Yeouido tteokbokki set at Hyeonseonine, IFC Mall snack bar

I went because I was craving Hyeonseonine, which I used to eat often in Seoul. Finally, my last Seoul itinerary!!!! It is also famous as a good tteokbokki spot in Yeouido. Located in the underground passage to The Hyundai Seoul, it was a place I would often stop at because the smell of tteokbokki was impossible to resist whenever I walked by.

We had eaten Chinese food, meat, pizza, and so on for lunch, so we were craving something spicy very, very badly. Since moving out of Seoul, I still have not found my favorite tteokbokki, so I usually ate Yupdduk, but eating the same thing every time was starting to get a little tiresome. I wanted old-school tteokbokki.

On the way from Yeouido Station to IFC Mall and The Hyundai Seoul

When you get off at Yeouido Station, it is right along the way to IFC Mall and The Hyundai Seoul. I first had Hyeonseonine in Yongsan, then mostly ate at the IFC branch. I used to visit The Hyundai Seoul often, but honestly, aside from the handmade burger, none of the restaurants there were really my taste,,, I still wonder how there could be no spicy tteokbokki or other spicy food that Koreans love, but thank goodness Hyeonseonine is on the way.

The utensils, salt, water, and so on are neatly set up on one side.

The kitchen is open, and you can order at the kiosk.

As you would expect from a Korean snack restaurant, there are lots of menu options. We had only eaten their instant tteokbokki before, but this time we wanted basic tteokbokki, so we ordered the Hyeonseonine Set.

The generous Hyeonseonine Set

There were only two of us, but it was even more generous than we expected. Could we eat all of this,,,? (We did finish it all, haha.)

I love gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), and this was completely my kind of gimbap. The rice ratio was just right, so it was not dry and went down easily.

The sweet-potato fritter and vegetable fritter were especially delicious.

I like sundae (Korean blood sausage) with tteokbokki sauce and a little salt, but I have been holding back. I think I used to eat the liver well, but at some point I started eating only sundae. So all the liver went to my boyfriend.

Basic tteokbokki like the kind sold outside school

The tteokbokki tastes like what I ate outside school as a child. It feels different from instant tteokbokki, so I enjoyed it. There are not many tteokbokki places with this old-fashioned feel these days, but Hyeonseonine has been around for so long that it has kept that flavor going. It has been around for more than 20 years,,!

I still cannot forget the cheonggukjang tteokbokki I had at The Hyundai Seoul. Plain tteokbokki is simply the most delicious. But we should respect different tastes.

This whole set is ₩23,000, and there is enough for three people, so the value is the best.

Look at those bouncy rice cakes in the tteokbokki. I think most women are like this, but I really, really love tteokbokki. In my school days, I ate it about 360 days out of 365. Now I hold myself to once a week, but honestly, I would eat it every day if I could.

There is Miss Lee tteokbokki sold at Bokji Mart (I am not sure whether it is sold commercially), a frozen tteokbokki with cheese inside. I used to eat it whenever I was on duty, and it tastes kind of similar to Hyeonseonine, kind of not, but anyway, it is my taste. When I was on duty, my blood sugar would drop and I would be truly exhausted, so inhaling tteokbokki meant I did not need medicine.

The best combination and final thoughts

The most delicious combination was the vegetable fritter and tteokbokki sauce 🤎

I had gone here so often in the past, but after moving out of Seoul, I could not visit for a while. Having it again after so long was really delicious. It was my first time trying the regular tteokbokki, and it was exactly the kind of flavor from a snack shop outside school that I love, so the two of us ended up finishing every last bit.

I was always disappointed because there was nowhere to eat tteokbokki at IFC Mall or The Hyundai Seoul (there was one in The Hyundai Seoul basement, but it really did not suit my taste). I think Hyeonseonine is perfect for stopping by for a quick bite on the way to The Hyundai Seoul! Then head to The Hyundai Seoul basement for bread dessert and that sweet-and-salty combo, haha,,,