Gwacheon restaurant comparing abalone-flounder and pollack soup
In short
Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch is a seaweed soup restaurant on Araetbaeraengi-ro in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, a Busan-born brand that opened this branch six months ago. On a weekend lunch, the abalone-flounder seaweed soup set (26,000 won) arrived with two whole abalone and a broth full of flounder meat, while the dried pollack seaweed soup set (19,000 won) came with the same salad, sweet-and-sour fried flounder, six banchan and japchae. Free refills at the self-serve banchan bar make Haenon Miyeok an easy choice for a meal with older parents or a pregnant guest.
Good to know
- Hours
- 11:00–21:00 (break 15:00–17:00)
- Address
- 67 Araetbaeraengi-ro, 1st floor, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do
- Parking
- Available
- Abalone and flounder seaweed soup set
- 26,000 won
- Scallop seaweed soup set
- 19,000 won
- Abalone and scallop set
- 26,000 won
- Mussel meat set
- 19,000 won
- Abalone and mussel meat set
- 26,000 won
- Beef set
- 20,000 won
- Abalone and beef set
- 27,000 won
- Dried pollack set
- 19,000 won
- Abalone and dried pollack set
- 26,000 won
- Oyster set
- 26,000 won
- Abalone and oyster set
- 32,000 won
- Sea urchin roe set
- 30,000 won
- Abalone and sea urchin roe set
- 37,000 won
- Haesin (seafood) set
- 29,000 won
- Haenon bulgogi set
- 32,000 won
- Haenon spicy stir-fried pork
- 26,000 won
- Banchan
- Free refills at the self-serve bar
as written by the visitor on Sep 23, 2026
- Hours: 11:00–21:00
- Break: 15:00–17:00
- Address: 67 Araetbaeraengi-ro, Gwacheon-si
- Parking: Available
My favorite soup has always been miyeokguk (seaweed soup)... honestly, is there a single Korean who doesn't like it? Maybe that's why seaweed-soup-only specialty restaurants have started popping up lately, and one finally landed on my radar.
What kind of place is Haenon Miyeok in Gwacheon?
So here's the Gwacheon spot I visited, a seaweed soup specialist called Haenon Miyeok! It started in Busan, and the staff told me this Gwacheon branch has been open for about six months.
I went on a weekend, and maybe because it was lunchtime, the place was packed. It's not in the Jijeongta area of Gwacheon but somewhere quieter, so I was surprised — the parking lot was full and the inside was packed too. Wow, I thought, of course people come out for good food. And the interior is gorgeous too.
Haenon Miyeok menu and set prices
- Abalone flounder seaweed soup set ₩26,000
- Scallop seaweed soup set ₩19,000
- Abalone scallop set ₩26,000
- Mussel meat set ₩19,000
- Abalone mussel meat set ₩26,000
- Beef set ₩20,000
- Abalone beef set ₩27,000
- Dried pollack set ₩19,000
- Abalone pollack set ₩26,000
- Oyster set ₩26,000
- Abalone oyster set ₩32,000
- Sea urchin roe set ₩30,000
- Abalone sea urchin roe set ₩37,000
- Sea god set ₩29,000
- Haenon bulgogi set ₩32,000
- Haenon spicy stir-fried pork ₩26,000
What banchan comes with each set?
The side dishes start arriving right away, served in clean white porcelain bowls that felt really upscale. A salad drizzled with black sesame dressing came first — salad before the meal is a must these days. I love it when a restaurant serves salad. It's an age when you have to watch your health, haha.
Flounder tangsu? Anyway, it's fried flounder with sweet-and-sour sauce brushed on. Crispy and light — really delicious.
And then six kinds of banchan (side dishes).
Napa cabbage kimchi, chicken breast with mustard vegetable salad(?), mung bean jelly salad, seasoned bellflower root, fried eggplant, scallop sauce.
And then japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) too!
Abalone-flounder soup vs dried pollack soup: which to order
My husband ordered the dried pollack seaweed soup set, and I ordered the abalone flounder seaweed soup set. Both arrived at the same time! This one is the abalone flounder seaweed soup.
And this is the dried pollack seaweed soup. Since the main ingredients differ, the color was similar — pale and milky — but with a slight tonal difference. The pollack soup leaned a bit more yellow. You could really taste that deep, savory pollack flavor, and my husband, who loves any dried pollack soup, absolutely devoured it.
Any menu with abalone comes with two whole abalones! They were bigger than I expected, a good size for the two of us to split.
The full spread. Among the seaweed soup restaurants in Gwacheon, Haenon Miyeok might be the cleanest and most refined presentation I've seen, and more than that, the soup itself was incredible — so rich it tasted like it had been simmering for two days straight. The portions were huge too! We really tried our best but still had quite a bit left over, which felt like such a waste. Taking it home felt a bit awkward though, so we didn't.
Does the flounder seaweed soup have bones or a fishy smell?
The flounder seaweed soup is packed with seaweed, but also packed with flounder meat. It felt like an entire fish had been deboned into it — honestly it felt like two fish's worth of meat. They mentioned bones can sometimes turn up given the nature of flounder soup, but I didn't find a single one while eating! I've only ever had beef, dried pollack, or shellfish seaweed soup before, so this was my first flounder version — there was zero fishy smell, and the soft flounder meat was exactly my type...
The self-serve banchan bar and who to bring to Haenon Miyeok
Another big plus is that all the banchan can be freely refilled at the self-serve bar. Every side dish is presented so neatly that older family members would especially appreciate it. It also struck me as a great place to bring a pregnant friend or new mother, haha. In fact, while we were eating, there were plenty of pregnant guests around, and given the type of menu, lots of families with young kids too. If you love seaweed soup and you're in Gwacheon, definitely check out Haenon Miyeok... next time I want to try taking it home. 👏🏻👏🏻
Where it is
67 Araetbaeraengi-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea경기도 과천시 아랫배랭이로 67 1층
