Jamsil snack bar, soup tteokbokki and shrimp tempura: Jamsil Cheotjip

I had some errands to run near Jamsil and was looking for somewhere simple for lunch, so I ended up at Jamsil Cheotjip haha.

I originally went in just planning to eat one roll of gimbap, but as I looked at the menu I started wanting tteokbokki too, and then the shrimp tempura caught my eye, so I ended up ordering a whole proper spread haha. Jamsil Cheotjip has a pretty wide menu beyond regular gimbap — keto gimbap, noodles, bibimbap, pork cutlet, tteokbokki — so it seemed like a good spot for a simple meal near Jamsil-saenae.

Where is Jamsil Cheotjip? Trigium basement near Jamsil-saenae Station

Jamsil Cheotjip is located on the basement floor of Trigium at 61 Seokchonhosu-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul. It's reasonably accessible from Jamsil-saenae Station, so it was easy to swing by when looking for somewhere to eat nearby haha. Once inside the Trigium shopping complex, the Jamsil Cheotjip sign and large menu photos out front make it easy to find.

Looking at the signage near the entrance, it seems like they put real care into the gimbap ingredients haha. It said they use antibiotic-free eggs, freshly milled rice, danmuji (pickled radish) made from Jeju radish and beets, Wando-grown seaweed, and oil-mill sesame oil. It felt less like a neighborhood bunsik spot and more like a gimbap place that emphasizes its ingredients haha.

Inside Jamsil Cheotjip: wood tables and single seats for solo diners

The interior of Jamsil Cheotjip has white walls and wood tables, giving it a clean overall feel.

The tables weren't packed too tightly, and there were seats facing the wall for eating alone, so it seemed comfortable for solo dining haha. There were actually quite a few people eating by themselves when I visited. It felt like a place you could walk into without any pressure if you just wanted gimbap or a bowl of noodles alone near Jamsil-saenae haha.

On one side there was a separate area for water, utensils, and returning used dishes, which was convenient.

Jamsil Cheotjip menu and the 21,000 won order of the day

The menu at Jamsil Cheotjip turned out to be more varied than I expected. There are basic options like mom's gimbap and vegetable gimbap, plus egg gimbap, tuna gimbap, bulgogi gimbap, pork cutlet gimbap and more haha. What caught my eye in particular was the keto gimbap category alongside the regular gimbap. It's made with less rice and more egg sheet and vegetables, so it seemed like a good choice for a lighter day haha.

Besides gimbap, there are noodle dishes like anchovy noodles, hangover anchovy noodles and mixed noodles, plus sides like bibimbap, pork cutlet, tteokbokki and shrimp tempura. What I ordered that day was vegetable keto gimbap (7,000 won), soup tteokbokki (6,000 won), handmade shrimp tempura (6,000 won) and zero-sugar cola (2,000 won). That comes to 21,000 won total haha.

Vegetable keto gimbap, 7,000 won: egg sheet instead of rice

I started with the vegetable keto gimbap. Instead of being packed with rice like regular gimbap, the filling is wrapped in yellow egg sheet, so the cross-section looked really striking haha. Carrot, cucumber, danmuji and other vegetables were packed in colorfully, making it look pretty appetizing.

Each piece was fairly thick, so one bite already felt quite full haha. With almost no rice, it was noticeably lighter than regular gimbap, and the soft texture of the egg sheet paired well with the crunch of the vegetables. The overall flavor was light, which made me think it would go well with something more intense haha.

Soup tteokbokki, 6,000 won: fish cake, scallion and boiled egg

And that's exactly why the soup tteokbokki I ordered alongside it worked so well. The soup tteokbokki comes in a wide pan, generously loaded with rice cakes, fish cake and scallion, topped with a boiled egg haha.

The portion was bigger than I expected, so eating it alongside the gimbap made for a pretty filling meal. The rice cakes were chewy and the broth was generous, good for spooning up between bites of gimbap haha. Eating the light keto gimbap and then taking a sip of the tteokbokki broth really brought the flavor balance to life. The gimbap-and-tteokbokki combo really doesn't fail, does it haha.

Handmade shrimp tempura, 6,000 won: the best dish of the meal

Personally, the dish that surprised me the most that day was the handmade shrimp tempura. The long shrimp were coated generously in batter, and it was really crispy fresh out of the kitchen haha. You can even see the crisp texture of the batter holding its shape in the photo haha. Biting in, the outside was crunchy while the shrimp inside stayed springy, which was better than I expected.

It's good eaten plain, but dipping it lightly in the tteokbokki broth gave it a whole different feel haha. If I'd only ordered gimbap and tteokbokki it might have felt a bit lacking, but adding the shrimp tempura completed a proper bunsik spread haha.

Is Jamsil Cheotjip worth it for a quick meal in Jamsil?

Jamsil Cheotjip was a place where I went in planning to just have simple gimbap, but ended up ordering a bunch of things naturally because the menu was so varied haha. In particular, having a keto gimbap option alongside regular gimbap was nice for anyone wanting to eat light.

The vegetable keto gimbap was light, the soup tteokbokki anchored things with its spicy kick, and the handmade shrimp tempura added crunch — the three worked really well together haha. The store is clean and has comfortable solo seating, so it also seemed like a decent spot for eating alone near Jamsil-saenae. If you're craving gimbap or tteokbokki around Jamsil-saenae, it's worth stopping by haha. Next time I'd like to try the noodles or another kind of gimbap.