Cheonan Korean restaurant with shrimp tempura: Bulnaneun Jjukkumi

When I am craving something spicy in Baekseok-dong, Cheonan, I often end up at Bulnaneun Jjukkumi Main Branch. This was already my third visit, actually. This time, I went with my mom :) I came back with her because it had been so good before, and as expected, she enjoyed it too. I feel like a place you want to return to several times, rather than somewhere you visit once and call it a day, is a genuinely good place.

Bulnaneun Jjukkumi Main Branch: Location and Parking

Bulnaneun Jjukkumi Main Branch is near Handeul Culture Center in Baekseok-dong, Cheonan. We drove there, and there is a parking lot in front of the restaurant. Since there are several restaurants gathered in this area, though, the lot was almost full on the day I visited. We went between 1 and 2 p.m., after the main lunch rush had passed, but there were still quite a lot of cars. If you are visiting at lunchtime, I recommend parking in the side alley or along the building.

A Spacious, Comfortable Dining Room

Once we stepped inside, the dining room was more spacious than I expected, with quite a few tables. We visited after some people had left, so my mom and I could eat at a fairly relaxed pace. The tables were not cramped together either, which made it a comfortable place for a meal.

There were high chairs for guests visiting with babies. The restaurant also has a restroom inside, so it was convenient not having to leave the building during the meal.

A Self-Service Bar With Plenty of Soft Tofu

Bulnaneun Jjukkumi Main Branch has a self-service bar where you can bring back extra side dishes. What personally surprised me was how much soft tofu they had prepared there. Self-service bars usually focus on basic side dishes, so seeing soft tofu stocked so generously was a little unusual haha.

And I love mixing lots of vegetables into my jjukkumi (webfoot octopus). So that day, I refilled my plate at the self-service bar not once, but twice. I brought back plenty of radish salad and vegetables and mixed them into the jjukkumi and rice; the crunch made it even better. If you like vegetables, I definitely recommend making the most of the self-service bar.

Original Spicy Jjukkumi Lunch

That day, we ordered the original spicy jjukkumi stir-fry, shrimp tempura, and pot rice.

The jjukkumi was evenly coated in sauce, with plump pieces of octopus throughout. It was already my third visit, but it was delicious once again. For some reason, though, the original flavor tasted a little spicier than usual that day. I normally like spicy food, so I loved the way my mouth tingled more with every bite and, somehow, all my stress melted away haha. It is exactly the kind of flavor that hits the spot when you are craving something spicy!

My mom enjoyed the jjukkumi too, but it seemed especially spicy to her that day, so she ate more nurungji (scorched rice) here and there. I kept eating the spicy jjukkumi while she soothed the heat with nurungji, and we both enjoyed it in our own ways.

How I Mix It With Lots of Vegetables

Whenever I come here, I have to eat it this way: first scoop the rice out of the pot, add the jjukkumi, then mix in heaps of vegetables and radish salad from the self-service bar!

When you add plenty of radish salad and vegetables, the crunchy texture joins the spicy jjukkumi sauce, and personally, I find it even tastier than eating it with plain rice.

The original jjukkumi was especially spicy, so adding lots of vegetables took the edge off the heat a little and gave it a great texture. It was such a good combination.

Crispy, Plump Shrimp Tempura

The shrimp tempura we ordered alongside it was delicious too. You get four pieces in total; the outside was crispy and the shrimp inside were plump, so it was best eaten while hot, as soon as it arrived.

Dipping it into the house sauce meant we could enjoy something savory and crispy between bites of spicy jjukkumi, and that pairing worked quite well too.

Pot Rice for Nurungji Lovers

I love nurungji so much that you could honestly call me obsessed with it haha. So when I come here, having pot rice is something I secretly look forward to as well.

When the pot rice arrives, scoop out the rice first, pour in water, and let it sit while you eat the jjukkumi. By the time you have nearly finished your meal, open the lid and you will have hot, nutty nurungji. Since the original jjukkumi tasted spicier than usual that day, it paired even better with the nurungji.

My mom ate a lot of nurungji to calm the heat. Normally I eat more because I love it so much, but that day, she had far more than I did haha. I like spicy food, so the jjukkumi really relieved my stress, and finishing with my favorite nurungji left me completely satisfied. A bite of spicy jjukkumi followed by a bite of nutty nurungji was a really lovely combination too.

Already My Third Return Visit

This time, I visited with my mom. She enjoyed it too, so I was glad we had come back together. The original jjukkumi was particularly spicy that day, so my mom ate lots of nurungji, while the heat did a proper job of relieving my stress haha. I was also happy that the self-service bar had plenty of soft tofu and let us take as many vegetables and side dishes as we wanted. If, like me, you love mixing in lots of vegetables, refilling at the self-service bar is practically essential! This is not somewhere I visited once and forgot about—I have already come back three times, so I would definitely return again. If you want a hearty meal of spicy jjukkumi, pot rice, and shrimp tempura in Baekseok-dong, Cheonan, Bulnaneun Jjukkumi Main Branch could be worth a visit :)