spam goes in, the broth changes a little — it gets more savory. Spam does its thing, I guess.

Bapjangin's smoky bulgogi: does it live up to the name?

Then the smoky bulgogi. This one really lives up to its name — the moment it arrived at the table, the smoky char hit me right away. The people at the table next to me turned their whole bodies to check what I'd ordered. I felt like I'd introduced them to something delicious, and secretly felt a little proud, haha.

They also gave us lettuce to wrap the bulgogi in. Wrap it in this lettuce and you don't even need ssamjang (dipping sauce). Giving out lettuce these days, when it's so pricey! It made the meal even more satisfying.

Got to try the bulgogi over white rice, right? An absolute rice thief.

The food was such a great pairing with drinks that I ordered a glass of soju. Bubbling jjaglie stew and soju really do go together.

How to eat jjaglie stew: add banchan and seaweed flakes

I mixed the bean sprouts and radish salad banchan into the jjaglie stew. Adding them gives you more variety in texture.

Then throwing in seaweed flakes changes up the flavor again. Honestly, seaweed flakes make everything taste good, don't they?

I also wrapped some bean sprouts up in a lettuce wrap,

and it's delicious even eaten plain — actually the smoky flavor comes through even more that way.

I fished the ramyeon noodles out of the stew and set them aside, since eating them straight from the pot felt like just drinking up the broth. The portion is about half of what you'd get in a regular bowl.

Adding these seaweed flakes to the jjaglie stew and rice makes it taste even better. They're kept next to the kiosk, so if you don't see them, ask for some! It really changes up the flavor.