Whole octopus in agujjim seafood stew near Yaksu Station, Seoul

Finding a good agujjim (spicy braised monkfish) restaurant in Seoul is oddly stressful, isn't it? I love agujjim and haemuljjim, but instead of just walking into any random place, I like to go somewhere I already know is "actually good," so I keep my own saved list of restaurants! The only place saved on that list under Yaksu Market restaurants was Yaksudong Haemul Teombeong (약수동해물텀벙) !!

This place is already famous as one of Seoul's "Big 3" haemuljjim spots, and it's been featured multiple times on shows like Restaurants with Lines, Amazing Saturday, and Live Info Show, so I already knew the name before going.

But places that show up on TV a lot can sometimes be a letdown when you go in with high expectations, right? Here, though, after eating there myself, I totally understood why it has so many regulars !!

Yaksudong Haemul Teombeong location and hours

• 📍 11 Dasan-ro 10-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• 🚇 From Yaksu Station Exit 7, head toward the 7-Eleven on the right
• ⏰ Daily 11:00–22:00 (※ weekday break time 15:00–16:30)
• 👥 Group/party reservations available / seats up to 100
• 🚗 1 hour free parking for main-dish diners (mechanical parking) *paid parking available at Yaksu Church

The exterior alone shows just how much TV coverage this place has had

The moment I arrived, my first thought was "wow, this place has really been on TV a lot" hahaha. The exterior is covered in evidence of TV appearances, to the point where I felt like the owner is basically a celebrity at this point lol. Restaurants with Lines, Amazing Saturday, Live Info Show — all of them!!!

Since it's been featured so much, I already had pretty high expectations before visiting. What surprised me even more was that even though I went at an awkward time — around 3–4pm on a weekend, not lunch or dinner rush — there were still quite a lot of customers! Apparently there's no break time on weekends, and honestly that alone told me why they have so many regulars. This didn't feel like a place that got famous from one or two TV spots — it felt more like a genuine neighborhood favorite that people keep coming back to!

The owner has 30 years of experience — and the kindness stuck with me too

The owner of Yaksudong Haemul Teombeong apparently has a whopping 30 years of experience. But honestly, she's even prettier in person than the portrait hanging inside the restaurant~~! More than anything, what stood out to me was how genuinely kind she was!

Good food matters, but when the staff or owner at a restaurant is kind, it just puts you in a better mood. On top of that, using good ingredients is apparently one of this place's defining traits. They prep ingredients fresh each day and strictly avoid reusing anything, I was told. Eating it myself, the seafood felt firm and clean overall, and I could really tell they put a lot of care into their ingredients.

Restaurant size and group dinner capacity

Once I stepped inside, I was surprised again by how big the space actually is. There are plenty of seats and the tables have generous spacing, so it's great for a casual meal with a few friends, but also works well for family meals, group gatherings, or company dinners.

Since it can hold up to 100 people, it seems like a solid option for a company dinner too. I might actually suggest it for my own company's next dinner lol. It's also close to Yaksu Station, which is a plus for getting a group together by public transit!

The menu board and spice level options

The main categories on the menu are tang (soup) and jjim (braised stew)! For the jjim dishes, you can adjust the spice level. I ordered the regular spice, and the owner explained it's about as spicy as Shin Ramyun. I'm not great with really spicy food (can't handle Buldak Bokkeummyeon), so it was a level I could enjoy without struggling!!

They also have a separate lunch menu with several options. Next time I'd like to come for lunch and try something different. This place is already famous for its agujjim, agu haemuljjim, and agu haemultang, so if you love monkfish, you really can't go wrong with any pick.

Agu Haemuljjim (medium size) — ₩62,000

That day I ordered the agu haemuljjim medium size for ₩62,000, plus fried rice for ₩3,000. The moment the food arrived, my first thought was "wait, this is the MEDIUM size?" — the portion was massive. The visuals alone were pretty spectacular.

They say 10 kinds of seafood go into it, and it's not just 10 kinds in name only — the seafood genuinely just keeps coming no matter how much you eat hahaha.

There's a whole octopus in there, plus blue crab, roe, monkfish gonad, shrimp, mussels, sea squirts... it's genuinely a blessing of seafood. I came for agujjim but ended up briefly stuck wondering what to eat first because of all the seafood.

Is it okay to have this much monkfish?

Still, monkfish is the real star here. There's a generous amount of monkfish meat too, so it's not the type of place where the seafood is plentiful but the actual monkfish is skimpy. The meat is thick and the portion is big, so by the end you genuinely feel like you're about to burst haha.

What I loved most was the texture of the monkfish. It was firm without being chewy or tough, with that distinct springiness you feel when you bite into it. The restaurant seemed to have good turnover, so I figured the seafood would be pretty fresh, but tasting it, it genuinely felt like the monkfish was dancing in my mouth hahaha — that's probably the most accurate way to describe it. Agujjim can be disappointing when the meat is mushy or falling apart, but here the springy texture was unmistakably there!

The whole octopus and blue crab are on point too

I figured only the monkfish would be good since it's the main event, but every other seafood item was solid too. Especially the whole octopus! It's a full octopus in there, and it was quite substantial and springy. The blue crab was also packed with meat, so it was fun picking through it.

The seafood was so generous that each bite gave me something different, so it never got repetitive. The seasoning had just the right amount of spice too — not overpowering enough to mask the seafood flavor, and overall clean-tasting! (the power of good ingredients) So my chopsticks just kept going back for more.

8 side dishes, and every single one is good

I thought only the main dish would be good, but they brought out a whopping 8 side dishes. They mentioned using good ingredients, and the side dishes were overall clean-tasting too!

Among them, the dongchimi (watery radish kimchi) and the salad were especially good~! Honestly, salad isn't usually something you expect to be great at an agujjim place, but this one was surprisingly tasty and I kept going back for more. Actually, thinking about it, everything that day was just good lol.

The perfect ending to agujjim: fried rice

You can't have agujjim without following it up with fried rice. So I added fried rice for ₩3,000. Rice fried in the stew's leftover sauce was, as expected, delicious. After eating most of the seafood, finishing off with fried rice cooked in the remaining sauce is seriously satisfying.

The agu haemuljjim itself is already a huge portion, so adding fried rice on top will leave you completely stuffed lol. Still, I'd definitely recommend ordering it. The ending feels completely different whether you stop at the stew or go all the way with the fried rice!!

Yaksudong Haemul Teombeong: final verdict

Before eating, I had high expectations since it's been on TV so many times... and it exceeded them !!

The seafood portion was generous, there was plenty of monkfish meat, every ingredient had good texture, and the seasoning was clean overall. Most of all, the food wasn't overly intense in flavor, so I think it would work well for a family meal too!!

The restaurant is spacious and can accommodate group reservations, so it should suit anyone looking for a dinner spot or family meal place around Yaksu-dong. If you're like me and save restaurants to a list, then return to the ones you actually love, this one will likely stick in your memory for a long time.

If you're looking for a good agujjim restaurant in Seoul, this is definitely worth a visit! Next time I want to come for lunch and try other menu items. If you love agujjim, save this place for whenever you're near Yaksu Station and can't decide what to eat :)

And if you've already been here, I'd love to know your favorite menu item! If you have any recommendations besides the agujjim, let me know in the comments~~