Friday-night packed spicy octopus with shrimp, beef belly: Jjukkumi

16 Donggajae2-gil, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk State, South Korea

Roadside parking available nearby

11:15–21:00 Break time 15:00–17:00 Closed every Sunday

Hello! This is Matjjang's Jeongseok. Today I visited Jeonju Jjukkumi Sinhwa, a spicy octopus restaurant in Ajung-ri, Jeonju! I had a really great time digging into the fiery stir-fried octopus loaded with beef belly and shrimp toppings.

Hours and takeout information

The restaurant is open from 11:15am to 9pm, and octopus is also available for takeout — sold cheaply at double the dine-in portion. It's ₩17,000 for 600g of octopus. They also have various add-ins ready, so you can buy them together and enjoy a generous meal at home.

Seeing the waiting slip packed with names, you can tell right away this is a popular spot with a line in Junghwasan-dong. There are also waiting seats set up right by the entrance.

How to eat the octopus, and the review event

They've also written out in detail how to eat the octopus for the best taste.

• First, just the octopus alone
• Second, on top of a perilla leaf
• Third, dip it deep in garlic sauce

If you take part in the Naver receipt review event or the Instagram review event, they'll give you a free cheese topping.

The menu board — choosing your spice level, and pork cutlet for kids

Here's the menu board. The basic octopus dish comes in spicy or extra-spicy versions. On top of that, there's a menu with octopus and beef belly, and another with beef belly and shrimp. There's also a wide range of add-ins, so you can enjoy the octopus in all kinds of combinations. Since the octopus has a stress-busting level of spice, they also offer whole loin pork cutlet and cheese pork cutlet for kids who can't handle spicy food.

Friday, 7pm: the restaurant's atmosphere

Spoons and chopsticks come neatly tucked in a paper packet.

Inside, there are about 20 tables for four. Overall the place felt clean and very cool — and why it felt so cool became clear once we started eating. We visited around 7pm on a Friday, and the restaurant was nearly full. If we'd arrived just a bit later, we might not have gotten a seat.

Side dishes at the self-serve corner

First, they bring out the side dishes.

Crunchy pickled onions, bean sprouts, and perilla leaves

Cabbage salad, pickled radish for wraps, braised mushrooms, and a warm bean sprout soup too! Perfect side dishes to go with the fiery octopus.

You can also help yourself to more side dishes at the self-serve corner!

Ordering the Hwasae spicy octopus for two

Hwasae spicy octopus for two, ₩20,000 x 2 Rice, ₩1,000 x 2

We ordered two servings of the Hwasae menu, which comes with octopus, beef belly, and shrimp. The visuals were amazing — big shrimp piled generously on top of the stir-fried octopus, with beef belly ringed around the edge.

On top, there's a generous pile of green onion, adding a sweet, crisp touch!

If you just wait, the staff will cook everything for you.

They also bring out the complimentary fluffy steamed egg right away.

Just looking at it, you can feel how fiery this is going to be.

A perfect spread was laid out — the visuals had me so excited.

How spicy is it, really?

The plump shrimp, tender octopus, and soft beef belly all come together for an overwhelming spicy aroma and look.

For my first bite of octopus, I just tried it plain — and it was so delicious. You feel the spiciness right away, but it's a sweet-and-spicy kind, so it's not overwhelmingly hot. It sits a bit spicier than Shin Ramyun, so kids might have a hard time with it, but since I handle spicy food well, it was exactly my taste.

Eating it with the garlic sauce makes it sweeter and smoother, which tames the octopus's spiciness and makes it even more delicious.

We also wrapped it in perilla leaves with bean sprouts and pickled radish, and tried building an octopus tower by piling shrimp and beef belly on top.

Two bowls of rice instead of fried rice

After trying it several ways, we were going to get fried rice, but I had a feeling it would be even better with plain white rice, so we ordered two bowls of rice right away.

Wrapping it with rice is really delicious. Carbs are always right, as always.

Eating the octopus and beef belly along with rice completely tames the spiciness. It's a total rice thief.

Mixing in bean sprouts and eating it that way is also the best!

Final verdict

Today I visited Jeonju Jjukkumi Sinhwa, a stir-fried octopus restaurant in the Ajung-ri restaurant alley of Jeonju, and got to taste the real deal — fiery, sweet-and-spicy stir-fried octopus. The octopus was fresh and plump, the shrimp toppings were big and satisfying to chew, and it paired beautifully with the beef belly. I thought anyone who loves stress-relieving spicy food absolutely has to visit this genuinely great restaurant. Highly recommend Jeonju Jjukkumi Sinhwa in Ajung-ri.