Do you like tteokbokki? Today, we're going to review Seabooung (씨부엉), a famous spicy seafood tteokbokki restaurant in Hongdae! Not only do they serve delicious tteokbokki, but they also have performances and exhibits at the restaurant! It's a really fun and interesting atmosphere to be in. Let's check it out!
Information
Address: 28-6, Wausan-ro 21-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul (서울특별시 마포구 와우산로 21길 28-6)
Location: A 12-minute walk from Hongdae Exit 9
Hours: Every Day 11:00-24:00
Why We Recommend It
You can eat spicy seafood tteokbokki that is visually impressive!
There are accessories and trinkets designed by Hongik University students on display. You can buy some of them too!
If you're lucky, you can see and listen to some busking!
This restaurant appeared on three TV shows, including Live Broadcast Today, 2TV Live Info, and Live Tonight, for its delicious food!
Our Review
Hongdae Seabooung is near the main gate of Hongik University, so naturally, it is a famous spot that many college students visit. The restaurant isn't very big and it's slightly hidden in a small alleyway, so it's a little difficult to get to. But no worries, let's check it out together! Look at the map and follow me slowly!
Make sure to go a bit further into the alleyway and come up the white stairs on the left shown in this picture, not the bigger staircase on the right shown in the first picture.
Seabooung is already special and famous for having great food, but it's the Hongik University students, who are famous for their artsy skills, that make this place even more special with their designs and handmade accessories. The restaurant also provides free rental of busking equipment, like microphones, a guitar, a keyboard, etc., so buskers can visit and give a performance for the customers!
Now that you've come up the correct staircase, let's open the door and check out Hongdae's Seabooung!
The interior of the place has a very clean look, as all the walls are white. While it isn't the most spacious, it's super cozy! It feels like a place I'd visit regularly with a friend on my way home from school. I think the fact that they sell tteokbokki near a university area makes it feel that much more cozy and welcoming.
They've arranged the tables in a way that fits as many customers as possible but still allows visitors to be comfortable. Each table has its own burner and menu, and you can choose wherever you want to sit.
There's also a menu with photos on the wall for everyone to see. The meat tteokbokki sounds interesting and delicious, but Seabooung's signature menu is the Seafood Rice Cakes or 'Seabokki'!
There are three spice levels you can choose from: Regular, Spicy, and Very Spicy. You can order whichever level suits your taste and spice tolerance best! Regular has the same spice level as Shin Ramyun, and Very Spicy has the same spice level as Fire Noodles, so if you're trying tteokbokki for the first time, it might be best to stick with the Normal spice level!
They also have a lot of side dishes, including kimchi fried rice, mini crab karaage, chicken karaage, and whole garlic intestine karaage. At the bottom of the menu, you can see a cocktail slushy with a low alcohol percentage too.
They also have rose tteokbokki, which has a rose cream sauce and is really popular dish here in Korea. This one is meat rose tteokbokki! If you'd like to add more toppings or ingredients to your tteokbokki, you can choose what you want more of and add it (with a fee)!
Once you've completed your order, you can look around at the mini flea market while you wait for your food!
Some of the accessories displayed are mask strap necklaces, bead rings, a box of random accessories, ceramic teacups, glass trinkets, incense holders, postcards, posters, stickers, washi tape, digital diaries, yoga mats, socks, and fabric posters. What makes this really special is that all these items are designed and made by Hongik University students themselves!
In the middle of the restaurant, there are musical instruments available for various people to do some busking! They can be rented for free.
'Seabokki' (Seafood Rice Cakes) - 2 Servings
Price: 23,000 KRW
While you're looking around at the different items, your food will come out before you know it! Look at how big the octopus legs are! The tteokbokki mixed with seafood is both spicy and seems to carry the smell of the sea.
On top of the rice cakes and fish cakes, there are many toppings, such as seaweed rolls, fried dumplings, fried crab sticks, and quail eggs.
Octopus legs, scallops, mussels...it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this dish "Under the Sea" tteokbokki! It's full of chewy noodles too!
I find that it's best to cut the octopus legs into bite-sized pieces so they can be eaten more easily. You can also de-shell all the clams!
You have to try this Seabokki that's filled with chewy rice cakes and noodles, covered in hot, flavorful tteokbokki sauce! I'm getting hungry as I'm writing this thanks to this dish!
Whole Garlic & Intestine Karaage
Price: 9,000 KRW
This is the Whole Garlic & Intestine Karaage! It goes extremely well with the tteokbokki and white radish. I personally love fried intestines, so I highly recommend this menu item. Don't be afraid to try it!
This dish is aged in soy sauce seasoning, and fried right away when you order it, so it's super crispy when it comes out. You can eat a piece of fried garlic and intestine together, and you can dip it in the tteokbokki sauce as well. Either way, it's delicious!
Cider
Price: 2,000 KRW
Tteokbokki is delicious, but sometimes it can get too spicy or the tempura can get greasy. Also, sometimes you're full but you want to keep eating because it's so good! When this happens, your savior is soda, or as Koreans call it, cider! In addition to Sprite, there is Coca Cola, Fanta, Coolpis, and other alcoholic beverages.
If you're ever stressed or angry, spicy food is the perfect way to feel better! Hongdae's Seabooung was created with the hopes of comforting those that need to release their anger or stress with some spicy tteokbokki! We hope that you can have a stress-relieving meal at Seabooung sometime soon!
We hope you can visit Hongdae Seabooung and have some of this delicious tteokbokki! If you have any questions or concerns, please leave a comment below or send us an email at help@creatrip.com! You can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook to stay updated on all things Korea!
