Bucheon ochazuke shop: grilled salmon & eel in seaweed, Haehwagaban

Where is Haehwagaban Lotte Department Store Jungdong Branch?

Haehwagaban (해화개반) Lotte Department Store Jungdong Branch is in the basement level 1 food court of Lotte Department Store at 300 Gilju-ro, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, Gyeonggi. It's inside the department store near Sinjungdong Station, so it's easy to stop by while shopping.

• Hours: 10:30–20:00
• Closed: second Monday of the month
• Other: takeout, reservations, groups, high chairs, parking

Location & parking

The weather has been on and off with rain and it's so hot, so I went to Lotte Department Store to cool off ❤️ Shopping makes me hungry, so I always head to the food court, and there was a place I'd never seen before and I got curious ❗️ An ochazuke specialist is not something you see every day, so I went straight in haha 🤣

How does the seating work at Haehwagaban?

Haehwagaban is inside the food court at Lotte Department Store Jungdong Branch, so you just grab any free seat in the food court.

Even on a weekday, the department store food court was packed by lunchtime 😇

What's on the menu and how much is it?

At Haehwagaban I ordered the salmon ochazuke for ₩17,000 and the eel ochazuke for ₩19,500. There's also a seasonal cold soba, buckwheat noodle dishes and tempura as a side, so lots of choices 😆

Each person gets their own tray, so I think it'd be great for eating solo too 💖 I went with a friend, so we ordered one of each 😘

What comes on the ochazuke tray?

The ochazuke comes on an individual tray with the main rice bowl, side dishes, soup, seaweed and a small kettle of ochazuke broth. Ta-da ✨ Everything arrived neatly arranged, one item at a time 🥺

Salmon ochazuke: grilled salmon, not raw

The salmon ochazuke (₩17,000) at Haehwagaban comes topped with grilled salmon, not raw. My friend ordered it, and the setup was the same as the eel one ❗️ If the particular smell of raw salmon bothers you, this is a mild, easy-to-like flavor ❤️

There's not a hint of fishiness, and it's a protein-packed fish that goes so well with rice 🔥 The rice is also sprinkled with furikake (rice seasoning), so the seasoning was just right 💗 We ate plenty of it before pouring in the ochazuke broth! Once you pour the broth in, the salmon is moist and so good with the rice 🙆🏻‍♀️

How was the eel ochazuke?

The eel ochazuke (₩19,500) at Haehwagaban has golden grilled eel on the rice, brushed with a sweet-salty sauce, with a light topping of pickled ginger 😆 This one was mine 💖 The setup is the same as the salmon! We shared and tried both.

The eel was tender and not tough at all, so it was great scooped up spoonful by spoonful with the rice 😘 It goes down soft with the rice. It was hot that day and I wondered about a noodle dish, but I think choosing rice was the right call 🙆🏻‍♀️

The kicker: wrapping it in the seaweed on the side

The seaweed served with the ochazuke was the kicker. Wrap the rice in the lightly salty seaweed and the rice vanishes in no time, like magic ⭐️ It actually tasted better wrapped in the seaweed than if it had been sprinkled on as shredded flakes 😘 There's a reason it comes alongside.

To finish: sprinkle furikake and pour in the broth

I sprinkled the furikake that came as a topping over the rice and poured in the hot broth 🤣 The eel sauce naturally blends with the ochazuke broth and gives the soup a savory depth 💗 If you're after a clean, tidy meal at Lotte Department Store Jungdong Branch, give Haehwagaban a try ☺️ Thanks for the meal again today!