Weekend lunch A set at Hyangnam kalguksu restaurant Jedam Kalguksu

Do you need a reservation at Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch for weekend lunch?

This is a review of my Hyangnam lunch kalguksu trip to Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch. We booked ahead through Naver, and since it was packed for the weekend lunch rush, I'd recommend making a reservation even for same-day visits!

The weather was great too~ This Hyangnam lunch kalguksu spot, Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch, is on the 2nd floor, and there's plenty of parking right in front, so you can just pull in and go haha. There's also a bus stop nearby, so taking public transit works well too.

Jedam Kalguksu menu, prices and take-home meal kits

You just head up the stairs to the 2nd floor. Main dishes are seafood kalguksu, seafood sujebi, and clam kalguksu, and sides include seafood pajeon, king shrimp tempura, meat mandu, kimchi mandu, and even a house-made pork loin cutlet for kids. Prices are pretty reasonable too haha.

Apparently it's a well-known spot for a reason — they even sell meal kits! Sounds great to try it here, then buy some to take home and share with family. They're open as usual during Chuseok too, so it'd be a good place for a family meal then.

What comes in the A set: seafood kalguksu for two and seafood pajeon

Since there was a set menu, we went with the A set! It's seafood kalguksu for two plus seafood pajeon, and ordering as a set gives you much better value for money! Everyone recommends the A set :) Looking around, almost everyone was ordering sets haha.

Seating at Jedam Kalguksu: chair tables and floor-seating rooms

Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch has both chair seats and room seats. The chair seats were completely full so I couldn't get a photo, ugh. We were shown to a room right in front of the air conditioner, which was cool and actually pretty nice. There were cushions too, so it was a comfortable place to eat.

The seats are spaced generously and the turnover seems fast, so it looks like a good spot for group gatherings or work dinners too. I saw a lot of families coming in. Seems like a great place to bring your parents! I should come back with mine sometime.

How to eat the seafood kalguksu, and how the clear broth tastes

At Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch, they use both hand-kneaded dough and a machine together. And they make the noodles fresh each time and serve them right away. Maybe that's why the noodles were so wonderfully chewy. The dish we ordered came out fast! As shown in the 'how to eat it' guide, you eat the squid and octopus first, finish the seafood, and then ask the staff to add the noodles in later.

See the squid and octopus? They're huge and plump, and there's so much seafood packed in that it almost feels like eating haemultang (spicy seafood stew). The squid is in there whole;; We went with the clear broth, but if you like it spicier, you can choose the spicy broth instead.

The broth is genuinely refreshing and delicious. After drinking a lot of the broth and finishing most of it, we asked for the noodles to be added in. I don't usually even like noodles, but here they're so chewy and springy, sticking together perfectly, that it was genuinely delicious.

If you run low on broth while eating the noodles, you can ask for more and they'll give you extra haha.

Before adding the noodles, we ate the clams, mussels, octopus, and squid first, and by then my stomach was already nearly full. Even though we ate most of it, the portion is really huge. All of this is just the shells lol.

Is the seafood pajeon at Jedam Kalguksu crispy?

See the size of the seafood pajeon? It's genuinely crispy on the outside, a real textbook seafood pancake. It's loaded with seafood, and maybe because it was freshly made, it was incredibly delicious. They give you sauce on the side too, and there's plenty of octopus and shrimp packed in.

Self-serve kimchi refills, aged kimchi and pickled radish

And you know how you can tell a kalguksu place is really good...? It's the kimchi. The kimchi here was so incredibly delicious that I think I went back for refills about five times (extra kimchi is self-serve). Besides the fresh kimchi, the refill station also has aged kimchi, pickled radish, wasabi, and peppers, so you can help yourself to whatever suits your taste!

The staff were also super friendly at this Hyangnam lunch kalguksu spot, Jedam Kalguksu Hyangnam Branch — highly recommend. Next time I should bring my parents. I'd definitely go back :)