Gwacheon seaweed soup restaurant, free abalone for moms-to-be: Haenon

A friend recommended a Gwacheon seaweed soup set restaurant as a great spot for pregnant women to eat out, so my husband and I went on the weekend. It made me realize that seaweed soup — a food so familiar to us — can become such a special restorative dish depending on the toppings added. From the service to the taste, everything about this Gwacheon Korean restaurant impressed me. It's called Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch. The banchan (side dishes) were varied and generous too, so it looked like a great place to bring a kid after I give birth — I already saved it on my map, and now I'll introduce it to you 💚

Where is Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch?

Haenon Miyeok originated in Busan, with its headquarters in Bujeon-dong, Jin-gu — a restaurant specializing in seaweed soup set meals. The branch I visited this time is the Gwacheon Direct Branch, located in a standalone building at 67 Araetbaerangi-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The exterior was so unique and stylish that I was amazed such a cool restaurant existed in Gwacheon!

The property itself takes up a lot of space, so even with quite a few cars, parking wasn't difficult at all. It's a flat street-level lot, so people using wheelchairs or with mobility difficulties could get around without trouble.

Seaweed soup is a dish that Koreans traditionally must eat on birthdays, so this is a restaurant many families visit together with their parents. It's also convenient that grown children can each drive with their own families and still find plenty of parking when arriving at the same time.

Inside Haenon Miyeok: interior and seating

The first thing that caught my eye stepping inside was the high ceiling. The interior itself is spacious, but the high ceiling makes it feel even more grand. About three-quarters of the walls were covered in bright sepia-toned panels featuring photos of haenyeo (female divers) by the sea and text telling Haenon Miyeok's brand story, giving the space a calm, upscale mood.

Table spacing was wide, and since this is such a popular spot for family meals, the tables were mostly set up for 4-6 people. We visited around 11:15 AM on a Sunday, and there were already many people eating.

There was even a couple with a baby in a stroller who simply parked the stroller next to their table and ate comfortably thanks to the spacious layout. It made me think this would be a great place to visit with my baby once Mary is born, so I immediately saved it as one of my places on the map. I'll need to eat a lot of seaweed soup after giving birth too, so I have a feeling I'll be coming here often 😇

Is Haenon Miyeok easy to visit with a child?

Basically, baby chairs were available, and disposable bibs were provided. And as I mentioned, for babies too young to sit in a baby chair, you could simply park the stroller next to the table and eat.

Turning left after entering the building, there were separate men's and women's restrooms. They had bidets installed and were kept very clean inside, which I really appreciated. When I visit a restaurant, I feel like how clean the restroom is kept tells you how much the restaurant cares about hygiene. Passed with flying colors on that front!

Haenon Miyeok menu and prices, and the free abalone for pregnant guests

Haenon Miyeok's set meal prices vary depending on which topping ingredient is added. The most expensive menu item was the sea urchin roe seaweed soup set at ₩30,000, and the cheapest was the mussel/scallop/boneless flounder seaweed soup set at ₩19,000. We ordered two dishes: the boneless flounder seaweed soup and the beef seaweed soup.

Haenon Miyeok also gives a free abalone to pregnant guests and guests celebrating their birthday that day. This does require verification, though — pregnant guests should bring a photo of their pregnancy certificate or a maternity bag tag, and birthday guests should bring their ID, and present it at the counter to receive the perk.

How the self-serve banchan bar works

While the main menu is seaweed soup, the complimentary Korean banchan here is also a big reason this is such a popular Gwacheon Korean restaurant — there's a self-serve bar where you can help yourself to very high-quality banchan without limit. I wouldn't say the number of varieties was huge compared to other places, but the quality of each individual side dish was excellent, which personally satisfied me a lot.

There was fried eggplant, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), gungchae namul, yeolmu kimchi, cheongpomuk muchim (mung bean jelly salad), scallop muchim, and more — the scallop muchim was especially popular. It was empty when I took the photo, but staff refilled it soon after.

One thing to note: the self-serve bar closes 30 minutes before break time starts and 30 minutes before closing, so if you're eating close to those times, make sure to serve yourself what you need in advance so your meal isn't interrupted.

Standard banchan and the extra side dishes for two set meals

All the standard banchan available at the self-serve bar are also served directly to your table by staff at the start, so you don't need to go get them yourself before your food arrives. Try the amount given first, then if you want more of something, just add it to the dish you already used.

