Hongs Zzuggumi Hongdae • 홍스쭈꾸미 홍대본점

Hongs Zzuggumi Hongdae (홍스쭈꾸미 홍대본점) is a restaurant in Hongdae that specializes in spicy stir-fried webfoot/baby octopus or jjukkumi how the Koreans say it. Their special red sauce is made out of natural ingredients with over 20 kinds of seasonings. The restaurant is actually pretty popular among Asian tourists and at some point was pretty hyped up among Indonesians as one of the must visit restaurants in Seoul as well. 

Although I’ve been hearing a lot of good reviews about the place from my friends who already went, it actually took me this long to finally visit the place. Mainly because I don’t eat spicy food well so I kind of need somebody who does and likes baby octopus to go with to help me finish my food just in case I can’t handle the spiciness. The time finally came last fall when my cousin was visiting Seoul. She’s a big fan of octopus, can eat spicy food better than I do and actually had Hongs Zzuggumi on her want-to-try-restaurants list. 

So we went with a couple of friends who were on the trip with her. It was a Saturday night and we arrived at the restaurant around 8:15 pm. There was a line, not a long one but there seemed to be 2-3 groups ahead of us. We waited about 20 minutes before our name was called and got seated right after.

There are only 4 items on the menu and it all feature their signature Spicy Stir-Fried Jjukkumi (쭈꾸미). We ordered the one with the pork belly and requested less spicy for the spiciness level.

Service was pretty quick at this restaurant because not too long after we placed our order, the pan filled with thinly sliced pork belly, rice cakes, green onions, cabbage and the jjukkumi in the middle was served on our table along with four different kinds of banchan. After the pan was starting to get hot and the red sauce was bubbling, the server came back to mixed everything for us until it was all nicely cooked. 

Stir-Fried Webfoot Octopus + Pork Belly (쭈삼겹 + 볶음밥 ) ₩32,000 | 9/10

*Portions in picture is 2 servings for 2 people. Each portion costs ₩16,000 and comes with the Armani fried rice.

After tasting my first jjukkumi, I get what the hype is all about. It is gooood. The size of the baby octopus wasn’t too big or too small, a perfect size for a nice bite. The meat was tender and springy. And their special spicy gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste) sauce was super good. It’s spicy and salty with a hint of sweetness in the sauce. The flavor was pretty bold and it’s really nice having it with warm rice. The pork belly (samgyeopsal) was also really good. I think the fat of the pork belly also added another layer of flavor to the jjukkumi and the sauce. Such a great combo. 

The less spicy version was actually still a little spicy for me. Even so, the spiciness was manageable and I could eat it without feeling that I’m being tortured by the heat of the sauce. But I did do my usual work around for eating spicy food though which is to wait until the food is not too hot before taking a bite and eat it with rice. I found that it helps me to enjoy spicy food a little better.

One other special menu that Hongs Zzuggumi has is their Armani Fried Rice. They had signs outside and inside the restaurant with writings like ‘If you order jjukkumi, you’ll have a free Armani Fried Rice’ and ‘Jjukkumi Armani Service’. For English speakers, the meaning of these sentences may be a little confusing. At least I was confused when I first read it and it took me a minute to understand what they mean. The ‘service’ they wrote doesn’t mean the usual action of helping or doing work for someone. But instead, in Korea, when you get something on the house, they usually call it ‘service’. So I guess what they’re trying to say is you get Armani Fried Rice on the house if you order jjukkumi. 

When we’re almost done with our jjukkumi, we asked the staff for the fried rice. They took away the pan and came back with the fried rice already covering the whole pan. Once I saw the fried rice, I get why they call it Armani. The word Armani itself was a little bit random (for me) and doesn’t sound like a Korean word (it reminded me of the famous Italian brand though). But (cmiiw) I think it’s a play on words between ‘al’ (알) which means egg in Korean and ‘mani’ (많이) which means many/a lot. Because living up to its name, the fried rice was covered with copious amount of (fish) eggs. 

