Byeollae kalguksu spot for a rainy evening: ₩58,000 octopus pot, Gojip

Whole octopus seafood kalguksu found in Byeollae on a rainy day

It was a gray day with rain in the forecast, the kind of evening when you crave hot broth, so we went to Gojip Tongmuneo Kalguksu Byeollae Byeolgaram Station Branch (고집통문어칼국수 별내별가람역점) in Byeollae, Namyangju. The kids wanted Korean food for dinner and a light drizzle was falling, so we picked this place, known for whole fresh seafood packed into the pot.

Gojip Tongmuneo Kalguksu Byeollae Byeolgaram Station Branch is said to be a well-known lunch spot in Byeollae.

• Seafood kalguksu with whole octopus, cuttlefish, abalone, clams and scallops
• The Byeollae lunch spot for whole octopus kalguksu
• The most generous seafood kalguksu of my life
• A Byeollae favorite with a line even an hour before closing

Parking and how to get to Gojip Tongmuneo Kalguksu in Byeollae

The restaurant is at 450-31 Sunhwagung-ro, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do (basement level 1), 679 m from Exit 3 of Byeolgaram Station. Hours are 11:00–21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00 and last order at 19:50. It's closed every Wednesday. Parking is available, there's a waiting area, and the men's and women's restrooms are separate and clean. Takeout is available and there are high chairs too.

Put it in your navigation and you'll reach a parking lot where you can see the Gojip Tongmuneo Kalguksu sign. Head toward the arrow sign and you'll see stairs. Go down the stairs, walk past another shop, and when you see the red chairs, you've arrived! 😄

After parking, I went down the stairs and found it on a street beside an apartment complex.

The parking lot is big, and as befits a Byeollae spot with a line, there are waiting chairs and even a heated/air-conditioned waiting room. If you see the red chairs, you're in the right place 😀

There's a fish tank at the entrance. The fresh-looking seafood was clearly well cared for, so I was already excited before going in.

Waiting at Gojip Tongmuneo Kalguksu: when to go for a shorter wait

They say that if you arrive at opening time, 11 a.m., or at 5 p.m., you can eat without waiting. I arrived an hour before closing, and there were still groups waiting behind me, so it's clearly a popular place~

It's an open-run restaurant (people line up for opening), but before eating I figured, isn't seafood kalguksu all pretty much the same?? I guessed they just put in a few extra clams.

What a hasty guess. Sorry, boss 😁😁😁 🎊🎊🎊 (After eating, it became my kalguksu of a lifetime.)

Customers kept coming late, so diners would have had to eat in a rush, and the owner said they couldn't take more guests, yet some people still said they'd wait 😄😄 It really is a place with a line. If it appeared on a TV food show like Saengsaeng Jeongbotong, I think people would travel from far away for it.

Atmosphere and who eats here

The restaurant was clean and spacious. Customers kept arriving steadily, as if it were a Byeollae hot spot, and I saw family meals, group gatherings and couples on dates. There's a hand-washing area inside, and separate men's and women's restrooms outside.

This photo was taken 20–30 minutes before closing. The atmosphere and lighting feel good for drinking, so nobody was getting up. The staff were so friendly that I wondered whether they were all one family.

On rainy days, the whole octopus seafood kalguksu is understandably popular. The air conditioning is very good too, so on hot days you can eat in cool comfort.

While we ate, my family said "let's come again" so many times I lost count. Next time they want cuttlefish bulgogi (spicy stir-fried cuttlefish). I looked at the next table and it was generous too. 🌈 I went thinking it was a Byeollae favorite, but this feels like a place worth visiting from Seoul, beyond just Namyangju or Guri.

My husband said we don't need to go all the way to the seaside to eat famous kalguksu near Seoul, because it felt just like eating at the beach. The rain and cool weather probably added to the feeling 🩷🩷

Whole octopus seafood kalguksu, medium (3 people) ₩58,000: how big is the portion?

Two adult women and one man, three of us in total, ate the medium (3-person) whole octopus seafood kalguksu at Gojip Tongmuneo Kalguksu for ₩58,000. It comes with whole octopus, a medium-size cuttlefish, scallops, 3 abalone, a few dozen plump-roed clams, kalguksu noodles, vegetables and more.

If I made this at home, I estimate the ingredients alone would cost over ₩50,000. Thinking about it, this is a delicious, great-value place♥️♥️ My husband said that near his office, this quality would have cost over ₩80,000.

Before eating, we'd talked about what extra noodles to add. But we got full on all the generous seafood, and at a kalguksu restaurant we almost left without eating kalguksu 😁😁😁

Not just the octopus but abalone, scallops, clams and whole cuttlefish all went in together, so it looked generous at a glance. The look of it was like something from Saengsaeng Jeongbotong. My kid asked if it was really ₩58,000 for three haha

Texture of the whole octopus and cuttlefish

The first thing that caught my eye when the pot arrived was the huge whole octopus 🐙🐙🐙🐙 It was so hefty, and you'll be satisfied with the size. My husband is from Busan, so his seafood standards are high, and he cut the octopus with a satisfied look 😄😄

The octopus was fairly big, but even after cooking and cutting it with scissors it was still plump 👍👍👍 There's a wait and closing time is early, so if you have time, going at the morning or afternoon opening time seems a better idea.

The octopus was chewy without being tough, and the thick, big cuttlefish had a texture even young kids like and eat easily.

The chewiness of the octopus and the soft texture of the cuttlefish were different, so it was fun to alternate between them.

The pot where the seafood wouldn't shrink

This is before the noodles go in. The kalguksu was slowly being forgotten haha You have to eat a fair amount of the seafood before the noodles go in, and the seafood just wouldn't go down 😁

You can see how generous it is at a glance, right? 😁

Dipping in chojang (sweet-sour chili vinegar sauce), I kept eating and kept fishing out more seafood. With napa cabbage, bean sprouts and garlic in it, the broth was refreshing. It would also work when you're craving shabu-shabu.

Pushed aside by the octopus and cuttlefish, the abalone and clams were briefly neglected. The seafood was fresh, and the abalone was tender too.

The kalguksu noodles you eat even when you're full

At Gojip Tongmuneo Kalguksu, once you've eaten the seafood, they pour in broth and add the noodles. We were full and everyone was just picking out clams, but a staff member said "You have to eat the kalguksu~", poured in broth and dropped in the noodles haha, so we ended up half-forced into eating kalguksu even though we were stuffed 😁😁

Everyone had said they were too full for noodles, but the moment my husband said the noodles were chewy and delicious, everyone's chopsticks got busy.

Side dishes were young radish kimchi and fresh-tossed kimchi. My daughter, who's on a diet, finished all the fresh kimchi with the noodles. The kimchi was good too. Extra noodles are ₩2,000, but we didn't order any.

My eldest had been stressed all week over final exams, then ate at Gojip in Byeollae and said it felt like going from hell to heaven haha

Is it worth going back?

I understand why customers keep coming until closing time. We were so satisfied that next time I plan to go back for the cuttlefish bulgogi 😊 It's a seafood kalguksu place, so if you're in Byeollae on a rainy day craving whole octopus, seafood kalguksu or cuttlefish, it's worth a visit 🩷 🌈 It's a place I'd like to bring my parents.