Incheon seafood stew restaurant with free ramen noodles: Taegine

A while back I was craving hot soup near Ara Station in Geomdan, so I looked up good restaurants and ended up at Taegine Jogae Jeongol Geomdan Ara Branch (택이네조개전골 인천검단아라점)!

Since it's a clam hot pot place, I figured I'd get clam hot pot, but then I saw they had a soup-and-bossam set on the menu 👀 Soup AND bossam (boiled pork wraps)?! I couldn't resist haha. So here's my review!

Where is Taegine Jogae Jeongol Geomdan Ara Branch, and when is it open?

Taegine Jogae Jeongol Geomdan Ara Branch is located at 인천 검단구 이음5로 24 1층 118, 119, 120호, open daily 11:00–22:00 (weekday break 15:00–16:00), with free parking.

It's about a 6-minute walk from Ara Station in Geomdan, so it was easy to stroll over from the station! It's also a good option if you're looking for a place to eat near Ara Station, and since they offer 2 hours of free basement parking, driving there felt easy too :)

Soup-and-bossam set: 14,000 won per person and three soup choices

What I ordered was the soup-and-bossam set, and it's an incredible ₩14,000 per person. You can pick your soup from:

• ✔️ Spicy seafood stew
• ✔️ Clam soup
• ✔️ Pollock soup

I went back and forth, then settled on the spicy seafood stew.

Spicy seafood stew at Taegine, loaded with fish roe and milt

After ordering, the spicy seafood stew came out pretty quickly! One sip of the broth and it was spicy yet clean-tasting, so my spoon kept going back in 👍

I especially love roe and milt, so I fished those out first — and there was so much of it that I was genuinely happy the whole meal 🙊 The broth wasn't just aggressively spicy either; there was a clean flavor coming from the seafood that suited my taste perfectly! Eating it with barley rice made for a really filling, satisfying meal. If you like roe and milt, I'd definitely recommend going with the spicy seafood stew :)

How was the bossam? Pork with radish kimchi and salted pollock roe

The bossam was better than I expected, honestly. Since Taegine is a clam hot pot restaurant, I didn't expect much from the bossam — I figured it'd just be a side to go with the soup — but the meat was so tender that I'd have believed it if you told me this was a dedicated bossam restaurant.

The radish kimchi and salted pollock roe that came with it paired so well that I was sad to see each piece of bossam disappear... The ₩14,000 per person price was already surprising, but having both good clam hot pot AND good bossam at this price was even more surprising 😳

Unlimited barley rice and the self-serve side bar

One more thing I loved! The soup-and-bossam set comes with unlimited barley rice and steamed rice. Perfect for people like me who feel let down if there's no rice with soup..! The set already includes barley rice, steamed rice, kalguksu noodles, AND ramen noodles — is that not an absolute steal?! I was almost worried whether the restaurant makes any money running things this way..,,

I mixed sesame oil and gochujang (red chili paste) into the barley rice, added a bit of the yeolmu kimchi from the self-bar, and it went so well with the seafood stew broth, so delicious :)

Free noodle add-in: why I picked ramen noodles

As mentioned, ordering the soup-and-bossam set gets you a free kalguksu noodle or ramen noodle add-in. I was so full I debated skipping it, but not trying the add-in felt like a waste, right? So I added ramen noodles, and it was so good I'd have regretted skipping it,, Next time I want to try the kalguksu noodles too. I bet kalguksu noodles in that clean clam hot pot broth would also be amazing 🤤

Free soft-serve ice cream, served until 9pm

One of the things I loved about Taegine Geomdan Ara Branch was that after finishing the meal, you get free soft-serve ice cream for dessert — cones are set up right next to the machine so you can serve yourself! And honestly, it's really good,, the milk flavor is rich and smooth, and I finished mine without even noticing. Ice cream closes at 9pm, so make sure to grab some before then!!!

Final verdict: is Taegine worth it for hot soup near Ara Station?

Taegine turned out even better than expected!!! I went in thinking, well, it's a clam hot pot place, the hot soup will probably be good — but the seafood stew was spicy and clean with plenty of roe and milt, and the bossam I wasn't even expecting turned out to be so tender that I was completely satisfied. Especially the radish kimchi and salted pollock roe served with the bossam — a genius touch haha.

On top of that, unlimited barley rice and steamed rice plus free kalguksu or ramen noodles made it such a filling meal for the price. And finishing with that milk-flavored soft-serve ice cream was the perfect ending...!!!! If you're near Ara Station in Geomdan looking for hot soup, I'd definitely recommend Taegine Jogae Jeongol. I'm planning to go back soon to try other soup menus. My mom loved it too when she came with me, so she said we should bring my dad next time :)