Armani Fried Rice is essentially fried rice covered with Hongs Zzuggumi’s special red sauce, seaweed and fish eggs. And it was gooood. One of my favorite thing was feeling the crunch of the fish eggs popping in my mouth in every spoonful of fried rice, making me go back for more every single time even though I’m already full. 

One tip, since the staff usually waited until you (almost) finished everything on the pan before serving the fried rice, if you want to eat the fried rice with the jjukkumi and samgyeopsal, set them aside on your plate to empty the pan so you can ask for the fried rice right away. I did that on my second visit and it was so good eating them with the fried rice. 

Another thing worth mentioning is on my previous visits during dinner rush, there seemed to always be a line for a table and most of the tables in the restaurant are for smaller groups (3-4 people). So if you want to avoid waiting for too long, I’d suggest to come a little earlier, split into smaller groups if you’re traveling with a big group or maybe try coming during lunch time where they serve Lunch Specials from 11:30-16:00. 

After my first visit, Hongs Zzuggumi has been one of the restaurants I’d recommend to my friends when they ask me where to eat when they’re in Seoul. If you haven’t tried this place already, now I’m recommending it to you too.

 

Hongs Zzuggumi Hongdae • 홍스쭈꾸미 홍대본점

Address: 서울 마포구 어울마당로 146
Telephone: 0507-1407-7943
Hours: Everyday 11:00 - 02:00

---

Addictea • 에딕티

Addictea (에딕티) is a bubble tea franchise known for its variety of milk and fruit teas. They have their own unique flavoring, roasting and blending techniques for their tea leaves which help to retain the aroma of the tea leaves longer, giving a more fragrant tea as a result. They also one of the few bubble tea spot in Seoul that brew their tea to order, making the flavor of their tea more vibrant with a pleasant aroma. 

The brand (which then operated under a different name) is originally from Fujian, China but expanded their business overseas to Brisbane, Australia in 2016. Two years later, Addictea was officially established in Queensland, Australia. In 2019, they did Addictea’s overseas expansion with the opening of their first store in Seoul and later in Wuhan, China in 2022.

Addictea is one of my new find last fall that has become one of my favorite bubble tea spot in Seoul. Believe it or not, finding a good bubble tea spot in Seoul was actually pretty hard for me in the past. Not that I eat boba a lot (I usually don’t even order the boba), but usually bubble tea places have different type of milk teas that I like compared to the ones that are served in cafes in Seoul. 

I’ve drunk a lot of milk teas in many, many cafes in Seoul but the choice of the milk tea is usually very limited since majority of them are focused more on the coffee menu. Most cafes usually only have the choice of (black) milk tea or green tea latte. Some places will have earl grey milk tea, green milk tea or Assam milk tea. On rare occasions, I’d find places that sell black sesame latte. But that’s pretty much it. 

Not until these past couple of years I started seeing some asian bubble tea brands opening shops in Seoul and I can’t even tell you how happy I am that it’s slightly easier for me now to find boba places in the city. 

Addictea is actually one that I really like. They have a couple of milk tea options like Genmaicha, Roasted Green Tea, Ostmathus and Jasmine Green Milk Tea that I usually find back home (or back in South East Asia). My favorite menu is their Genmaicha with Milk (현미 밀크티). Their tea is really fragrant (the brew-to-order tea does make a difference imho) and overall it’s not too sweet (I usually order 75% sugar and the sweetness is just right for me). One time, I took a couple of my friends to this place and we ordered a couple of different ones. After tasting what we ordered, we all agree that the milk teas are good but the Genmaicha is the best one. So I definitely recommend you to try the Genmaicha with Milk if you come to this place. 

Addictea Hongdae (에딕티 홍대점) is one of the location that I’ve been to before. This location is pretty big with seatings available in the store. It’s located next to Halal Guys and below BHC Chicken in Hongdae. A little bit of disclaimer, these pictures of the shop were taken when I went to visit back in May 2024. Today I tried to search their name on Naver Map and it didn’t show up so I’m not sure if the place is still open or if they already moved somewhere else. But on their Instagram bio, Hongdae is still listed as one of the locations (maybe they just closed recently, I’m not sure). So, there’s that. 

