Cheongdam pufferfish soup with octopus cut tableside: Bogi-o Boguk

After finishing our tailored wedding suit in Gangnam, we wanted a cool, clean-tasting broth, so I came back to Bogi-o Boguk (복이오복국), one of the best pufferfish soup places in Seoul.

How to get to Bogi-o Boguk and where to park

Cheongdam Station is the closest subway stop, and you can park with valet service. The valet fee is paid separately, ₩3,000 at lunch and ₩5,000 at dinner, and with that fee there is no extra charge for parking.

Seating and reservations at Bogi-o Boguk

Bogi-o Boguk uses the whole 2nd floor of the Deokyoung Building, so there are all kinds of seats, from private rooms to window seats. Take the elevator or the stairs up and you arrive right at the restaurant.

The kitchen is open and visible from the hall, which was reassuring.

You can reserve through Catch Table, Naver or by phone, but rooms must be booked by phone. While I waited after ordering, a party of six came in and said they thought booking through Catch Table got them a room. The staff explained that the rooms were already booked and that you really have to reserve by phone.

What we ordered from the Bogi-o Boguk menu

The menu runs from pufferfish soup (boguk, the name in the restaurant's title) to courses with a variety of pufferfish dishes, plus drinking snacks. I had the signature clear milbok (pufferfish) soup, and my fiancé had the clear live octopus pufferfish soup, which comes with a whole live octopus.

Milbok jiri and live octopus pufferfish soup

While the soup was being prepared, side dishes and fresh wasabi came out first. Mix the wasabi into the soy sauce on the table and dip the pufferfish meat in it.

The whole octopus is cut right in front of you

The live octopus pufferfish soup (clear, ₩30,000) comes with one whole octopus, and the key point is that the staff cut it up right in front of you as they serve. The dish itself is upscale and there is this bit of showmanship too, so it is a good Seoul pufferfish restaurant to visit with your parents.

We had just finished the suit fitting nearby, and the sad news was that his measurements had gone down since the first fitting... T_T He said how nice it would be if the two of us could be mixed half and half, and firmly refused to eat the octopus soup himself, passing it to me. Until the wedding, my goal is to lose weight and his goal is to gain it!!

But we're a couple who would share even a single bean, so of course we split the octopus too, haha.

Clear milbok pufferfish soup and extra minari

The clear soup at Bogi-o Boguk is packed with bean sprouts (heads removed) and minari (water dropwort), which is a treat in itself. You can add more minari for ₩1,000. Last time I told myself I'd do it next visit, and I forgot again this time T_T

The cool clear soup is also seasoned to a fair degree. Even the basic milbok (₩21,000) had plenty of chunks of pufferfish meat (I think more than 5 pieces). Dip it in the soy sauce with fresh wasabi and the clean, mild flavor of pufferfish is wonderful.

Is corkage free at Bogi-o Boguk?

Yes, Bogi-o Boguk in Cheongdam sells wine and reportedly has free corkage too. The wine list runs from good-value bottles to premium ones, and free corkage on top of that is amazing. A business meeting seemed to be going on in one of the rooms that day, so the wide wine choice looked like a big plus.

The owner and the real pufferfish sculpture

When I paid the extra charge and was leaving, I felt the owner was cheerful and kind. A pufferfish sculpture caught my eye and I asked, "Is that a real pufferfish?" My fiancé said, "Oh, no way~", and the owner said, "It's real!" haha. He seemed like a boss with a refined taste who is serious about wine and pufferfish.

If you're looking for a good pufferfish soup place in Seoul, or a pufferfish specialist in Cheongdam with free corkage, it's Bogi-o!!

After that we drove a long way to Seonyudo... the road to the wedding is long and rough. We also finished our wedding photo shoot the other day, so we're clearing quests one by one, haha.