Myeongil Station jokbal restaurant with seating for 45: Iseon Hwaduk

I love jokbal, but when I want to eat it with my kid it's always a bit of a puzzle where to go. Looking for a family-friendly spot near Myeongil Station, I ended up at Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch. What set it apart from a typical jokbal place was that the jokbal gets roasted once more in a wood-fired oven!!

Boiled jokbal is delicious on its own, but I was curious what oven-roasting would add. Turns out it gave the chewy jokbal a subtle smoky aroma — definitely a different feel from the usual.

Where is Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch, and what are its hours?

• Location: 8 Yangjaedae-ro 147-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul (99m from Exit 2, Myeongil Station, Line 5)
• Hours: Daily 12:00 PM – 11:30 PM (next day)
• Menu: hwaduk jokbal, bossam, whole octopus, hwaduk pizza, and more
• Other: free parking, free corkage, group seating, terrace, pet-friendly

Seats for up to 45: a roomy Myeongil Station jokbal restaurant for family gatherings

Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch sits in the restaurant alley close to Exit 2 of Myeongil Station.

It's easy to reach from Myeongil Station whether you come by car or public transport.

More than anything, the restaurant was bigger than I expected. The seating comfortably fits everything from small groups of about 5 up to 45 people.

There's also terrace seating for hot summer days, which looked great for family gatherings or work dinners with a bigger group.

There's a large screen for watching sports, so you can sip a drink with your jokbal in the evening while catching a game! Despite being in a restaurant alley, parking is convenient too — about 3 spots in front of the store plus an underground lot.

There's also a public parking lot about a minute's walk away, so parking isn't much to worry about.

How does Iseon Hwaduk's oven-roasted jokbal differ from boiled jokbal?

The menu item I was most curious about on this visit was the signature hwaduk jokbal (oven-roasted jokbal).

Jokbal is usually boiled and sliced straight away, but here it's roasted once more in a wood-fired oven after you order — my expectations for how clean and rich the flavor would be went up!!

From the moment it arrived it looked appetizing, the surface of the jokbal roasted a deep golden brown.

You could tell right away it looked different from regular jokbal — that glossy sheen practically screamed collagen!!

While eating, they keep a flame lit so it stays warm — can you see the smoke, haha?

Taking a bite, the meat was tender and the skin still had that springy chew. And there was a subtle aroma added from the oven-roasting.

The smoky flavor wasn't overpowering — more like a hint of roasted aroma layered through the jokbal's signature chewiness, so it wasn't too much.

Barely any gamey smell either. The collagen-rich parts were chewy while the meat itself was tender, which made for fun eating.

Coming with kids? Order the hwaduk pizza as a side

At a jokbal restaurant you'd normally expect side dishes like makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles) or jaengban guksu, but since this place roasts the jokbal in an oven, they also offer hwaduk pizza as a side!! I'd especially recommend it if you're visiting with kids.

Jokbal can be a bit much for a kid's palate, but hwaduk pizza feels like an extra menu option, making it easy for the family to share when dining together.

Maybe because it's baked in the oven, the pizza crust came out golden at the edges with warm, well-melted, stretchy cheese — a totally different treat from the jokbal.

We ate some jokbal, then a slice of pizza, then back to jokbal, and honestly the combo worked better than I expected.

If you're looking for a good restaurant in Gangdong to visit with kids, a place with side dish options like this feels a lot more convenient than one that only serves jokbal.

The side dishes and sundubu-jjigae that paired well with the jokbal

The main dish matters at a jokbal restaurant, but the side dishes that come with it matter too — that's what makes a place worth calling a Gangdong favorite, haha.

Eating meat alone can get greasy after a while, but the basic side dishes at Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam were nice and clean!!

The chive salad, which goes especially well with jokbal, and the crunchy dried radish were both delicious.

Piling the chive salad on top of a chewy piece of jokbal added a fragrant, crunchy texture that worked really well together. The dried radish also paired nicely with the jokbal.

And having some sundubu-jjigae in between felt like it reset my palate each time.

Jokbal keeps giving you that chewy meat-and-skin texture over and over, so alternating with the warm sundubu-jjigae was a nice change of pace. All these basic dishes complemented each other well, so I never got tired of the main dish all the way to the end.

Flying fish roe rice balls: a filling end to the meal

After working through a good amount of jokbal, I wanted something else to round out the meal. Rice balls are essential at a time like this. We had the flying fish roe rice balls, and the popping texture of the roe mixed into the rice made for a hearty finish.

Adding rice on top of jokbal or bossam made the meal feel properly complete compared to eating just the meat. There's also a review event, so it's worth checking that out too.

The menu lineup includes jokbal, bossam, spicy jokbal, cold jokbal, and more — a solid Gangdong restaurant where a group can each pick according to their own taste.

Would I go back to Iseon Hwaduk? The oven-roasted jokbal stayed with me

Overall, what stuck with me most about Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch was getting to try hwaduk jokbal, a bit different from the usual kind.

A golden roasted surface, chewy skin, tender meat, plus a subtle roasted aroma from the oven — it was a different flavor from the jokbal I usually eat.

If you're near Myeongil Station looking for a good jokbal place or something a little different with oven-roasted dishes, give this one a try — you won't regret it. Next time I want to order the jokbal-bossam set and properly try both.