The location that I went to the first time was actually Addictea Myeongdong (에딕티 명동점). The store is smaller than the Hongdae location but there are limited seatings inside for about nine people, mostly small tables for two. I usually do take-outs from this location since the place is pretty small. This place is definitely still open and appears on Naver map.

They also have another location Addictea Hoegi (에딕티 경희대점) near Hoegi Station (회기역) in Dongdaemun (동대문구) area if you’re around that neighborhood.

*Photos below are from Addictea Myeongdong (에딕티 명동점).

 

Addictea Hongdae • 에딕티 홍대점

Address: 서울 마포구 홍익로6길 10
Hours: 13:00-22:00 (Last Order 21:55)

 

Addictea Myeongdong • 에딕티 명동점

Address: 서울 중구 명동4길 15 1층
Telephone: 0507-1393-6699
Hours: Everyday 12:00-21:30

---

Ido Gomtang • 이도곰탕 계동 직영점

Ido Gomtang (이도곰탕 계동 직영점) is a Korean restaurant that specializes in Korean beef soup (한우곰탕). If you’re not familiar with this particular Korean dish, gomtang (곰탕)—or beef bone soup—is a Korean hearty soup made by slowly simmering various beef parts on a low flame. The result is clear beef broth with a rich and hearty taste and served with thinly sliced beef and rice. Gomtang is commonly eaten with kimchi and kkakdugi (깍두기 or cubed radish kimchi).

The secret recipe that Ido Gomtang uses is supposedly made by a Doctor of Oriental Medicine who was the 18th grandchild of King Sejong and has been passed on through three generations (at least that’s what’s written on the ‘About Page’ of the restaurant on Naver). As a result, the soup of their signature Hanwoo Gomtang (한우 곰탕) is a clean and rich broth with deep flavors.

Located 175 meters away from the famous Cafe Onion Anguk, Ido Gomtang’s entrance is quite hidden from the main Gye-dong street. But after you turn left on the alleyway where it’s located, you’ll immediately see the entrance to the restaurant in front of you (see the last photo of this post).

The interior of the restaurant is pretty simple and modern. The kind of place that office workers frequent for a quick, no frills, healthy lunch where they can just come, get their food quickly and go back to their busy day. And I’ve actually encountered many people from this certain group during the multiple times I was there. 

Their menu is pretty straight forward too. There are only 3 items on the board:

1. Gomtang (곰탕) :  Thinly sliced beef served in clear beef broth with chopped onions.
   Regular Gomtang with Rice (곰탕) ₩13,000
   Large Gomtang with Rice (특곰탕) ₩16,000
   Regular Gomtang with Rice Noodles (쌀면곰탕) ₩13,000
   Large Gomtang with Rice Noodles (특쌀면곰탕) ₩16,000
   

2. Beef Suyuk (수육) ₩49,000 — Thin boiled beef slices served with mushrooms, chives, and Napa cabbage in a pot of broth. Served with a side of the Spicy Raw Pollack Salad (명태회무침).

3. Spicy Raw Pollack Salad (명태회무침) ₩9,000

*There has been a ₩1,000 increase in price for each menu since I took the photo below.

Gomtang (곰탕) ₩13,000 | 9/10

The menu that I always order is the regular gomtang. The regular portion is pretty generous and enough to fill my stomach for one meal. The broth of the gomtang is light yet savory with that deep beef flavor you get from boiling beef for a long period of time. It’s very comforting with subtle hints of the chopped onions mixed in the soup. 

Unlike seolleongtang (설렁탕 Korean Ox Bone Soup) which you have to seasoned the soup yourself before eating it, gomtang’s soup is already seasoned when served. It’s more like galbitang (갈비탕 Beef Short Ribs Soup) but without the hassle of taking the meat off of the bones. And Ido Gomtang’s soup is always nicely seasoned and served pipping hot with soft and tender sliced meat and well-cooked rice. They also provide you with dipping sauce and wasabi on the side for you to dip your meat into (and yes, you should dip it if you want to add another layer of flavor into the dish).

Also, a little bit of disclaimer, if you came from Southeast Asian countries, the flavor of gomtang might not be as strong or bold as soups in your country since Southeast Asian food tend to have bolder seasoning and flavor profile in my opinion.

