Yongsan tteokbokki restaurant for a shopping break: Hyeonseonine combo

Today I came to Yongsan to shop with a friend! We got to reminiscing and somehow ended up talking about the tteokbokki we used to eat back in school, and suddenly I was craving bunsik (Korean street snacks) so badly hahahaha. And wouldn't you know it, the famous Hyeonseonine main branch, a Yongsan tteokbokki spot, was right nearby, so I was pulled there like magic!!!! It was so good I just had to write this post and recommend it♡

Where is Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, and what does it look like?

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch is a tteokbokki and bunsik restaurant near Sinyongsan Station, at 2-13 Hangang-daero 39-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It's close to the station, so the location was super convenient>_<!

The exterior of Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch! Looking at the outside, the retro bunsik-shop interior really stands out! I was hunting for the building from a distance and the red roof and yellow chimney caught my eye right away!

Inside Hyeonseonine and the wait: every seat was taken

Once inside Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, the interior was much bigger than I expected! What jumped out at me most was just how many customers there were!

When I went, it was completely full! It wasn't even meal time, but I guess being the main branch, you could really feel just how popular Hyeonseonine is!

There are waiting chairs inside, so you put your name down via CatchTable and wait until your turn alert goes off! As befits a Yongsan tteokbokki hotspot, just look at the waitlist numbers, lol. But since it's a bunsik place, food turnover is fast, so we didn't have to wait long!

Hyeonseonine's menu board and how kiosk ordering works

At Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, you check the menu board on the wall and order at the kiosk. While waiting, I gave the menu board a quick scan!

When your turn is almost up, staff will ask you to go ahead and order via the kiosk! And apparently if you want to add anything later, you use the same kiosk!

The menu is packed with Korean soul-food bunsik dishes! Tteokbokki, sundae (blood sausage), fritters, fish cake, gimbap, rice balls — all the dishes no Korean can live without, lined up in a row!

There are budget-friendly set menus too, and instant tteokbokki is also on offer! We went with the Hyeonseonine Combo!

You can add all kinds of extras — rice cake, fish cake, egg, cheese, jjolmyeon noodles, vegetables, and more! The upside is you can eat a big, filling meal for a cheap add-on fee!

They also sell slushies, coolpis, soft drinks, and alcohol! Honestly, I'd never seen a bunsik-plus-alcohol combo before hahahaha, but it felt like it would just work ㅎ_ㅎ I wanted to have a cold draft beer with spicy tteokbokki as the side dish, so I ordered one..☆

Right next to the kiosk there's also a self bar! If you run low on pickled radish or wet wipes, just help yourself here!

What comes in the 5-item Hyeonseonine Combo, plus draft beer

The Hyeonseonine Combo at Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch is a 5-item set: tteokbokki, sundae, mini gimbap, fritters, and fish cake. The first thing to arrive was a glass of draft beer! It was so hot that day and I was so thirsty that I took a sip before the food even came, and out came an involuntary 'kyaaa~' hahahaha. It was so refreshing it made me happyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ♡

The Hyeonseonine Combo has arrived! Just looking at the spread makes you feel full alreadyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Being bunsik, the food came out really fast!

Such a gorgeous sight. It naturally brought back memories of the bunsik shop I used to go to as a kid~ Honestly, is there a single Korean who dislikes this combo? Agreed?

This was my first time having draft beer with bunsik, and I seriously, strongly, hugely recommend it!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The combo is insane... Bunsik pairs really well as a drinking snack too?????

Fish cake and fish cake broth at Hyeonseonine

Let's start light with fish cake as an appetizer, shall we? Three fish cake skewers and fish cake broth come out on a plate! Visual, passed.

One bite of fish cake, ahh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's soaked up the broth well, so it chews soft and it's so moistㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ♡ And the broth has a deep flavor, so I bet it'd go down smoothly alongside the other bunsik dishes!!!!

Sundae (blood sausage) and mini gimbap

Next up, sundae (blood sausage) and mini gimbap! Everything was glistening, probably because it was freshly made! The sundae came mixed with organ meats! I love organ meats like liver and lung, so I was thrilled♡

One bite of sundae, ahh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ wow................... seriously, there's zero gamy smell from the sundae or the organs, no jokeㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ Just like the fish cake, these chew soft and moist too — the cooking skill here is next level...ㄷㄷ

How Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki tastes and how spicy it is

And now the star of Korean food, tteokbokki!!!!!!!!!!!! The portion was generous across the board, which I loved! The visual alone brings back memories!

One bite of rice cake, ahh~~~~~~~~~~~~ the rice cake is really chewy and spicy!!!!! The sauce doesn't taste artificially spicy either, which was exactly my taste! It's addictive to the point where my chopsticks kept going backㄷㄷ

Now~~~~~~ you all know this perfect combo right???? Dip the mini gimbap and sundae organs deep~~~~ in the tteokbokki sauce and game over.

Right when your mouth starts feeling properly spicy, hit it with a cool sip of draft beer and all the stress just melts away! Ordering the draft beer was a genius move hahahahaha, ugh, they just go together so well...?

The fritters, dipped in Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki sauce

Now that I've had a sip of beer, time to reach for fritters, the fundamental drinking snack! It's a mix of squid fritters, sweet potato fritters, yakki-mandu (fried dumplings), and vegetable fritters!

As someone who knows how to eat, I immediately dip the fritters deep~ into the tteokbokki sauce. Crispy fritters meeting sweet-and-spicy tteokbokki sauce is truly a fantastic taste. I hugely, hugely recommend this combo!!!!

Is the Hyeonseonine Combo enough for two? Final verdict

To wrap things up, a slushie I got as a review event!!! Rounded things off with dessert too>_<! It was more than enough food to fill two people up, and the quality was so high that I'd really, really recommend this place to anyone looking for a great tteokbokki spot in Yongsan.