Yongsan tteokbokki restaurant with a Y2K playlist: Hyeonseonine

A queue-worthy restaurant for basics-done-right broth tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) — this is Hyeonseonine, a Yongsan tteokbokki favorite.

A warehouse-style pharmacy opened in Yongsan, so I headed out to grab vitamin D and omega-3s — but there were so many products to look through that I decided to eat dinner first at a Yongridan-gil favorite. Bunsik (Korean street-food snacks) has been calling my name lately, so bunsik it is! You can't talk about Yongsan food without mentioning Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki, so I paid a visit.

Where Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch is, and what the room feels like

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch sits on Hangang-daero 39-gil, right in Yongridan-gil near Sinyongsan Station — a go-to Yongsan tteokbokki spot with a real line. It's just a bunsik shop, yet people wait, and delivery is so popular even the delivery bikes queue up.

Hyeonseonine is one of THE queue-worthy Yongsan tteokbokki spots, and somehow it keeps popping into my head. A bunsik place with a waiting line?! I stopped by on my way to Yongsan and yep, it's still popular enough that people wait — even the delivery bikes are lined up👀

Yongsan itself is already a hotspot, but Hyeonseonine started as a street cart over 20 years ago. 2000s pop songs play in the background, which feels so comfortable and familiar to me>< It's a retro Yongsan tteokbokki spot. What's fun is seeing every age group here — 20-somethings to middle-aged folks... maybe everyone turns into a teenage girl in front of tteokbokki.

Grab the self-serve fried batter before you sit down

Hyeonseonine's self-serve bar has salt, soy sauce, yellow pickled radish, and fried batter. Grab and set these up after you order!

Salt, soy sauce, yellow pickled radish, fried batter... I love that Hyeonseonine's self-serve bar has fried batter. Sprinkle it into the fish cake soup, or eat it with the tteokbokki — it's less spicy and tastes great.

Broth tteokbokki or instant tteokbokki at Hyeonseonine?

Both jeuksik (hot-pot-style) tteokbokki and broth-style tteokbokki are popular here — this Yongsan tteokbokki spot's tables are split pretty evenly between the two styles.

So which one did I end up ordering?

What comes in the Hyeonseon Combo Set: an honest review

I went with the regular (broth) tteokbokki again this time, because I wanted to try everything in the Hyeonseon Combo Set — tteokbokki, sundae, fritters, mini gimbap, and fish cake — all at once. Next time, jeuksik tteokbokki for sure!

Wheat rice cakes that still turn out soft in the broth

Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki uses wheat rice cakes, but they have the softness of rice-flour cakes, and even though it's broth-style, the seasoning soaks into the tteok beautifully — so appealing! It's medium spice but leans spicy, so a heaping spoonful of fried batter mixed into the sauce and tteok is absolutely delicious✨

It's such a true-to-basics flavor that even though it's nothing fancy, I keep thinking about it.

Fish cake soup with three thick skewers

When it gets too spicy, dig into the fish cake soup — it comes with three thick fish cake skewers>< It really feels like street-cart bunsik, which I love,, and the Y2K turn-of-the-millennium songs playing in the shop make me feel like I've time-traveled back.

Sundae mixed with organ meats, plus assorted fritters

Ask for the sundae (Korean blood sausage) with a mix of organs~ It'd been a while since I had sundae, and the portion is surprisingly generous! Honestly, bunsik doesn't usually blow you away with standout flavor. But Hyeonseonine is hard to find fault with, and its commitment to traditional, basics-first bunsik hits a nostalgic note.

The Hyeonseon Combo comes with a lot of food. Even just the assorted fritters give you gimmari (seaweed roll), yakki-mandu (pan-fried dumplings), and veggie, sweet potato, and squid fritters, all in a variety. Eat the fritters while they're hot★★★

Mini gimbap dipped in the tteokbokki broth

It'd also been ages since I had gimbap (seaweed rice roll). Even basic gimbap tastes amazing dunked generously in the tteokbokki sauce, wow... so full. I actually had to loosen my belt after eating bunsik.

So why is Hyeonseonine a Yongsan tteokbokki favourite?

Honestly, there's no standout special menu item, and bunsik itself isn't the kind of food with huge variance in quality. So why did Hyeonseonine become a Yongsan favorite?

• It sticks to traditional, basics-first tteokbokki
• It serves both jeuksik and broth-style tteokbokki
• It has the familiar, nostalgic feel of a street cart

That's probably why it draws so many age groups and so much delivery, and probably why I suddenly crave Hyeonseonine's tteokbokki out of nowhere! Next time I'll try the jeuksik tteokbokki and report back.