Yeouido IFC Mall snack bar: broth-dipped mini gimbap, Hyeonseonine

Where is Hyeonseonine Premium at IFC Mall?

Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch is a tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) snack bar on level B2 of IFC Mall, in the underground passage that runs from Yeouido Station to The Hyundai Seoul. I went shopping at IFC Mall with my girlfriend. We'd eaten a late lunch, so a proper meal felt like too much, but of course we got a little hungry while shopping. I'd heard there was a good snack bar nearby, and this is it: Hyeonseonine tteokbokki.

Inside Hyeonseonine and the seating

There were quite a lot of seats inside, a mix of 2-person and 4-person tables. I'd only ever walked past it whenever I came to IFC Mall, and it was busy, with takeout and delivery orders coming in non-stop.

Hyeonseonine menu and how to order

The menu is posted big on the wall, with everything from single items to sets, and they sell both regular tteokbokki and instant (cook-at-table) tteokbokki. What stood out: probably because Yeouido is full of office workers, they also serve draft beer for after work. Instant tteokbokki with draft beer sounded delicious, too.

You order at the kiosk by the entrance. If you're eating at the tables out front, choose the "eat in" (먹고 가요) option. We ordered the Hyeonseonine set, which comes with tteokbokki, fried snacks, sundae (Korean blood sausage) and gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), plus a Pepsi Zero.

Self bar and review event

At the self bar you help yourself to water, spoons and chopsticks, small plates and pickled radish, and aprons are there too. The tissues at the self bar are for the outdoor tables only.

There was also a review event giving a fried rice cake or a savory mayo rice ball. You only need to review on one of the platforms, and it's one freebie per customer.

How fast does the Hyeonseonine set come out?

The set came out quickly, not long after we ordered. With takeout and delivery orders constantly coming in, I'd expected a wait. The set doesn't include fish cake (eomuk), but they thoughtfully gave us plenty of fish cake broth anyway, which I appreciated.

How spicy is the mild soupy tteokbokki?

The tteokbokki here is the soupy style with plenty of sauce, and we ordered mild. It wasn't spicy at all. It was slightly sweet and finished clean, and I loved it. I could keep spooning up the broth without it feeling harsh.

The sundae: chewy sundae, liver and osogori-gamtu

The sundae in the set comes as a mix of sundae, liver and osogori-gamtu (pig stomach). Sundae was what I'd been craving most lately. My girlfriend loves liver, and there was plenty of it.

The sundae was warm, with wonderfully chewy glass noodles inside. It had no smell, and it's the chewy-style chalsundae I like best. I'm not a big fan of osogori-gamtu, but this was tender with a nice texture, so I enjoyed it. The sundae portion was generous too.

Mini gimbap dipped in tteokbokki broth

The set's gimbap is four mini rolls, cut in half so they're easy to eat. They looked glossy from the outside and clearly delicious.

They're mini rolls, but the filling is packed and the rice is fluffy, so good. I'd have been disappointed if they weren't in the set, so it's nice to get them as part of such good value. The tteokbokki broth was so tasty that I dunked a roll in it, and the rice soaked up the broth and turned moist, a different kind of delicious.

Best of the 5 fried snacks: gimmari

The set's fried snacks come in five kinds: squid, sweet potato, gimmari (glass noodles wrapped in seaweed), vegetable and dumpling. They came out freshly fried, so of course they were good from the start.

My favorite was the gimmari fry! It's my favorite anyway, but this one was crispy outside and springy inside, so good. The sweet potato fry was moist and tasty on its own, but dunked in the tteokbokki broth, the sweetness of the potato blended with the tteokbokki flavor and tasted even better.

The fish cake broth wasn't too salty either, nice and mild for sipping. Overall, nothing left a lingering aftertaste, and I liked how clean everything felt.

Verdict on Hyeonseonine Premium IFC Mall Branch

It had been a while since I'd had snack-bar food, and everything at Hyeonseonine tasted like the textbook version of it, which made it even better. The portions are generous for the price, and considering this is Yeouido, the value is excellent. If you're shopping at IFC Mall and want a light bunsik (Korean snack food) bite, give it a try!