Bangi-dong restaurant with a toddler: raw monkfish sujeuk, Ttoksuni

Trot trot trot ๑◕‿‿◕๑

My little brother came up to Seoul, and we hit Lotte World Mall, Olympic Park and Seokchon Lake. For dinner with 17-month-old Hajun and his uncle, we stopped by Ttoksuni Agujjim, a monkfish restaurant in Bangi-dong that food bloggers rave about, and had raw monkfish sujeuk (boiled monkfish).

Where is Ttoksuni Agujjim Jamsil Direct Branch, and how do you get there?

Ttoksuni Agujjim Jamsil Direct Branch is at 48 Wirye-seongdae-ro, 101ho, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea, just a minute's walk from Hanseong Baekje Station. It's open daily from 11:00 to 22:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 16:30.

• 📍48 Wirye-seongdae-ro, 101ho, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• ⏰Daily 11:00–22:00 (break time 15:00–16:30)
• 🚘Free parking in the building lot for 2 hours
• ✨A Jamsil monkfish restaurant carrying 50 years of Jeolla-style hand-made cooking and killer side dishes
• 👼🏻Kids welcome / baby chair available / stroller access

Today was the day my uncle — I mean, my little brother, two years younger than me — came to visit Seoul. Yeah! It'd been a while since he'd seen Hajun. Since I live in Jamsil, we hit Lotte World Mall and Olympic Park together before heading to Ttoksuni Agujjim.

This monkfish restaurant near Olympic Park is located right in front of Olympic Park's Peace Gate, just a minute's walk from Hanseong Baekje Station, right next to Cheongwaok.

Inside the dining hall: group dinners and family tables

Ttoksuni Agujjim Jamsil Direct Branch has a spacious dining hall, great for work dinners around Bangi-dong or Jamsil. It's even appeared on the TV show Saengsaeng Jeongbotong, so its hand-made cooking has been recognized on national broadcast too. When I visited, there were plenty of couples on dates and people bringing their parents along.

Ttoksuni Agujjim has won awards at Korea's national Korean-food masters competition, on top of 50 years of building up their monkfish skills — a real best-of-the-best restaurant.

On your way out after the meal, there's puffed rice snack (ppeongtwigi) and plum tea waiting for you.

Why we ordered the winter-only raw monkfish sujeuk

Since I was planning to eat with a 17-month-old, we ordered the winter-only seasonal menu, raw monkfish (agu) sujeuk. It's a new menu item at Ttoksuni Agujjim, and since I love raw monkfish sujeuk anyway, I figured it'd be perfect to share with the baby.

Side dishes and the self-serve zone at Ttoksuni Agujjim

Every single side dish at this Bangi-dong monkfish restaurant is delicious. They're all made with that Jeolla-province mother's-hand-taste that makes you polish off a whole bowl of rice. Everything is made in-house — seasoned to whet your appetite but also using ingredients that are good for you, all laid out as one full spread. The side dishes might look familiar at a glance, but once you taste them, you know they're the real deal.

You can help yourself to more side dishes at the self-serve zone as much as you want. There was fried pepper chips (gochu bugak) and green onion kimchi too — I brought those over separately, and they were so, so good. The quality was excellent.

It had been since last winter that Hajun saw his uncle, but he was surprisingly well-behaved at first. Of course, ten minutes in he flipped — haha, running around everywhere... Oh my, Hajun really seemed to like the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and ate it well.

Medium raw monkfish sujeuk, stomach and liver included

The medium size of raw monkfish sujeuk is a good portion for two people. It comes piled high with minari (water dropwort) and thick bean sprouts, loaded with plump, tender monkfish flesh. From the chewy monkfish stomach to the nutty-flavored monkfish liver — which you can only enjoy if it's truly fresh — it's all there!

When you order raw monkfish, you get a round-shaped cut called the monkfish stomach — chewy like beef intestine (gopchang). The texture is delicious and nutty. Dip it in the sauce and it's a real treat. I think the stomach might be the tastiest part of the raw monkfish sujeuk. Maybe that's why it comes in such a small portion — it's precious.

Most people who visit Ttoksuni Agujjim order the seasoned monkfish stew, but now that the weather's turning cold, you should really try the raw monkfish sujeuk. It's great for replenishing your strength, and since monkfish itself is considered a health food, it's good for both adults and kids to eat. My brother, who came along, said it was so good and ate it all up too.

Finishing with egg rice porridge in the monkfish broth

The highlight of the raw monkfish sujeuk at this Jamsil monkfish restaurant is, without question, the egg rice porridge made with the monkfish broth. It's not optional — it's a must-order.

Of all days, Hajun wasn't giving me a moment to eat in peace, making parenting difficulty level: hard — but the monkfish sujeuk was so good that today, just today, I didn't hold back. Haha, mom's gotta eat too! That's how we raise our baby! Eating plenty of the fresh minari and bean sprouts, plus the monkfish flesh, stomach and liver all around, made me so happy. I wanted a shot of soju but held back. Haha.

He was cutting up the monkfish flesh into small bits and munching away too.

Underneath the monkfish sujeuk sits a rich, deep broth. Once you're done eating, ask for the egg porridge and they'll bring it out. This broth is the real deal, so don't leave any of it behind — finish it all. I scraped my bowl clean down to the last drop of broth. It just makes you go 'ahh~' — refreshing yet deep, and so satisfying.

What worked well with a 17-month-old at Ttoksuni Agujjim

The staff at Ttoksuni Agujjim were so kind. I'd originally just ordered a regular bowl of rice, but they showed us this way of eating it, so we could enjoy it even more. And just as they said, once it became egg porridge, that's what the baby ate best of all! I cut the leftover monkfish flesh in the porridge into tiny bits for him, and he ate it up heartily — another thing this rookie mom learned today. Haha. When Hajun got restless, they even handed him some puffed rice snack to calm him down — it was such a thankful meal. ♥

Ttoksuni Agujjim Jamsil Direct Branch isn't just about great food — there's real warmth from the people too. It's not just me who felt it — the elderly couple at the next table were praising the place too. People just feel the same things. Hope everyone catches this good energy and stays happy always. ♥