Paid 700 won extra for chili at a Gyodae gimbap restaurant: Halls

I was looking for a simple meal around Seocho and ended up at Halls Gimbap Main Branch near Gyodae Station!

Halls Gimbap Main Branch used to be called Oto Gimbap Seocho branch, but only the name has changed — the same owner and staff are still there, and they say the gimbap and dakgangjeong (Korean crispy fried chicken) seasoning, cooking method, and ingredient freshness are all kept exactly the same as before!! So if you've visited Oto Gimbap Seocho before, you'll find the familiar taste is still there >-< I ordered both gimbap and dakgangjeong this time!

Where is Halls Gimbap Main Branch, and when is it open?

• ⏰ Hours: Mon-Sat 08:30 - 20:00 (closed every Sunday)
• 📍 Address: 90 Seochojungang-ro 22-gil, 1st floor, Unit 101, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea → 5-minute walk from Seocho Station Exit 1
• 🚗 Parking: Available

Arriving in front of the store, the first thing I noticed was the sign with a cute horse character, fitting for a place named Halls ("horse" sounds similar in Korean)! 🐴 It's an easy-to-spot sign even from a distance, so it wasn't hard to find near Gyodae Station.

Can you eat alone? Terrace seats, bar table and group tables

Going inside Halls Gimbap Main Branch, there was more seating variety than I expected. There's a terrace section on one side, which seems great for enjoying gimbap picnic-style in the fresh air on a nice day!

There's also a bar table that felt comfortable for eating alone, so it seemed fine for solo dining too. And there's group seating for 4-6 people, which looks like it would work well for a casual meal with friends or family👍🏻

Halls Gimbap menu: half-and-half rolls and chicken sets

Looking at the menu, there was quite a variety of gimbap, and if it's hard to pick just one, you can order two kinds half-and-half! There's also a dakgangjeong set menu that goes well with gimbap, and tteokbokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes) on the side — good for a classic Korean snack-food combo.

On one side, various cup noodles were on display too, so it looked easy to pick one to go with your gimbap and ramyeon if that's what you're craving😋

Wasabi + double-cheese egg gimbap 7,300 won Halls dakgangjeong S 10,000 won (extra cheongyang chili 700 won)

There was also warm self-serve bonito broth on one side. Gimbap alone can feel a bit dry going down, so sipping this in between like soup seemed like a nice touch.

Halls dakgangjeong S, 10,000 won: cheongyang chili comes free

The gimbap and dakgangjeong I ordered arrived! The dakgangjeong was fried crispy with a sweet sauce, easy for anyone to enjoy without complaint! Eating cheongyang chili peppers along with it added some spice in between the sweetness, so it wasn't heavy at all.

And it turns out cheongyang chili already comes standard with the dakgangjeong — I didn't know that and ended up ordering extra chili myself… haha

What the 7,300 won wasabi double-cheese egg gimbap tastes like

The gimbap was fine plain, but dipping it lightly in the wasabi sauce added a sharp kick for a whole different feel!! Pairing it with a piece of cheongyang chili too made it cleanly spicy, and it went really well with the gimbap.

A tiny cute horse-shaped napkin holder haha

Is Halls Gimbap worth a trip to Gyodae Station?

Walking out after the meal, I noticed the shop also participates in donations to Save the Children, which left an extra good impression👍🏻 Good food, but also doing good — it really felt like a place with both good taste and a good heart!

While I was eating, delivery riders kept coming in nonstop to pick up orders, which made me think this place is already well-known locally. Seeing that kind of thing makes you trust a place is legit.

With such a wide variety of gimbap and an easy, light meal option, this seems like a good spot to visit whenever you're looking for somewhere to eat solo, or want something relatively light and healthy for a meal💕