Hanam cuttlefish braised pollock after IKEA Gangdong: Appa Jjim

Why Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch braised pollock after IKEA Gangdong?

After shopping at IKEA Gangdong and Nitori, and before heading to Starfield Hanam, we went to Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch (아빠찜 하남본점) for dinner. We debated braised pollock versus Western food, but since we can't really cook fish in our newlywed home, braised pollock won, hahaha. These days when we pick restaurants, we mostly go for smelly stuff that's hard to eat at home: fish dishes, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew), pork belly and the like.

This is Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch, a popular braised pollock restaurant near Starfield Hanam.

Parking and waiting at Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch

Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch has its own parking, so it's easy to visit by car. Family meals, company dinners, group gatherings, and especially bringing your parents all work well here.

There's a waiting kiosk, so it looks like a hot spot with a wait on weekends!! We came on a weekday evening and luckily walked straight in with no wait.

What a newlywed couple ordered for two

We ordered cuttlefish braised pollock (with extra siraegi, dried radish greens), fragrant pot rice and a crispy seafood pancake. It satisfied both my husband, who wanted siraegi and cuttlefish, and me, who wanted a pajeon (scallion pancake)!

The spoons and chopsticks were all individually wrapped. It seems like a small thing, but it shows how much the owner cares about hygiene.

Complimentary side dishes at Appa Jjim

• Stir-fried seaweed stems
• Stir-fried fish cake
• Candied nuts
• Soy sauce
• Cold seaweed soup
• Bean sprouts
• Seaweed sheets
• Cabbage salad

How crispy is the Appa Jjim crispy seafood pancake?

The crispy seafood pancake at Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch is a haemul pajeon (seafood scallion pancake) packed with vegetables and seafood, but honestly it's almost closer to fried food, hahaha.

Every bite is crispy, and since I love the edges of a pajeon, it was totally my taste!

Is the fragrant pot rice worth ordering instead of plain rice?

The fragrant pot rice is cooked fresh once you order. I think plain steamed rice was also available, but when you come to a place like this you have to get the pot rice, right? Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch says it uses suhyangmi rice, with a subtle sweet aroma and good stickiness. Freshly made hot pot rice, so it's impossible for it to be bad!

Cuttlefish braised pollock: taste and portion size

The cuttlefish braised pollock has springy cuttlefish and moist pollock with the sauce soaked in just enough to tease you. They say it's Korea's first braised pollock cooked with 180-degree steam on a banseok (stone slab). As soon as it arrived, the server deboned the large bones for us, so we could eat it neatly and comfortably.

My husband likes siraegi (dried radish greens), so we added extra, and it came with a generous heap of savory greens! They were boiled well, so even the stems weren't tough, just soft and tasty.

The small size is for 2 people, so it comes with 2 pollock, and they're big, so the portion is really generous. The soft, moist pollock was of course delicious, but the cuttlefish was the real kicker!! Super thick yet really tender, with an amazing texture ♡

The chewy rice cakes dipped in plenty of spicy sauce are, needless to say, always delicious. Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch unusually puts tofu in the braised pollock, and it goes surprisingly well. Tofu topped with siraegi is good, and tofu wrapped in seaweed and dipped in soy sauce is heavenly!

How many spice levels does the braised pollock have? Our take on "spicy"

At Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch you can choose regular, spicy or extra spicy, and we picked spicy. The spicy sauce was so good that I kept mixing the bean sprouts into it~~~ They say it's made with natural seasonings, and it's stimulating yet deeply savory, the kind of flavor that keeps pulling you back.

Wrapping pollock, siraegi and bean sprouts in a seaweed sheet is delicious, and pollock and siraegi on top of freshly cooked pot rice is a total rice thief.

Packing leftover seafood pancake and finishing with sungnyung (scorched-rice tea)

Dipping the crispy seafood pancake into the spicy braised pollock sauce, I really know my food. The pancake was so big and thick that we had leftovers and packed them to go. They packed it neatly, and we plan to enjoy it over the weekend with Yeopdduk (Yupdduk spicy tteokbokki) hahaha.

We finished with sungnyung (scorched rice tea) made from the pot rice, a savory ending~~~ Appa Jjim Hanam Main Branch is close to IKEA Gangdong and Starfield Hanam, so I recommend it as a Hanam braised pollock spot to stop by for a meal after weekend shopping.