They brought it over so neatly arranged in the dish.

Seasoned grilled flounder and chicken breast salad are extra banchan given when you order 2 or more seaweed soup sets — they're not available at the self-serve bar. We initially wondered if you needed to order the exact same menu item for 2 people to get these, but it turned out they're given the same way as long as it's 2 seaweed soup sets total, even if they're different varieties.

The chicken breast salad was tossed with carrots, onion, chicken breast, and black sesame in a mustard sauce — sweet and tangy, doing its part to whet the appetite.

My personal favorite was the scallop muchim. Scallops tossed in seasoning — what more is there to say? It was so delicious. You could tell why it disappeared fastest from the self-serve bar. The flounder tossed in gochujang seasoning also suited my taste well, but I was so busy eating it that I forgot to take a photo 😂

The flounder and beef seaweed soup set meals on the table

All the food we ordered arrived. Mine was the beef seaweed soup, and my husband's was the boneless flounder seaweed soup. I thought there wouldn't be much difference beyond the toppings, but the broth flavor turned out to be surprisingly different — I'll go into detail on that shortly.

The seaweed soup arrived bubbling away in a large ttukbaegi (earthenware pot). Since it retains heat so well and stays hot for a while, be careful while eating, especially if you're visiting with kids — I'd recommend placing it far from them and asking staff for an extra bowl to portion it out for them.

This is what the boneless flounder seaweed soup looked like when first scooped. There was a surprisingly generous amount of flounder, and it held its shape well even while bubbling in the pot, so it looked appetizing and tasted great to chew too. It was the cheapest item on the menu, but the flavor was not cheap at all.

The rice came in a cute, angular ceramic bowl, which I found adorable. Instead of plain white rice, it was steamed with tot, giving it a nice flavor. They said they'd give you more rice if you asked, but between the banchan and finishing our whole bowl of soup, we ended up full without needing to request more.

This is the beef seaweed soup set I ordered. It was packed with beef cubes, and I enjoyed it deliciously mixed with rice.

There's a reason this is such a well-regarded Gwacheon Korean restaurant — looking at the broth color, it seemed like the soup had been simmered for a very long time, yet the seaweed itself wasn't overly soft or falling apart, staying at just the right texture, which surprised me. I'd guess they simmer a separate batch of seaweed for the broth and then add fresh seaweed to cook further for what's actually served.

It was clear that a lot of care went into this seaweed soup one way or another, and the flavor was correspondingly deep and rich — it made me realize that a dish I once thought was easy to make and nothing special could actually reach this level of quality.

Since this was the best seaweed soup either of us had ever had, my husband and I asked staff for two extra soup bowls so we could share and try each other's orders. When it came to requesting bowls too, the staff at Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch were so kind. Every time we had a request, they responded with a genuine smile and kindness — the kind of restaurant you could trust to bring your parents to without any risk of them feeling put out.

My husband gave me the biggest piece of flounder, saying I should eat well since I'm pregnant. Or was it meant for Mary! Looking at it now, that really was a lot of food. And I scraped the bowl clean until I could see the bottom. Yet my stomach felt completely fine afterward — that's how good this food is for you!

How the two seaweed soup broths differ in taste

The two soups tasted quite different, which you can probably sense better from the photos. On the left is the boneless flounder seaweed soup, and on the right is the beef seaweed soup. The flounder broth looks cloudier and richer, while the beef broth is comparatively clear with a bit of visible oil on top. Both were delicious enough that it almost felt unfair to compare them to what we usually make at home, but since flounder is an ingredient I rarely use at home, it felt more novel and special to me.

My husband and I were both surprised at how different the flavor could be depending on the topping, and we came home vowing to try the sea urchin roe seaweed soup next time. When I told my mom we should go here for her next birthday, she reacted with confusion — 'A seaweed soup restaurant?' 🤨 (Mom, I get it! I reacted the same way at first! 🤣) I told her not to think of it as just a seaweed soup place, but as a proper Korean set-meal restaurant, and I'm planning to take her there. Once she tastes it, she'll understand why. Haha!

I have a strong feeling I'll be coming back to this Gwacheon Korean restaurant with my kid a lot after giving birth. In conclusion: Haenon Miyeok Gwacheon Direct Branch is a genuinely delicious, high-quality Korean specialty restaurant that's well worth the price 💚 I want to go again.