Jung-gu snack bar dinner with a toddler: Hyeonseoni-ne

We spent the day out with our little one around Euljiro, Cheonggyecheon, and Gwanghwamun. September is packed with Seoul events, so it is such a good month for hopping around on weekends. For dinner, we had our little one’s first bunsik (Korean snack food) time at Hyeonseoni-ne Tteokbokki near Cheonggyecheon.

A September outing with the Cheonggyecheon Outdoor Library

September in Seoul is an absolute bumper crop of events—eheradiya! It is such a lovely season to enjoy with a little one. The Cheonggyecheon Outdoor Library is an easy stop, and with Gyeongbokgung Palace open at night too, it makes such a great outing route.

An old-school snack bar walk from Cheonggyecheon

For dinner, we headed to a bunsik place. Hyeonseoni-ne Tteokbokki is famously popular, after all. This was our little one’s first visit to a snack bar, and Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch is only a five-minute walk from Cheonggyecheon, so the route is perfect.

When you think of Euljiro, you cannot leave out that old-school shop atmosphere. Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch is properly old-school. Talk about making the most of a tiny space—how did they turn it into this cave-like spot and run it with such spirit? Thumbs up! It may be an old-school joint, but it gets busy enough for a wait at lunch and dinner peaks.

So we stopped by at 5 p.m. and ate at leisure! Even though it is outside, the air-conditioning was blasting, so it was nice and cool.

The Hyeonseoni Combo Set we shared with our toddler

When we come to this old-school Euljiro tteokbokki spot, we order the ₩25,000 Hyeonseoni Combo Set: tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), assorted fried snacks, sundae (Korean blood sausage), gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), and fish cake.

The mini gimbap is something you can give a little one. Our 17-month-old Hajun also eats a small amount of sundae, which makes a snack bar a nice choice for eating out. Above all, the Jongno area has lots of gomtang (beef soup) places that are great with a child, but today we were really craving tteokbokki bunsik. Hyeonseoni-ne’s tteokbokki in particular has a sweet-spicy sauce, so you end up spooning up even the broth.

The fried selection includes five kinds: gim-mari (seaweed noodle rolls), vegetable fritters, sweet potato, squid, and yaki. Hyeonseoni-ne’s fried snacks near Cheonggyecheon are wonderfully crisp. They are sturdier than the usual crispiness, which makes them great for dipping into the tteokbokki sauce. They are the kind of fried snacks that still taste good cold.

The sundae is chewy glutinous sundae too, with plenty of lung, innards, and liver, right? At Hyeonseoni-ne, we order the assorted set. Once our little one is older, I would like to try the instant tteokbokki too.

With the weather getting a little chilly, fish cake broth is essential.

Mini gimbap that our 17-month-old ate well

The mini gimbap is generously filled with ham, pickled radish, imitation crab, spinach, and egg. Our 17-month-old Hajun eats it well when it is cut into small pieces.

A happy Hajun gave Dad and Mom a high five! At 17 months, he is at the stage of eating gimbap neatly by himself like finger food.

After a tasty Hyeonseoni-ne bunsik dinner, it was time for an evening walk at Gyeongbokgung Palace. We filled up on snack food at Hyeonseoni-ne Cheonggye Instant Branch, then slowly walked over to Gwanghwamun Street ♥ Today’s outing: successful, nice, romantic.