[Sinsa Station Restaurant] Agubongachumbong Sinsa Main Branch - A Review of 12 Blue Ribbon Survey Stickers, a Century-Old Restaurant, Medium-Sized Agujjim, and 1 Crab Marinated in Soy Sauce.

Baek Wonjang's rating ★★★★☆

Hello.

This is Baek Wonjang's food Michelin.

These days, I’ve been exploring one great restaurant after another around our Leve Dental Clinic in Nonhyeon-dong. Last time, I posted about Gomtang Lab, famous for its Michelin Bib Gourmand gomtang~!

I was really impressed while enjoying it, since the slices of boiled beef inside were so high quality. Today, I’d like to introduce a very classic, old-school Sinsa Station restaurant in completely the opposite style.

Agubongachumbong Sinsa Main Branch It is said to be a place with a long history, enough to be selected as a Century-Old Restaurant. In fact, I understand it’s a place especially loved by residents of Jamwon-dong, Banpo-dong, Apgujeong-dong, and nearby areas. I haven’t eaten agujjim that many times, but since I had dinner plans with a friend after a long time, I chose this place quite carefully and went.

Location: 12, Gangnam-daero 150-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Parking: Use the nearby Samwoo private parking lot.

If you come out of Sinsa Station Exit 1, it’s about a 1-minute walk.

If you’re coming by car, you’ll need to use a nearby private parking lot. The basic rate is 4,000 won for 30 minutes, and an additional 3,000 won is charged for every extra 30 minutes. I haven’t used it myself, but I believe you can get a 50% discount if you receive the store stamp. (But the sign on the door says parking support X... Please let me know if that’s different..)

Exterior

There’s a large white sign that boldly says “Chumbong,” so it’s an exterior you really can’t miss if you pass by. It’s on the first floor. And even from a distance, you can see 12 Blue Ribbon Survey stickers, so don’t worry and just go in.

It has received Century-Old Restaurant certification, and it has 12 Blue Ribbon Survey stickers...... And there’s also a Red Ribbon sticker from Coca-Cola. Anyway, I’m sure this is a space that inspires a lot of expectations in one way or another.

If you turn your head right away, you’ll easily find the private parking lot across the road. Please remember that it is located a bit closer to the station than Agubongachumbong Sinsa Main Branch.

Interior

There isn’t anything special about the interior. It’s just the typical look of a K-restaurant. You can see the back of Director Choi walking confidently.... haha

We visited around 7 p.m., and there seemed to be quite a few customers drinking with their meal. Agujjim must be a good dish to enjoy with a drink.

This is the menu at Agubongachumbong Sinsa Main Branch. The most noticeable item is, of course, agujjim. Following a friend’s recommendation, we ordered the medium size. Still, for 54,000 won for two people... well, it doesn’t seem like a bad price.

We understood that the default side dish would be ugly gimbap, but instead of rice, we decided to add one more ugly gimbap. So in the end, it became one ugly gimbap per person.

And since I had never tried it before but was curious, we also ordered just one crab marinated in soy sauce. The price is a whopping 38,000 won.... Seoul soy-marinated crab prices are truly out of this world...... ㅜㅜ

Personally, about two years ago I had soy-marinated crab at Hwahedang in Yeouido... and I was so disappointed. So anyway, I’ll compare it with that place.

Let’s start the meal!!!

As soon as we placed the order, the basic table setting was brought out. Along with the agujjim, there were boiled cabbage, ssamjang, salad, and dongchimi—things you might eat with it.

Other than that, there were aged kkakdugi, jelly, and pickled radish~ These were the ordinary side dishes around the table.

Agujjim medium (54,000 won)

The agujjim we had been waiting for finally arrived. We were told that the medium size is just right for two people. Of course, you have to dig through the many bean sprouts on top to find the monkfish.

Since it’s precious, I took another photo.... It looks delicious. Glossy and shining~

When I picked out the monkfish from inside, I could see that there was a lot of plump flesh mixed in. The chewy texture and the fluffy feel made for a very tasty bite.

Oh, and for reference, we chose the regular level of spiciness, but it didn’t feel spicy at all. If you want something a bit spicy, I think you’d need to go a little hotter.

1 Soy-Marinated Crab (38,000 won)

Since this is a place that does agujjim well, I had high expectations and ordered soy-marinated crab too. For reference, even my friend, who has been coming here for over 10 years, said this was their first time trying the soy-marinated crab here, haha.

The focus is a bit blurry here... but it was a very substantial soy-marinated crab. The flesh was packed full. It seems they didn’t stress the crab too much when catching it.

I clearly thought this soy-marinated crab was much higher quality than the one at Hwahedang in Yeouido. Still, my friend who came with me said Pro Soy Sauce Crab was tastier?.. It wasn’t as good as the soy-marinated crab I had in Yeosu... but it was still a soy-marinated crab with a full, generous amount that was worth bragging about. haha

We ate well again today.!!!

Conclusion It’s tasty, but a bit disappointing compared to its reputation.

There are many long-standing traditional restaurants near Sinsa Station. It has the Century-Old Restaurant label, and there are not just one or two Blue Ribbon Survey stickers... As someone who goes around looking for good restaurants, I’m glad to see them, but there is also a feeling that they may be slightly overvalued just because they’re old.

I’m not sure exactly, but Agubongachumbong, which I visited this time, seemed like a place that once had its main branch in Sinsa and operated several branches. Now it feels like it has been reduced to the main branch and one branch... It was a place where I could kind of understand why.

Personally, I’m not someone who absolutely loves agujjim, so I’m cautious about saying too much, but... even after eating it, I didn’t quite get the feeling of, “Wow, I want to come back here again!!” That said, I do understand that it’s a great dish to enjoy as a side with rice or with a cold draft beer.

The soy-marinated crab was a little disappointing. 38,000 won is not cheap... and it didn’t even come with a variety of side dishes...^^ Anyway, that’s the kind of agujjim restaurant it is!...

Taste: ★★★★☆ Value for money: ★★★☆☆ Accessibility: ★★★★★ Facilities: ★★★☆☆ Parking: If using the private parking lot, 4,000 won for the first 30 minutes, 7,000 won for 1 hour

These days, there’s so much delicious food in the world that Korean food restaurants feel a bit overvalued. Still, every person who visited recommended it as truly delicious, so I wondered if maybe my palate is just different? For me, it was so-so for the price.

Thank you for reading my non-sponsored restaurant review again today,

I’ll always try to be a restaurant coordinator you want to visit. :) This has been Baek Wonjang, a dental doctor who dreams of becoming an implant master and a gourmet.

Thank you.!!