On a day off in April I was wandering around Yeoksam-dong when a Naju gomtang place caught my eye. It somehow looked promising – the way the guy in Kodoku no Gurume picks a restaurant – so I went in, and it turned out they do a very good Naju gomtang. Since then I’ve dropped in whenever I had the time and worked my way through all sorts of dishes, and whatever I order they do it better than average. It may not be a place worth a special trip from far away, but if you’re grabbing a meal in the neighbourhood I think you’d be more than happy with it.
The front entrance
The restaurant is in the basement. The banner says “newly refurbished and reopened”, but apparently they’ve been open for a while now. As the name Hannam-dong Naju Gomtang suggests, the main shop is in Hannam-dong, in front of Soonchunhyang University, and the Yeoksam branch isn’t a franchise – it’s run by the same person as the Hannam-dong one. I think I’ve caught a glimpse of the Naju gomtang place while passing through Hannam-dong, and as far as I remember the main shop is open 24 hours, while this one closes at 10pm. (Last orders at 9:30.)
It’s an open kitchen.
The interior is smart and the place is a good size. The signboard makes a point of top-grade hanu, but it looked like they mix in some Australian beef as well. Otherwise it wouldn’t be easy to keep the prices where they are.
The suyuk and mandu that come with the gomtang combo (13,000 won).
Both the suyuk and the mandu are properly good. The gomtang on its own is 7,000 won, and being able to eat that much beef at that price is enormously satisfying.
Gomtang
A rich broth with plenty of substance in it. It isn’t a clear soup – seasoned with soy sauce, I suspect – but it has a flavour of its own. I’ve never eaten at one of the famous Naju gomtang places in Naju itself, so I can’t compare directly, but I’d say this is above the level of a good neighbourhood spot. If you’re after the clear Hadongkwan style of gomtang it may not appeal much, though. In any case, after stuffing myself with beef, all those rounds of sundae-guk places I’d been making felt rather pointless.
Side dishes
They were all fine.
A plate of spring onions
When I asked for a bit more spring onion they brought it on a separate plate.
Dogani-tang (12,000 won)
This one is clearly poorer value than the other dishes. The broth isn’t bad, but the quality of the dogani is well below Daeseongjip or Oegojip Seolleongtang…
Ttukbaegi bulgogi (8,000 won)
After a few visits I was getting a bit tired of gomtang, so I gave this a go. A lot of places use cheap meat for ttukbaegi bulgogi and make it nothing but sweet, but this place puts together a clean, well-made version.
Gomtang mandu-guk (7,000 won)
It’s a mandu soup built on the gomtang broth, and since they’re good at mandu here it’s as tasty as I’d hoped.
Yukhoe bibimbap (8,000 won)
The bibimbap was unexpectedly good too. They have quite a wide menu here, and whatever you order they clear the bar comfortably. Besides gomtang and the rice dishes there are meat options like sirloin and chadolbagi brisket, and hotpot and suyuk dishes as well, but I always came alone or with one other person, so I never got to order any of those, which was a bit of a shame.
Overall, I’d say this is a good place for local office workers to get together casually and have a quiet drink. I’d like to pick a day and come here with friends for a few.