Gamjatang restaurant midway between Yeoksam and Eonju: Haeseonok

Why Haeseonok works as a halfway lunch spot near Seolleung Station

Haeseonok Seolleung Branch sits between Seolleung Station and the Yeoksam/Eonju area, making it an easy meeting spot for two people walking from different offices. It's a boneless gamjatang (감자탕, pork bone and potato stew) restaurant at 5 Eonju-ro 98-gil, 1F 102, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, open Sun–Fri 10:30–22:30, closed every Saturday.

It had been a while since I had a lunch date near the office.

My office is between Seolleung and Yeoksam stations, and my friend's office is between Seolleung and Eonju stations, so we thought about where to meet and settled on somewhere in the middle.

Today's meeting spot: [Haeseonok Seolleung Branch] 📍5 Eonju-ro 98-gil, 1F 102, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 🕒 Sun–Fri 10:30–22:30, closed every Saturday 🚗 No parking (narrow alley location, congested)

Haeseonok Seolleung Branch was a location neither of us had to go far out of our way to reach, and it was perfect timing for lunch! When you're setting up a lunch date between two coworkers, taste matters, but so does whether the spot is too far from either office and whether the food takes forever to come out... weighing all that, I picked Haeseonok for lunch that day.

Haeseonok's menu: boneless gamjatang and pancake sets

Haeseonok's main dish is gamjatang, and besides the regular bone-in version, they also had a boneless option, plus various pancake (jeon) dishes to eat alongside it.

We ordered a boneless gamjatang + shrimp pancake set and a boneless gamjatang + seafood pancake set, and agreed to share the pancakes! We figured ordering two different sets and both tasting each pancake would be better than getting the same thing twice.

How quickly did the food arrive at Haeseonok?

After a short wait the dishes started arriving one by one, and honestly the food came out faster than I expected, which made me think this place would work well for a lunch visit. Lunch breaks are always short, and slow food makes you anxious, but the wait wasn't long that day, which I appreciated.

How Haeseonok's boneless gamjatang tastes and how salty the broth is

First, the main dish, boneless gamjatang! It's gamjatang but with boneless meat instead of bone-in cuts, so it was genuinely easy to eat.

Honestly, with regular gamjatang, picking meat off the bones takes some effort, and since I just wanted an easy lunch, the boneless option was a big plus... scoop up a piece of meat with the broth, eat it with rice. Definitely easier to eat than the usual gamjatang!

And I liked that the broth wasn't overly intense. It had that rich gamjatang flavor without being too spicy or salty, seasoned just right to go with rice. Personally, when gamjatang broth is too salty I end up reaching for water after a few spoonfuls, but Haeseonok's broth I could eat comfortably all the way through. The boneless meat was also tender, so eating it like rice soaked in broth was very filling.

Shrimp pancake or seafood pancake: which set was better?

Then the shrimp pancake we ordered! Being shrimp-filled, you could feel the plump, bouncy texture of the shrimp in the first bite, and the pancake itself was savory enough to go well with the gamjatang. A spoonful of gamjatang broth followed by a bite of shrimp pancake was a pretty great combo.

And a bite of the seafood pancake from the other set! With various seafood mixed in, it had a bit more varied texture than the shrimp pancake, and since we shared, we both got to try both pancakes. When two people are ordering, this is the way to go — order different dishes and split them. Gamjatang alone might have felt a bit plain, but with the pancakes added, lunch felt quite hearty. Best of all, the food came out looking clean overall, which made it easy to eat for lunch.

Why boneless gamjatang is a good weekday lunch in Gangnam

Gamjatang can feel like a dish you'd have at dinner with a drink, but eating it boneless made me think it actually works well as a weekday lunch too.

No bones to pick through, easy to eat the meat, broth seasoned just right for rice, and with the pancakes on the side, it's filling too.

That day, catching up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while over lunch, chatting about this and that, and the food coming out faster than expected meant we could eat at a relaxed pace without feeling rushed. What I liked most was that even though our offices were in slightly different, awkward spots, Seolleung sat right in the middle, making it easy to meet. I came up from Yeoksam, my friend came down from Eonju, and since we could each walk a little to meet here, I'd consider this spot again for a future lunch date.

Having lunch outside the office with a friend after a while felt different from the usual rushed lunch at my desk... I ate my fill of boneless gamjatang, shrimp pancake, and seafood pancake, then headed back to work.

Overall, the restaurant was clean, the food came out fast, and the gamjatang was seasoned just right, not too heavy, making it a solid, filling lunch — that's Haeseonok. If you like gamjatang but find picking meat off bones a hassle, the boneless version is a pretty good choice!

If you're looking for a spot to meet for lunch between Seolleung, Yeoksam, and Eonju stations, I'd recommend Haeseonok Seolleung Branch — a convenient halfway point for a clean, filling meal.