Han River picnic lunch at a Yeouido seafood restaurant: Gaetbeol-ui

This was the day we finally headed out to the Han River in Yeouido after way too long. Since we were going anyway, we figured we'd grab a good lunch first, and my friend said she wanted clam hot pot. So I looked up good restaurants in Yeouido and found a place that serves hearty hot pot with seafood and clams sourced fresh every morning — so we went to check it out.

Where is Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch, and when is it open?

Gaetbeol-ui Jogae (갯벌의조개) Yeouido Main Branch is on the 2nd floor of Geukdong VIP Building at 서울 영등포구 국회대로70길 15-1, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. It's open Monday to Sunday from 11:00am to 22:00pm, with last order at 21:00pm. Other perks include group seating, Wi-Fi, separate restrooms for men and women, and parking.

It's a 4-minute walk from National Assembly Station, which made the location really convenient. As soon as we arrived, we spotted the Geukdong VIP Building.

The restaurant was on the 2nd floor, so we hopped on the elevator with excitement and headed up.

Right out front, you could see the meal menu and the drinking-snacks menu.

There was even a model of the hot pot on display, which was nice, plus a waiting area with seating.

Hall and private room seats: does Gaetbeol-ui Jogae work for groups?

We finally stepped inside, and the main hall at Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch was already packed with customers. There were also private rooms, which looked great for group gatherings or work dinners.

The rooms came in a cozy small size and a bigger size too, which was a nice touch, don't you think?

Menu at Gaetbeol-ui Jogae: giant clam hot pot and seafood boil

The menu could also be viewed right at the table.

There were new drinking-snack items on the menu too.

And there was signage explaining the giant clam hot pot, which was helpful to check.

Since we had to order anyway, we decided to look through the menu in detail at the kiosk. There was a lunch special of spicy clam-meat kalguksu (noodle soup) for 2, 3, or 4 people, and a plain version of the same for 2, 3, or 4.

There was also Namhae kkomak (cockle) bibimbap, Namhae kkomak rice bowl, and mini seafood pancake.

For hot pots, there was the giant hot pot (with shabu-shabu, live octopus, or pollock roe add-ons), the giant clam hot pot for 2, 3, or 4, plus a special menu.

There was also seafood boiling in small, medium, large, or special sizes, which caught my eye.

For drinking snacks, there was cockle salad, spicy cockle noodles, boiled squid, gaetbeol sammap (seafood-wrapped combo), raw octopus tartare, cheese bomb steamed egg, mini seafood pancake, and mayo-corn-cheese. Add-ons included shabu beef, kalguksu noodles, cheese, hot pot clams, pollock roe, live octopus, octopus, abalone, scallop, shrimp, vegetables, ramyeon noodles, rice cake skewers, and fish cake skewers.

Among all this, we debated and ended up ordering the giant clam hot pot for two.

The self-bar: yeolmu barley rice with doenjang or chogochujang

After ordering, we heard the yeolmu barley rice at the self-bar was unlimited, so we went to grab some.

There were even instructions on how to enjoy it best.

You get a choice of two sauces here — doenjang (fermented soybean paste) or chogochujang (vinegared chili paste) — so we made one bowl of each.

We tried the chogochujang version first. Of course it couldn't be anything but delicious, right?

Honestly, this was my first time trying yeolmu bibimbap mixed with doenjang, and I was curious how it would turn out — but it worked so well together that I kept eating.

Giant clam hot pot for two, with the seafood cleaned at your table

While we were eating, they brought out this hearty steamed dish for us.

After waiting a bit, the hot pot arrived all beautifully finished.

And they cleaned each piece of seafood for us one by one to make it easy to eat. I took a video so you can see it in detail — check it out.

First up, the squid they cleaned for us. It was so tender and delicious.

The shrimp were nice and plump too. And the scallops — need I say more? Truly a great Yeouido restaurant.

For reference, the crab was packed generously with meat too.

Eating it with the cheese that came alongside was pure art.

The broth was loaded with seafood and super refreshing. There were also tons of clams in it, which made eating even more fun.

There were also fish cake skewers to add on, and those were delicious too.

Worth it for a Yeouido lunch of many seafoods at once?

Eating so many different kinds of seafood at once was pure bliss. The two of us dug in so happily that we cleaned the whole thing out in no time. If you're looking for a good restaurant in Yeouido or want to enjoy a wide variety of seafood at once, I'd definitely recommend Gaetbeol-ui Jogae Yeouido Main Branch.