Suseong Lake restaurant in Daegu for abalone ttukbaegi: Haenyeo Sotbap

If you're looking for a place near Suseong Lake for a family gathering, I think the three most important things are parking, taste, and atmosphere. Haenyeo Sotbap Suseong Direct Store, which I visited this time, is a Suseong Lake spot optimized for family gatherings that perfectly satisfies all three. Haenyeo Sotbap Suseong Direct Store, the sotbap (hot pot rice) restaurant that's a hit near Suseong Lake in Daegu! Here's my honest review!!

Where is Haenyeo Sotbap Suseong Direct Store, and is there parking?

Even though Haenyeo Sotbap Suseong Direct Store sits right in the middle of Deuran-gil near Suseong Lake, parking is surprisingly easy. There's a dedicated staff member managing parking, and if you end up double-parked, they seem to hold onto your car keys for you.

Haenyeo Sotbap radiates that "I'm a great restaurant!!" vibe from the outside on Deuran-gil near Suseong Lake. If you're taking public transit, it's about a 15-minute walk from Hwanggeum Station, so that's convenient too. Since it's not far from my place, I walked over.

Inside Haenyeo Sotbap: the halls and the private room

The entrance of Haenyeo Sotbap Suseong Direct Store has really nice landscaping for a restaurant. I've seen well-landscaped new apartment complexes, but this is the first time I've seen such gorgeous landscaping at a restaurant, haha. It felt like walking through a lush green forest path just to get inside.

The main hall was almost full of guests enjoying dinner, so I couldn't photograph it evenly. Seeing it packed even on a weekday evening confirms this is a genuine local favorite.

There's also an inner hall with a different atmosphere.

Since I'd reserved ahead, I was shown to a separate room. It had exactly the kind of feel that works well for bringing parents or older relatives. Since you can enjoy a private meal in an independent space, it also seemed suitable for more formal occasions, like a meeting between families before a wedding.

Aprons, small plates, and paper cups were all provided, and you order via a tablet PC.

Menu and prices: what two people ordered

Haenyeo Sotbap's most signature dish is, of course, the Wando-grown haenyeo abalone sotbap! It's priced at ₩23,000.

The Jeju-style green tea eel sotbap is also a popular menu item, and if you want soup, there's the abalone seafood ttukbaegi (hot pot) for the same ₩23,000. Since there were two of us, we ordered one abalone sotbap and one ttukbaegi. I had a cold, so I was craving something warm with broth, haha. The ttukbaegi doesn't come with rice, so we ordered one separately — that was ₩1,500.

What comes in the 13-dish banchan spread?

Haenyeo Sotbap's pride and joy: seasonal food and a 13-dish banchan (side dish) spread. The food is great, but honestly the colorful variety delights the eyes first, haha.

Aside from the salted seafood and seasoned dishes, most items weren't heavily seasoned, so they were mild and clean-tasting — exactly my kind of thing. I thought these banchan would be easy for older people who don't like strong seasoning to enjoy too.

Soon after, mushroom sweet-and-sour and grilled Spanish mackerel arrived. I was surprised — these were high-end dishes good enough to be sold on their own. The crispy fried mushroom and the boneless grilled mackerel got our appetites going even before the main dish arrived.

Individually wrapped utensils — a nice touch, haha.

Abalone seafood ttukbaegi, 23,000 won

The ttukbaegi (hot pot) arrived! It's packed with a variety of seafood and piled high with overflowing water dropwort. A fragrant, savory smell wafted up~~ It comes in a big ttukbaegi bowl, haha.

A hearty whole Wando abalone, shrimp, mussels, pollack roe, sea squirt, plus bean sprouts and water dropwort! The generous ingredients and the broth they created were truly a special treat.

The separately ordered bowl of rice. Nicely fluffy.

My boyfriend picked the abalone apart for me, haha. Really plump. He said the abalone here isn't chewy or tough and has a nice bounce to it. He's not great at describing food, so for him to say that, it must have really been delicious, lol.

Wando haenyeo abalone sotbap and the nurungji (crispy rice) finish

Then the abalone sotbap arrived!! It came with two abalones, abalone innards, sesame seeds, scallions, and mushrooms.

Mixing the rich innards with the various vegetables, then topping it with a well-cooked abalone, is the perfect nourishing meal! It's barely seasoned, so it's good eaten mild, or you can add soy sauce to taste. I ate it paired with the ttukbaegi broth, which was perfect, so I didn't add any extra seasoning and just enjoyed the abalone's natural flavor, haha.

Scooping out the rice and adding hot water to make nurungji (scorched rice tea) is just the unwritten rule, haha.

The abalone sotbap also comes with seaweed soup, haha. After finishing the meal, drinking all the savory sungnyung (scorched rice water) is the perfect way to end it!!!

Banchan refills and service at Haenyeo Sotbap

It was convenient that Haenyeo Sotbap Suseong Direct Store lets you request extra banchan via the tablet PC. The staff were super friendly, which made for a pleasant meal, haha. We got refills of acorn jelly and salted seafood, and they kindly refilled our water too.

There's dessert too, lol. If you're looking for a healthy, nourishing meal, I strongly recommend Haenyeo Sotbap Suseong Direct Store~!!