Guwol-dong abalone restaurant: weekend dinner with Dad, Jeonbokchon

Why Jeonbokchon for a weekend dinner with Dad in Guwol-dong

I planned a weekend dinner with my dad in Guwol-dong and went hunting for a good place. I picked Jeonbokchon (전복촌), a Korean set-meal restaurant in Incheon. It caught my eye while I was searching for somewhere Dad would like.

Jeonbokchon is said to have been on the TV show Saengsaeng Jeongbo. Reservations, takeout and group bookings are all possible, and there are private rooms for 4–8 people plus separate banquet rooms for 16–20. Corkage is free, parking is free too, and the outdoor lot is behind the building.

What are the interior and rooms like?

Jeonbokchon is clean overall, and I liked how wide the spacing between tables is. The hall seating is divided up almost like partitions.

Best of all, there are rooms, so you can eat quietly and privately. With rooms and a wide range of set meals and course dishes, it's also a great spot in Guwol-dong, Incheon for in-law meetings or group gatherings.

We had a reservation and were shown to a room. We'd rushed over and were a bit hot, but the room had its own air conditioner and they cranked it up for us, so I was happy from the very first moment.

Jeonbokchon menu and prices

The menu has the Jangsu set, the Abalone set, the Bon set and the Dinner Special set, plus drinks, alcohol and single meal dishes.

There's also a lunch menu with a Lunch Special, Lunch Special Plus and Lunch Premium. Some dishes from the set, like the abalone jangajji (soy-marinated abalone), fried half-dried pollock, fried shrimp and spicy pollock salad, can be ordered as extras.

Abalone set for 2 (₩39,000 per person): the full course

We ordered the abalone set for 2. At ₩39,000 per person, that's ₩78,000 in total.

1. Abalone porridge

First came abalone innards porridge as an appetizer to ease the stomach. I was hungry, so it was gone in no time.

2. Salad and white kimchi

Another gentle starter before the heavy stuff: a salad to settle the stomach. A little salad as a palate cleanser, sure.

3. Fried shrimp / abalone salad / japchae / spicy pollock salad

Wow, so much! This was when I started to feel the table might buckle under the food. The fried shrimp was Japanese-style tempura, not greasy at all, and fried really well.

The abalone salad seemed to be dressed in perilla oil, so it was super nutty, and with lettuce and cabbage it was so good. (I really want to try making this at home.) The spicy pollock salad was sweet and sour on a piece of napa cabbage and got my appetite going. (Abalone is just flooding into my belly!)

4. Seafood nurungji soup

Nurungji (scorched rice) soup with squid, abalone, wood ear mushrooms, cocktail shrimp and other seafood! It paired really well with the abalone dishes.

5. Fried half-dried pollock

Abalone alone might taste a little fishy, but the fried half-dried pollock served alongside went with it perfectly. It was fried nicely crisp, and the sauce on top was sweet and really tasty.

6. Cooked abalone with crab innards sauce

Steamed? Boiled? Abalone served with crab innards sauce. It was so soft and chewy. It's good dipped in the crab innards sauce, but I prefer it with sesame oil dip. Just look at that tender abalone!

7. Raw abalone: my number one

The moment I saw this raw abalone, I could tell the ingredients at Jeonbokchon in Guwol-dong are definitely fresh. The abalone was so fresh and springy, and it's my number one. I dipped it in chogochujang (sweet chili vinegar sauce) and in sesame oil, too. Today let's stuff ourselves with abalone >_< 😊

8. Abalone sushi

Abalone sushi comes too, with pickled rakkyo and wasabi, so I put a little wasabi on top and chomp! The abalone sushi is pretty good, too?!

9. Abalone jangajji (soy-marinated abalone)

What can I say about the abalone jangajji? The sauce isn't just soy sauce; there's a fresh, tangy sauce in it too, maybe yuja (citron). After the raw abalone and other dishes you might get a bit tired of it, but eating the jangajji in between is refreshing and resets your palate.

10. Abalone innards abalone salad

An abalone salad with abalone innards mixed in. This was seriously so good, and the innards and perilla oil together make it twice as nutty.

11. Clay-pot bulgogi

The abalone dishes alone would fill you up, and then the clay-pot bulgogi arrives! I really did finish a bowl of rice with the bulgogi.

12. Abalone seaweed soup and rice

Around the time we were finishing the abalone course, they prepared the meal: abalone seaweed soup, rice and side dishes. They even ladle the soup for you, so kind 👍 It had perilla powder in it, so it was super nutty and delicious.

The side dishes were kimchi, bean sprout namul and salted squid. With the clay-pot bulgogi and the seaweed soup, a bowl of rice disappears.

The abalone was so good... let me take one more photo 🫶

13. Plum tea

They must have known we'd be stuffed, because plum tea came out. Such a thoughtful touch. After eating until bursting, the plum tea wraps things up cleanly and leaves you refreshed.

Facilities, lunch special and parking at Jeonbokchon

The restroom is inside, and there are high chairs and a separate room. Family gatherings and in-law meetings would be no worry.

The lunch special at Jeonbokchon in Guwol-dong is only ₩14,900!

There's also a parking lot behind the building!! It felt like an abalone omakase course, and I was so satisfied. Jeonbokchon, an Incheon Korean set-meal restaurant in Guwol-dong, gets my vote as a great spot near Incheon City Hall.

📍Location: 35 Yesul-ro 204beon-gil, Namdong-gu, Incheon, South Korea (Haein Building, 1st floor)