Reserved 2nd-floor sea view for 3 at Oido seafood kalguksu, 52 Degree

This was the day we finally went back to Oido after a long time, and I decided that on a day like this, we had to eat good food with a sea view. While looking around for where to go, I found this place — right in front of the blue sea, with basalt stone walls and calm lighting that felt straight out of Jeju — so I made a reservation and off we went.

52 Degree Kalguksu Oido Main Branch hours and parking

• Address: 113 Oido-ro, 1st-2nd floor, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do
• Hours: Mon-Tue, Thu-Sun 11:00am-10:00pm / Wed 11:00am-4:00pm
• Last order 3:10pm
• Other: Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms, group-friendly, high chairs, reservations, takeout, parking

We drove there, and parking was easy — free parking is available in front of or behind the restaurant, and they also support parking vouchers for the public lot, so we had no trouble at all.

Out front we could see a bunch of the popular menu items.

There was also a new item, dak-han-mari kalguksu (whole chicken noodle soup).

2nd-floor sea view seats — glad we reserved

We finally walked inside. There's seating on the 1st floor and also on the 2nd floor with the sea view. Being a well-known Oido kalguksu spot, the place was packed with people. Luckily we'd made a reservation, so we still got a table on the 2nd floor.

On the way up the stairs to the 2nd floor, we noticed the restaurant had been featured on TV, and there were tons of autographs from visiting celebrities.

It's also won a Korea ESC Award, which made us even more excited.

What's on the menu

Once we sat down we finally checked out the menu. Looking at the mains first: seafood tong-kalguksu (whole seafood noodle soup), seafood tong-ramyeon, half-and-half your way, whole chicken tong-kalguksu, giant clam tong-kalguksu, live jjarak clam tong-kalguksu, and baeksanghap (clam) tong-kalguksu.

For sides, they also sell Geoje octopus pajeon (scallion pancake), buchu-jeon (chive pancake), raw sweet shrimp, seasoned yellow crab, and seasoned shrimp.

For seafood add-ins there's whole octopus, myeongju clam, baeksanghap clam, shrimp, abalone, and yellow crab.

Other add-ins include kalguksu noodles, ramyeon noodles, hand-torn sujebi dough, vegetables, beef brisket, water dumplings, rice, barley rice with yeolmu kimchi, and yeolmu kimchi — honestly they have everything.

For drinks, there's a wide range — Jeju liquors, soju, beer, and makgeolli.

They also had highballs on the menu.

There were also sodas and ades for anyone who doesn't drink. After going back and forth over what to order, we ended up going with three servings of seafood tong-kalguksu and one bowl of rice.

After ordering, we noticed the origin-labeling sign displayed in the restaurant.

There were aprons too, so we each put one on.

The complimentary barley rice and yeolmu kimchi

While we chatted, the complimentary barley rice and yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi) arrived. We topped the rice with the kimchi, added chogochujang (vinegared chili paste), and mixed it up — this turned out to be the best appetite-opener.

While eating, we also checked out the suggested way to enjoy the dish.

Seafood kalguksu for three, in eating order

As we were finishing the barley rice, the main dish finally arrived — isn't it just so generous?

We even filmed a video so you can see the seafood up close, so check that out.

We were told to eat the octopus and beef brisket first, so we started with the brisket — it was savory and so good.

Next up was the octopus. It was cut into easy bite-sized pieces, and it was so tender that we kept reaching for more. It also went really well with the vegetables.

Next we tasted the broth, packed full of seafood — the soup was so refreshing. We peeled the plump shrimp and dipped it in chogochujang, which made us so happy. We also ate the crab and abalone that the staff had prepped for us, and there was a generous amount of various clams to enjoy too.

On top of that there were even dumplings, so we ended up totally full.

The crab shell rice is a must

When there's crab, you've got to mix rice into the shell — that's the real move.

So we mixed the rice we'd ordered into the crab shell and took a bite — it was savory and delicious.

Topping it with kimchi worked great too.

Finish it off with kalguksu noodles

Just as we were finishing the seafood, they added the kalguksu noodles.

We let them cook nicely and topped them with kimchi — being a well-known Oido kalguksu place, it really was delicious, and the three of us happily finished it all off. If you're heading to Oido or looking for a great kalguksu restaurant there, I'd definitely recommend giving this place a try.