Yongsan tteokbokki restaurant after a movie: Hyeonseonine

After my husband and I came out from watching a movie at the Odyssey Yongsan IMAX around Sinyongsan!!! I suddenly wanted tteokbokki so badly, so this is where we went! I’ve always been a tteokbokki fan, and I finally visited Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, a place I’d wanted to try whenever I was in Yongsan.

It’s such a famous place that I’d heard its name plenty of times, but this was my first visit. As expected, popular places are popular for a reason. To give you the conclusion first, every single thing we ate that day was delicious, and my husband and I left very happy.

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch visit information

• Address: 2-13 Hangang-daero 39-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 용산구 한강대로39길 2-13)
• An easy walk from exits 5 and 6 of Sinyongsan Station
• Hours: 11:00–24:00
• Last order: 22:40
• Monday break time: 14:30–16:00
• Parking: On-site parking is difficult, so public transportation is recommended

It’s close to Sinyongsan Station, so getting there by subway was easy. So many people are restaurant-hopping from Sinyongsan to Yongsan’s Yongridan-gil these days, right? It’s in a nice spot to add to that kind of food itinerary.

There’s a kiosk as soon as you walk in, so order first, take a seat, and they’ll guide you from there!!

Right next to the kiosk is this self-service bar, where you can grab pickled radish, aprons, sundae sauce, and whatever else you need!!! I love the fritters that you dip into fish cake broth, so I grabbed lots and lots to put in there haha.

Adding ramen to the Hyeonseonine Combo Set

Here’s the Hyeonseonine menu! Just for reference :) It looked like other tables were having all sorts of things, from sets to instant tteokbokki, so we debated a lot.

After thinking it over, we ordered the Hyeonseonine Combo Set. It comes loaded with several dishes—tteokbokki, sundae (Korean blood sausage), fritters, mini gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), and fish cakes—so it’s perfect for anyone who would feel a little sad having only tteokbokki.

But my husband and I didn’t stop there hahaha. You just can’t resist ramen when you’re eating tteokbokki, right? So we added ramen too. In the end...

The table was set so generously, and it made me happy the moment I saw it. Korean snack food really tastes best when you lay out a whole table full of this and that.

Tteokbokki that was spicier than expected, even at medium

Of course, since we were at Hyeonseonine, we had to start with the tteokbokki. The chewy rice cakes were nicely coated in sauce, and from the first bite, I kept reaching for more. It had spice along with that signature sweet tteokbokki flavor—the kind you keep thinking about!

But it was seriously spicier than I expected!!! We chose medium, and it was still spicy! It wasn’t the kind of tteokbokki that’s aggressively hot for the sake of it; it paired well with all the different side dishes, which I liked even more.

And dipping the other dishes into the tteokbokki sauce was so much fun. Dip the mini gimbap, dip the fritters, dip the sundae! Everything was tasty on its own, but the tteokbokki seasoning gave each one a different flavor.

Adding ramen was such a good choice!

And the ramen, which I personally thought was such a great add-on that day! Once ramen goes into tteokbokki sauce, what more is there to say about this combination? Eating the chewy rice cakes and ramen together was fun texture-wise too, and the ramen soaked up the tteokbokki seasoning perfectly. So delicious.

I think my husband and I kept saying, “We’re so glad we added ramen,” while we ate hahaha. If you love tteokbokki, I recommend adding a ramen noodle portion.

Dip the fritters and mini gimbap right into the sauce

Fritters are secretly important at a Korean snack place too, aren’t they? Soggy or greasy fritters can be a little disappointing, but the ones we had that day were great with the tteokbokki. Dip a crispy fritter lightly in the tteokbokki sauce, and the spicy-sweet seasoning makes the flavor come alive. Personally, I recommend dipping fritters in the tteokbokki sauce rather than eating them plain.

And the cute mini gimbap! They were bite-sized, so they went really well with the tteokbokki. They were nutty and tasty on their own, but dipping them into the tteokbokki sauce was definitely the best. The spicy tteokbokki and the mild, nutty gimbap made a combination I just kept eating.

Sundae and warm fish cakes too

The sundae was chewy and delicious too. After eating tteokbokki, fritters, and gimbap, sundae could feel a little rich, but with the tteokbokki sauce, it never tasted bland. Personally, I think the biggest advantage of the Hyeonseonine Combo Set is getting to try a little of so many different dishes.

Rather than eating only tteokbokki, having sundae, fritters, gimbap, and even fish cakes made the meal feel much more abundant! The fish cakes were also nice to have one at a time in between bites of tteokbokki. When you take a sip of warm fish cake broth after spicy tteokbokki, it feels soothing, you know?

As my husband and I shared a little of everything, one plate after another was soon empty. In the end, we deliciously ate almost everything we ordered that day.

There was also slush by the register like this, but we were soooo full that we couldn’t eat anyㅠㅠ Next time, I need to bring more friends and definitely try it. That must be good too...

Final thoughts on Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch

After visiting Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, I could see why people keep coming back. Luckily, we went at an awkward lunchtime and didn’t have to wait, but apparently there’s always a wait at peak hoursㅠㅠ!

Rather than having tteokbokki alone, I especially recommend doing what we did: order the Hyeonseonine Combo Set and add ramen so you can try a variety of things. The tteokbokki was delicious, the sundae was delicious, the fritters were delicious, the mini gimbap was delicious, and the fish cakes were delicious! Everything we had that day was so good that my husband and I left after a happily filling meal.

If you’re looking for somewhere nice to go when Korean snack food is calling in Sinyongsan or Yongsan, I’d recommend Hyeonseonine. There are so many places to eat in Sinyongsan and Yongridan-gil these days that it’s hard to choose, but this was a good option because it’s easygoing while still letting you enjoy lots of dishes generously.

If you love tteokbokki, it’s worth visiting at least once! I think we’ll return next time we have a reason to be around Sinyongsan. We had the Hyeonseonine Combo Set with added ramen this time, but next time I want to try the instant tteokbokki too.

If you want to enjoy everything from tteokbokki to sundae, fritters, mini gimbap, and fish cakes, I recommend the Hyeonseonine Combo Set + added ramen!