Seolleung Station gamjatang with shrimp pancake set: Haeseonok

Where is Haeseonok Seolleung Branch, and how do you walk there from Seolleung Station?

Haeseonok Seolleung Branch sits in an alley just off the main street if you keep walking straight from Seolleung Station. There's a tile-roofed awning with the Haeseonok sign, and next to it a banner reading '40-year tradition, gamjatang and kkotgetang specialist.' The floor above the same building is a hanbang-nurungji baeksuk (herbal rice-crust chicken stew) restaurant.

A standing sign next to the storefront sign says, 'Just try it once.' Restaurants that put up phrases like that usually mean it. Below that, it says gamjatang softer than beef has finally landed in Seoul.

Lines like that give off some serious owner confidence, which honestly puts me at ease~

Menu and country-of-origin labels at Haeseonok Seolleung Branch

The menu board hanging on the wall~

Checked the country-of-origin labels too

And the T-order tablet menu~

What is the single-serving neungi hanbang gamjatang and shrimp pancake set like?

What I ordered at Haeseonok Seolleung Branch was the single-serving neungi hanbang gamjatang + shrimp pancake set.

Having a separate single-serving menu is a real plus at this place. A lot of gamjatang spots feel awkward to walk into alone, but here the solo menu is clearly listed on its own. No side-eye needed — solo dining made easy!!

The broth is clean. You'd expect a bone soup like this to be thick and heavy, but this one tastes way lighter than that. I figured the mountain of soybean powder on top would make it feel heavier, but it was actually the opposite.

The shrimp pancake comes on paper in a bamboo steamer, with a big whole shrimp — tail and all — poking out of the batter. The set description said '1 shrimp pancake,' so I went back and forth over whether to get the seafood pancake instead, but that '1' turned out to be one pancake with four shrimp stuck together hahaha. Bigger than I expected.

The people next to me were eating ppyeojjim (steamed bone dish) — I should come back with friends for dinner and try that next time.

Table spacing and the self-serve banchan bar

The tables are also spaced out nicely along the row, so it never feels too crowded.

Banchan (side dishes) come from a self-serve bar. Three kinds: seasoned greens, cubed radish kimchi, and a chili mix with tiny dried anchovies. Served on a brass-look three-compartment plate, the table ends up looking pretty put together.

There's a pepper shaker and seasoning sauce on the table, so you can adjust it to your own taste.

The soybean-powder notice on the wall

The sign on the wall is kind of funny. One side lists the benefits of gamjatang, the other lists the benefits of soybean powder. It's obviously the restaurant's own marketing copy, so you just read it with a grain of salt — but I've never seen a place push soybean powder this hard. And sure enough, the gamjatang really does arrive piled high with it.

Final verdict on Haeseonok Seolleung Branch

A good spot to go when you're tired of thick bone soup. The soybean-powder broth is surprisingly light.

And restaurants that serve food in brass tableware just make me feel a bit more taken care of — that's always a plus for me!