Kkachiul Station opening-run hangover meal: nurungji baeksuk

It was hot out the day before and I hadn't seen a big group of people in a while, so I ended up drinking way too much beer haha... I had to deal with the fallout the next day, and figured today would be a total write-off unless I ate something with broth. So I went to Kkachiul Station's Hanchon Seolleongtang Kkachiul Station Branch! I understand this used to be a mandu jeongol (dumpling hot pot) place before it became Hanchon Seolleongtang.

Hanchon Seolleongtang Kkachiul Station Branch hours and location

• Hours: 09:00 – 21:00
• Location: 37 Kkachi-ro 74beon-gil, Ojeong-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 2nd floor

Getting there from Kkachiul Station and parking

Hanchon Seolleongtang, a Korean restaurant in Jakdong, Bucheon, is about a 15-minute walk from Exit 3 of Kkachiul Station on Line 7. Buses also run there — from Exit 3 you can catch bus 98 or village buses 017-1, 013-3, 103-1, or 013-2, get off at Yeowol Danokjutaek, and reach the restaurant in about 10 minutes.

For those driving, there's parking for about 35 cars, so you can park comfortably before your meal. It also offers valet parking, which looked handy for anyone who needs it.

Exterior, interior, and how big are the group seats?

Hanchon Seolleongtang sits inside a large building, and as the exterior suggests, it can seat a lot of people. Group seating ranges from a minimum of 20 up to 100, with private rooms holding 30–50, making it a good spot for group gatherings or company dinners.

We were seated in the hall on the 2nd floor, and since we came right at opening, we got in immediately with no wait haha. The restaurant is spacious and open, which I think older visitors especially would appreciate.

An origin-of-ingredients sign was clearly displayed in the restaurant, which showed confidence in the quality of the ingredients.

The self-serve corner was well stocked with everything needed — rice, wet towels, aprons, scallions, and salt. The rice refills in particular were great, and with so many rice-thief dishes on the menu, this place is basically heaven for rice lovers.

On top of that, anyone who visits the Rumi Narae media art exhibit at the nearby Bucheon Botanic Garden near Kkachiul Station can receive Bucheon Love Gift Certificates, which can also be used here — a nice bonus if you happen to have some on hand.

What we ordered and the prices

• Nurungji baeksuk (scorched-rice chicken soup) – ₩16,000
• Spicy seolleongtang – ₩13,000

We needed something spicy so we locked in the spicy seolleongtang as our base, and our resident baeksuk lover spotted the nurungji baeksuk and ordered it without even asking me~~

Once you order, they bring out the basic side dishes like this — a whole crock full of diced radish kimchi and napa cabbage kimchi, so plentiful we didn't even need a refill.

Nurungji baeksuk, savory with no gamey smell

First up was our resident baeksuk fan's pick, the nurungji baeksuk!

It came out boiling hot with a savory chicken soup smell wafting up haha. There were jujubes and ginkgo nuts inside too, which I think older visitors would especially love, and the seasoning wasn't sharp at all — just right, and it went down really easily. There was plenty of chicken in it too, so we ate our fill.

The chicken must have been simmered for a long time, because the meat slid right off the bone with just a light touch of the chopsticks, making it easy to pick apart. Unlike our resident chicken-soup lover, I'm personally not that into samgyetang-type dishes, but this one had a savory flavor with zero gamey smell — good enough that I'd consider coming back on every bok-nal (dog days of summer). Certified Kkachiul Station favorite~

Spicy seolleongtang, beefy bone broth meets heat

Next up, the spicy seolleongtang haha. I'm personally a broth person and prefer dishes with lots of it, and this delivered exactly that — very satisfying.

It comes with a bowl of rice, and since the rice is refillable too, this dish is genuinely great value.

There was a generous amount of beef inside, along with mushrooms, egg, scallions, and glass noodles for extra flavor. Usually with spicy dishes, the base flavor gets buried under the heat, but this spicy seolleongtang had such a rich broth that you could taste both the deep bone broth flavor and the spiciness together — really satisfying.

At the end there was even a coffee machine to cleanse your palate, which I think my mom would love if I brought her next time.

Final verdict

I was hunting for a good Korean restaurant nearby to cure my hangover and found Hanchon Seolleongtang Bucheon Kkachiul Station Branch. From the moment we walked in, the owner greeted us so warmly it put me in a good mood, and the staff inside were just as kind, which made the whole experience even better.

An elderly customer who seemed to have some trouble moving came in after us and accidentally spilled a paper cup, and the staff rushed right over, cleaned it up kindly, told her not to worry, and waited patiently — both of us felt our faith in humanity restored watching that, ㅠㅠ.

On top of that, the food wasn't overly seasoned and let you really taste the rich broth, so we left feeling very satisfied. If you're looking for a Kkachiul Station favorite or a Korean restaurant in Jakdong, Bucheon, I'd say Hanchon Seolleongtang Bucheon Kkachiul Station Branch is worth a visit.