Seoknam-dong kalguksu restaurant lunch with a kid: Haemokjeong Seoknam

It'd been a while since I went out to Seohae-gu to buy Seoa a bicycle — apparently the Cheongna area is the most famous spot for that. Since we were out there anyway, we decided to have lunch nearby at Haemokjeong in Seoknam-dong.

Haemokjeong has all sorts of menu items, from pork galbi to seafood hot pot, plus lighter options like kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup), and apparently just went through a renovation.

Where is Haemokjeong Seoknam, and where do you park?

Haemokjeong Seoknam is located at 84 Sinseok-ro, Dongwha Building 101ho, Seohae-gu, Incheon, and is open daily from 11:00 to 21:50. There's no dedicated parking lot on site, so we used the Gangnam Market parking lot across the street instead — they give you a 2-hour free voucher, which is a nice bonus.

Gangnam Market parking lot (at Seoknam-dong 452-2) charges ₩300 per 15 minutes, but with the 2-hour free voucher it's a great deal. The lot itself is pretty spacious too.

Inside the newly renovated dining room

Haemokjeong sits right along the street, and they have a weekday lunch special plus tons of seafood and galbi dishes!!!!

They said they redid the interior and it's super clean now! Since a lot of people order hot pot dishes, the tables are big — plenty of room for groups too, which is why there were so many families dining out.

Haemokjeong Seoknam menu and prices

• Spicy braised pork ribs / boneless monkfish braise ₩35,000
• Abalone seafood hot pot ₩40,000
• Special (boneless monkfish/pork ribs) ₩139,000
• Family set ₩89,000 / Set A ₩59,000 / Set B ₩45,000
• Meals: mushroom kalguksu, cold kalguksu ₩9,000
• Weekday lunch special: seaweed soup set ₩8,000

From monkfish and mixed seafood dishes to seafood galbijjim, seafood hot pot, family sets, and the Haemokjeong set — there's really a lot on the menu. Plus lighter options like kalguksu, pork cutlet for the kids, and a seaweed soup set on weekdays!!

What banchan (side dishes) come with lunch?

The basic banchan (side dishes) were braised potatoes, chives, white kimchi, pickled chili peppers, and a seasoned cheonsachae (glass noodle-like jelly strands) salad. Nicely set out!

The cheonsachae salad has a tangy sauce with what tasted like mustard and garlic in it — a sharp kick. Cool and zingy, perfect as a palate cleanser.

The kid's pick: hand-breaded jumbo pork cutlet

We ordered the hand-breaded jumbo pork cutlet for Seoa, who can't handle spicy food — true to its name, it's massive. We asked for the sauce on the side!!

The crispy cutlet comes with rice and braised potatoes on the side. Freshly fried, so it was still piping hot — I cut it into bite-size pieces so Seoa could eat it easily!!

She used to not bother with the sauce on her cutlets, but today she took one bite and gave a thumbs up!! A restaurant known for its spicy seafood braises just can't have bad pork cutlets.

Two servings of mushroom kalguksu: is the portion really that big?

We ordered the mushroom kalguksu for two. It's a spicy broth loaded with minari (water dropwort), oyster mushrooms, and green onion.

But when I put the tongs in to stir the noodles — wait, is this really just two servings...? The amount is insane... Usually ordering for two doesn't leave you unable to stir it, but this pot seemed completely packed with noodles...

Boil it for about 2 minutes and when the timer goes off, that's it!! It bubbles away and cooks really fast, which I love haha.

Doesn't it just look like a massive amount even at a glance...? When I lifted it with the tongs, it came up heavy haha. This is seriously enough for 3 people — the value for money is insane, ugh ♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

How do the broth and the knife-cut noodles taste?

Just portion the noodles, minari, and mushrooms into a bowl and you're done — the noodles are so soft they slurp right up in an instant. And the broth is so refreshing too ♥︎

Whenever we go get kalguksu just the two of us, it's usually a bit short so we end up adding fried rice too — but with Haemokjeong's mushroom kalguksu... I think we're going to leave noodles behind because we're too full.

I lost count of how many times I refilled my bowl of Haemokjeong's mushroom kalguksu — the noodles are so soft they go down easy, and the broth is the best. If it were evening, I'd definitely be having a drink with this, seriously ㅠㅠㅠ

We were just trying to have a light kalguksu lunch, but the portion was so massive we ended up overeating. Still delicious though ♥︎ I love kalguksu so much ♥︎

Naver review event freebie: fried squid

If you participate in the Naver review event, you get squid fritters as a free service! But calling it a 'freebie' undersells it — this is a legit full serving of squid fritters.

Three long pieces of squid! Cut into just the right size, dip it into soy sauce — crispy enough to rival the pork cutlet, this seems like a great side dish.