Euljiro late-night snack takeout with tuna rice balls: Hyeonseoni-ne

Why take out from Hyeonseoni-ne, an old-school Euljiro tteokbokki spot, on a Friday night?

If you love bunsik (Korean snack food), you've probably run into this same disappointment before. Cheap places skimp on flavor or ingredients, and the decent ones charge over ten thousand won for tteokbokki alone.

That's why I'm pretty fond of Hyeonseoni-ne. On a Friday night, wanting a beer with a close friend, I took out one Hyeonseoni Combo from Hyeonseoni-ne, an old-school Euljiro tteokbokki spot.

What comes in the 25,000 won Hyeonseoni Combo, and the sold-out gimbap

The Hyeonseoni Combo is ₩25,000 and comes with tteokbokki, sundae (Korean blood sausage), fried snacks, gimbap (seaweed rice roll), and fish cake all together. I got there right before closing that day, and my favorite part, the gimbap, was already sold out. As a substitute I got tuna rice balls instead, and honestly, it ended up being a very filling meal.

Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch: location and basics

Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch sits within 100m of Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station, so it's easy to swing by for takeout. Once you spread out the Hyeonseoni Combo, it pretty much covers everything you'd want from a snack bar.

What I liked most was that nothing felt like it was just there for show.

Wheat rice cake tteokbokki sauce good enough for dipping sundae

First, the tteokbokki uses wheat rice cake (milddeok). It's not just spicy-sweet and done — the sauce actually has a fairly deep savory depth to it.

It tasted rich enough that I wondered if they brew their own broth separately, and it worked really well for dipping sundae into. If you're after old-school Euljiro tteokbokki, pay close attention to the sauce first.

Is the sundae good? Taste the liver at Hyeonseoni-ne

When I eat sundae, I pay close attention to the organs that come with it. I especially love pork liver, and at places that skimp on ingredients, you can tell right away from the texture. The liver at Hyeonseoni-ne was dense in texture and genuinely satisfying to eat.

I once had surprisingly good-quality liver at a famous gukbap (soup with rice) place in Heukseok-dong, and honestly, this brought that memory right back. It's just a snack bar's sundae, but you can tell they care about the ingredients.

Fried snacks worth ordering as much as the tteokbokki

You should definitely try the fried snacks at Hyeonseoni-ne too. There's squid fritters, kimmari (seaweed-wrapped glass noodle rolls), vegetable fritters and more, so there's fun in picking and choosing.

The texture was noticeably different from the usual store-bought frozen fritters you often see. The ingredients kept their bite and the savory flavor was strong, so I kept reaching for more. Eating it plain, then dipping into the tteokbokki sauce, then a sip of beer in between — that's the perfect combo.

Fish cake and the tuna rice balls

The fish cake was quite satisfying as well. It had a firmer texture and a richer fish flavor than the usual street-cart fish cake. It reminded me of fish cake I once had in Busan, the kind with a high fish content that gives it that springy bite.

For the tuna rice balls I got instead of gimbap, making them one by one felt like too much trouble, so I just mixed everything up and ate it with a spoon. Tuna, mayo and seaweed flakes came together nicely between bites of tteokbokki. A couple spoonfuls in, and it disappeared faster than I expected.

Worth it even if you don't usually like bunsik (Korean snack food)

What made the Hyeonseoni Combo satisfying that day wasn't just the quantity. The tteokbokki, sundae, fried snacks and fish cake were all solid enough on their own that you wouldn't feel shortchanged ordering any of them separately.

For ₩25,000, being able to enjoy all of this at once meant none of the usual disappointment I feel with bunsik. Especially on a Friday night, it was great to take out and share with a close friend over a beer.

If you're looking for old-school Euljiro tteokbokki, or eating with someone who isn't usually a big bunsik fan, Hyeonseoni-ne is the kind of place where you can clear the whole spread pretty happily.