Yeongdeungpo jokbal restaurant with half spicy pork: Gwihan Jokbal

Today, I was planning to visit a dessert café I had been to before in Yeongdeungpo, and since I wanted to have dinner nearby too, I stopped by Gwihan Jokbal Yeongdeungpo (귀한족발 영등포점)~

Gwihan Jokbal Yeongdeungpo location and visitor information

It is at 19 Yeongdeungpo-ro 42-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Sunday through Thursday, it is open from 11:30 AM to midnight, with last orders at 11:00 PM; Friday and Saturday, it is open from 11:30 AM to midnight, with last orders at midnight. There is a unisex restroom inside, and parking is unavailable.

The Ashre Parking Lot in front of the restaurant is available for a fee: ₩1,500 for the first 30 minutes, then ₩1,000 per additional 20 minutes.

Gwihan Jokbal Yeongdeungpo is about a three-minute walk from Exit 5 of Yeongdeungpo Station. It is close to the station, so the route seemed convenient whether you have plans in Yeongdeungpo or are looking for dinner before heading home. Especially on a day when jokbal and a shot of soju sound good, isn’t a restaurant near the station the best? Hahaha

An interior that also looks good for a Yeongdeungpo Station company dinner

The seating was mostly four-person tables. The seats continued in an L shape toward the back, so it looked like a good spot for a Yeongdeungpo Station company dinner with a group too! Even though I visited in the early evening on a weekday, quite a lot of people were eating there 😮

It was convenient that the unisex restroom was inside too.

On one side, the services offered by the restaurant were neatly laid out for easy viewing. If you need anything, just ask a staff member~ (These little things are secretly so convenient, haha.)

Gwihan Jokbal Yeongdeungpo also has several events going on.

• A complimentary celebratory wine for wedding-invitation gatherings
• A second-floor room can be reserved if you need a private space
• ₩7,000 off takeout orders for dine-in guests

If you are having a wedding-invitation gathering or getting together with a larger group, keep in mind that you can reserve the second-floor room too!

For a receipt review, you can receive flying-fish-roe rice balls or one bottled drink. Don’t miss an event like this~!

Weekday lunch specials and the basic table setting

On weekdays, lunch specials are also sold at reasonable prices, so it looked like a good option for lunch in Yeongdeungpo too.

The basic side dishes came out neatly, focused on just what you need, like this.

Personally, I liked that they gave such a generous amount of garlic right from the start, hahaha. Perilla leaves came with it too, and it was fun adding this and that to the wrap vegetables. The bean-sprout soup had a slightly familiar yet addictive flavor, kind of like fish-cake broth. I kept taking little sips...

Flying-fish-roe rice balls and half-and-half jokbal

Our order was the small half-and-half jokbal and flying-fish-roe rice balls.

Flying-fish-roe rice balls

You can’t have jokbal without flying-fish-roe rice balls, right? I considered makguksu (buckwheat noodles), but I still needed at least one carb dish, so I decided on the rice balls, haha.

(Make them nicely now, ahem.) There was quite a lot of flying fish roe, and it was savory with what seemed like an anchovy flavor, so it was well seasoned even on its own! As expected, having a rice dish with jokbal instantly makes the meal feel much more substantial.

Half-and-half jokbal with classic and spicy jokbal

Even though it was the small size, there was quite a lot~ I like spicy jokbal, while my friend cannot eat spicy food, so half-and-half jokbal was perfect, haha. It met both of our needs *^^*

You might think grabbing a piece of rice cake while eating something spicy would help a little. But the spicy sauce had soaked into the rice cake, so eating one when it is spicy makes it even spicier (?) It came as such a neat full-table spread.

I arranged the rice balls in little round shapes beside it so they would be easy to eat. Cute, right? Bwahahaha

The spicy jokbal was sprinkled with garlic flakes, which made it nice to eat together, and the sauce felt gochujang-based, spicy yet sweet. Since lots of people have jokbal as both a drinking snack and a meal, it seemed like a good place for anyone looking for a bar near Yeongdeungpo Station too 🍻

The sheen on the boiled jokbal was seriously incredible. It looked moist just from seeing it, and when I actually tried it, I loved how tender and soft the meat was. It made me think, ah, this must be why Gwihan Jokbal Yeongdeungpo gets especially so many customers among the jokbal restaurants near Yeongdeungpo Station.

Spicy jokbal with pickled onions

This time, I also ate it with plenty of garlic chives in the wrap vegetables, and tried combinations with garlic and pickled onions. My surprising favorite was the pickled-onion-plus-spicy-jokbal combination! The crisp, tangy taste of the pickled onions paired unexpectedly well with the sweet and spicy jokbal. Everyone, try this combination once, hahaha.

One last thing

One plus is that they use Grade 1 Korean pork and domestic kimchi 👍

The jokbal at Gwihan Jokbal Yeongdeungpo itself was so tender and moist that I kept going back for more once I wrapped it in the greens, haha. Most of all, ordering it half-and-half and getting to try both classic jokbal and spicy jokbal was so good!!! It is close to Yeongdeungpo Station, so access is convenient, and it also seemed like a great spot for a Yeongdeungpo group dinner.