Goyang Korean restaurant for spicy haejangguk: Jeju Eunhui-ne

With the weather turning colder, I found myself thinking of Jeju Eunhui-ne Haejangguk, a good spot near Starfield Goyang for a warm, hearty pick-me-up.

Opposite Starfield, with solo dining too

It is about 400 m from Samsong Station Exit 3 and directly opposite Starfield Goyang, so it is easy to stop by before or after grocery shopping. There is one hour of free parking, making it a nice casual place for a solo meal, a family visit, lunch, or dinner. Park in the underground lot, then take the elevator up.

There were lots of takeout orders too. Since it is uncooked takeout, it would be great to bring home and boil away. It comes with the ingredients, broth, seasoning paste, and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi). It seems perfect for a relaxed drink at home with a meal. Extra rice, broth, kkakdugi, and seasoning do cost extra, though.

From haejangguk to braised cutlassfish

The menu includes haejangguk (hangover soup), naejangtang (offal soup), dombe pork, and seasoned tripe. The squid mulhoe (cold raw-fish soup) seems to have finished as a seasonal item.

You can have it as a set with dombe pork, too. Is dombe pork something like boiled pork slices?

And there is a new braised cutlassfish dish. Oh, and extra rice and broth are free with it. What an amazing deal! Since the broth is so rich and pleasantly spicy, I also spotted quite a few people enjoying a bowl of haejangguk with a bottle of soju at dinnertime.

Please do wear an apron. It splatters when you eat, haha.

Check the country-of-origin information.

Spacious tables and basic side dishes

The high ceiling makes the interior feel open. There is also a map of Jeju Island, which makes the decor fun to look at. There are plenty of tables, so it works well for groups too.

The basic sides are Cheongyang chili peppers and kkakdugi. I took one bite and wow, those peppers are seriously hot hahaha. You can add the garlic to the soup, but it tastes perfect even without it.

Rich broth in a ₩12,000 bowl of haejangguk

The haejangguk arrived bubbling away. It is ₩12,000 and packed with ingredients. There are three pieces of seonji (congealed ox blood), which can be left out if you prefer. You can also leave out the seasoning; I recommend that if you are visiting with children.

Once you stir in the red seasoning, it looks totally different, right? It is full of meat, and one spoonful of the pleasantly spicy broth feels like it clears you right out—such a hangover cure, haha. It has that deeply simmered, piping-hot soup feeling: easy on the stomach and somehow it keeps calling you back. Scoop into it and you find crisp bean sprouts, tender glass noodles, and thin, moist beef brisket everywhere. The seonji is springy and chewy, with none of that off smell.

The rice is black rice rather than plain white rice, so it feels a bit healthier, and I could easily finish a whole bowl. One bowl is filling, but extra rice is free, so if you need more, you can add it with extra broth and enjoy a generous meal.

How was the new Jeju cutlassfish braise?

I was curious about the new braised cutlassfish dish, too. Since it uses cutlassfish from Jeju, I wondered what it would be like.

I suppose the price of the fish could not be helped: it comes with three pieces of cutlassfish, radish, and potato. It costs ₩15,000.

It looks redder than the haejangguk, but the braised cutlassfish is not spicy. It is lightly seasoned, so it tastes mild.

At first, I thought the cutlassfish was squid. It was tightly rolled up, so I wondered what it was, but it was boneless cutlassfish rolled into pieces. That makes it easy to eat—cutlassfish can be tricky to pick the bones out of, after all.

The radish was sweet, while the cutlassfish was a little underseasoned. Compared with the haejangguk, the dish also felt a bit sparse, and I was disappointed by the smaller portion.

So, if you want to try Jeju cutlassfish in a slightly different way, give the new braised cutlassfish a go. But if you want the classic signature dish, I recommend the haejangguk—some things are classics for a reason.

At Jeju Eunhui-ne Haejangguk near Starfield Goyang, you can see that many celebrities have visited. I guess that is because it is a popular restaurant in such an easy-to-reach spot, right opposite Starfield on the first floor. Its flavor is consistently good every time I visit, making it a Samsong favorite I can drop into anytime.

They also sell seasoned doenjang (soybean paste), and it looks savory and delicious. I wish they sold the sauce too.

For anyone looking for a good restaurant in Samsong, or anyone who loves a hearty, pleasantly spicy flavor, I highly, highly recommend Jeju Eunhui-ne Haejangguk near Starfield Goyang.