Apgujeong Rodeo Korean restaurant: cockle pancake and spicy pork rib

For anyone looking for a good Korean restaurant near Apgujeong Rodeo, let me introduce THE GIWA Apgujeong Main Branch, which I visited today. This Korean restaurant even appeared on the show Sixth Sense, so I'll share an honest review of the vibe and the menu combination.

Why I went looking for a Korean restaurant in Apgujeong with real atmosphere

I'm an influencer who archives seasonal, atmospheric spaces year-round. On a day I had a meal appointment in Apgujeong, I decided to look for a Korean restaurant that stood out in both mood and food, not just an ordinary place to eat. This one caught my eye with its Korean-style tiled facade and refined interior.

What's the atmosphere like at THE GIWA Apgujeong Main Branch?

The storefront is decorated with roof-tile motifs and white porcelain objects displayed along the wall, so it caught my eye from far away.

Inside, soft indirect lighting, walls reminiscent of hanji (traditional Korean paper), and paintings blended together so well it felt almost like being in a gallery.

The seating is spaced out generously, and there are private rooms too, making it a solid Apgujeong Rodeo restaurant pick for dates as well as group gatherings.

Menu lineup and tablet ordering

THE GIWA is a Korean restaurant that was even featured on Sixth Sense, starring Yoo Jae-suk, so I was looking forward to it before I even arrived. It turned out to be an Apgujeong Rodeo Korean restaurant that reinterprets traditional food with a modern sensibility, good for both a meal and a drinking session.

The menu ranges from pancakes like beef jeon, kimchi jeon, and potato julienne jeon, to filling dishes like beef sashimi, bossam (boiled pork wraps), suyuk (boiled sliced meat), and braised pork ribs.

There are also soup and hot pot dishes good for sharing, like mushroom beef jeongol (hot pot) or soft tofu kimchi jeongol, plus unusual fusion makgeolli (rice wine) flavors like green tea, misugaru (roasted grain powder), and ube. Each table has a tablet where you can compare photos and prices while ordering, and it supports a language selection feature too, which looked convenient for visiting with non-Korean speakers.

We ended up picking the seasonal cockle and water parsley pancake and the spicy braised pork ribs, both of which let us taste the season.

Seasonal cockle and water parsley pancake

It filled the round bamboo tray generously, with plump cockles piled high over green water parsley — a really appetizing sight.

The edges were fried golden and crispy, while the inside had that moist, chewy texture where the water parsley and batter came together.

The plump cockles had a springy bite, and the more you chewed, the more that gentle savory flavor came through, with the fragrant water parsley cutting through it cleanly. It was already tasty on its own, but dipping it into the tangy soy sauce that came alongside brought out a whole different, vivid flavor. It felt hearty enough as a meal, and it also worked well as an accompaniment to makgeolli or other drinks.

How spicy is the spicy braised pork ribs, exactly?

Next came the spicy braised pork ribs, with cheese piled generously on top of the rich sauce. It's simmered bubbling away on a burner, so we could enjoy it warm all the way through.

The ribs were so tender they seemed to have simmered for a long time, with the meat falling off easily, deeply soaked in savory sauce, and the spiciness building into a pleasant, tangy lingering heat the further you went.

Spice tolerance varies from person to person, but I'd put it at about one notch spicier than Shin Ramyun. More than anything, it wasn't just aggressive heat for the sake of it — the savoriness came through fully, so the spice level felt satisfying to me.

A large abalone came along with it, already trimmed and easy to eat. It was well boiled, soft yet chewy, with a subtle ocean flavor that came through nicely, so eating it alongside the ribs felt a bit like enjoying a restorative dish.

The radish, potato, and other side ingredients were also deeply seasoned, and the chewy udon noodles were a nice surprise too — they kept their bounce in the broth without going soft, making them great to eat over a long time along with the cheese.

Final verdict: the pancake-and-stew combo

Alternating between the fragrant, light cockle and water parsley pancake and the spicy braised pork ribs, the two different flavors complemented each other well — a combination that worked great both as a meal and as food to go with drinks.