Their kimchi and kkakdugi are also really good. They are on the spicier side for my personal taste, but the flavors are wonderful and they give a nice acidity to the bite when eaten with the gomtang.

Ido Gomtang Gyedong is probably one of the restaurant I visit quite often every time I’m in Seoul. Due to its location, I usually ended up frequenting this place when I have to meet up with family or friends who are visiting Seoul for the first time since it’s close to Anguk Station (안국역) and Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을, a popular tourist spot for first-time visitors in Seoul). This restaurant has also become one of my go to place every time anybody ask me for a restaurant recommendation around Bukchon Hanok Village. And pretty much everybody—both adults and kids—who I’ve taken or recommended this place to said they like the gomtang. If you go with a big group, I would also recommend the suyuk since it’s also delicious.

If you’re looking for a simple, hearty and comforting meal around Anguk Station, Cafe Onion Anguk or Bukchon Hanok Village, I would definitely recommend you to check this place out. 

 

Ido Gomtang (이도곰탕 계동 직영점)

Address: 서울 종로구 계동길 33-8
Telephone: 02-762-0524
Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-22:00 | Sat & Sun 10:00-21:00

---

Tam Tam • 탐탐

Tam Tam (탐탐) is small dessert shop near Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) neighborhood that specializes in handmade Korean desserts that are made daily using fresh ingredients. Their menu ranges from their best-selling rice cake, ice cream, cream pancake and lattes with traditional Korean flavors.

I visited this cafe during my last Seoul trip in May, four months after its opening. I was browsing for new places to try around Bukchon Hanok Village area and stumbled across this cafe’s listing and their interesting menu. If you don’t know already, I am a big fan of all things black sesame. And so when I saw that they have Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball Latte on the menu, that became the sole reason for me to go visit this cafe.

Other than two other patrons in the cafe occupying one of the table on the first floor, me and my friend were the only ones there when we visited the place around 5:30 pm on a Monday. The weather was nice that day and they had the glass windows opened. So we opted to seat at one of the table on the first floor that’s perfect for people watching (or for people watching us too I guess since we’re right by the side of the street). 

Despite occupying a two-story building, the cafe is actually pretty small. There are three tables on the first floor and four tables on the second floor that accommodate seven people and twelve people respectively. The space is definitely pretty tight in-between tables, but I guess on the upside, if you come here during colder days, it’ll be warm and cozy.

Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball Latte (흑임자 경단 라떼) ₩6,000 | 9/10

Black sesame latte served with rice cake ball with red bean paste filling.

Of course the first thing I ordered was the one thing I wanted to try since I first saw their menu online, the Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball Latte. This drink was really good. The ground black sesame flavor was light and not too overwhelming, making the drink a little bit on the milkier side. On top of the black sesame latte was sweet and salty cream which paired really well with the latte. 

The rice cake balls on the skewers were soft and chewy. They were covered in ground black sesame seed and there’s actually red bean paste filling inside the rice cake balls. The filling wasn’t too sweet either and the amount was just right to compliment the rice cake. Overall, I really enjoyed both the latte and the rice cake balls. 

We also ordered the top three best sellers of their rice cake ball to try—the Black Sesame, Yakwa, and Dried Persimmon. Overall their rice cake balls were really good. The texture was nice and chewy (also, a little bit of a disclaimer if you never had rice cake before, the texture is not as soft as and different from mochi’s texture). It’s not too soft, but not too tough either. They had just the right amount of chewiness making eating these enjoyable. And everything we had was not too sweet with a hint of saltiness to the flavors.

Black Sesame Rice Cake Ball (흑임자) ₩3,500 | 9/10

Black Sesame Mousse & Fried Sesame Seeds
흑임자무스, 볶은통깨

The black sesame rice cake ball has black sesame filling and it had a nice earthy, nutty flavors. Since I’m a sucker for black sesame, I enjoyed this one the most.

Yakwa Rice Cake Ball (약과) ₩3,500 | 8/10

Sweet Rice Honey Yakgwa & Ricotta
찹쌀꿀약과, 리코타

The yakwa (a traditional Korean sweet pastry that is made with ginger and honey) was pretty good as well. The filling kind of reminded me of sweet potato for some reason. 

Dried Persimmon Rice Cake Ball (곶감) ₩3,500 | 5/10

Dried Persimmon, Mascarpone, Natural Honey
곶, 마스카포네, 천연꿀

This one was just okay for me. The rice cake ball was good but I didn’t really enjoy the filling (might also be because I’m just not too into dried persimmon in general). But it was definitely interesting and reminded me of Korean flavors.  

Other than the ones that we ordered, they also have other interesting menus such as Truffle Rice Cake Ball, Basil Rice Cake Ball, Citron Red Bean Paste Rice Cake Ball, Mugwort Rice Cake Ball Latte (쑥 경단라떼), Sikhye Bingsu (식혜빙수), and Egg Cream Espresso (에그 크림프레소). If you’re visiting or exploring Bukchon Hanok Village and want to have some great Korean traditional rice cakes (or Black Sesame Latte) instead of regular bread and pastries, would definitely recommend this place to try. 

 

Tam Tam (카페 탐탐)

Address: 서울 종로구 계동길 82 흰색건물
Telephone: 0507-1304-9165
Hours: Mon-Fri 11:00-20:00 | Sat & Sun 11:00-21:30

Instagram: @tamtam_seoul

---

KT Pre-Paid Sim & Wifi Rental at Incheon Airport T2

There are a couple of places that sell pre-paid SIM card and Wifi rental at Seoul Incheon International Airport. All of them offers similar products and packages but I’ve been using KT since the time I was living in Korea, never had a problem with it and works well every time so it just stuck with me until now. 

There are three locations at Incheon International Airport, 2 locations at Terminal 1 arrival hall and 1 location at Terminal 2 arrival hall. (See map below for the exact locations and operational hours) 

Source: KT Website

Most of my flights usually arrived at Terminal 2 so the following pictures are from the KT counter at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 arrival hall (1F), between exit 4 and 5. 

First thing you want to do is get a waiting ticket from the machine. Select the red ‘SIM • WIFI’ button on top and the machine will print out a ticket with your queue number on it. If there’s no line, usually the staff will call you right away. But if there’s a line, you can track the queue number on the screen behind the counter. Sometimes the staff call out the numbers in Korean which can be confusing if you don’t speak Korean, so the screen does help with that too. The staff do speak English so communication shouldn’t be an issue. Things that they’ll need from you for making a purchase are your passport and your credit card/cash for payment. 

For the Data Packages, there are 8 options available to choose from, depending on the validity of the Sim Card. 

For the Wifi Router rental, there are only 2 options available at the counter (although there are 4 options available via online reservation). Wifi Router rental might be a better option if you are traveling in a group and the group for sure will stay together all the time. But if you’re not going to stay together all the time, then the sim card option might be a better option for flexibility, just in case people in your group need to split to go to different places. Plus with Sim Card, you can top up the call/text plan which comes pretty handy for ordering Kakao Taxi through the app or for restaurant/cafe reservations (most places in Seoul now have the queue machine where you can put your phone number and it’ll give you a text notification when your table is ready so you don’t have to wait around at the restaurant). 

I usually just buy the sim card because it’s more convenient, I don’t have to bring around yet another extra gadget in my bag and I don’t have to return it before I fly out. Since I usually stay for a month during my trip, I usually get the 30 Days Data Plan (₩71,500) with the additional ₩5,500 Call/SMS top up (see the pink boxes on the picture below). If you ran out of balance and want to top up or extend your plan, you can conveniently do it online on their website, sparing you the hassle to have to come back to the airport.

If you want to save some money, there’s a 10% discount if you reserve your Sim Card (and Wifi Router) online. They have more options for the packages too that’s not available at the counter as well as eSim option if you choose to get one.

After you make your purchase, they’ll give you the Sim Card in a small plastic pouch with a Sim eject tool included. You just have to switch the sim card with the one that you have on your phone, restart your phone and everything should works (but just in case it doesn’t, I would recommend you to test the sim card before you leave the airport just to be safe). And with that you’re set to go.