I’d made a list of things I absolutely had to eat in Gangneung, and sundubu (soft tofu) was at the very top. But when I tried to take a taxi from the hotel to the sundubu village, the driver grumbled at me because it was only a base-fare ride. It’s a tourist town, what on earth are they thinking… Anyway, I’ve lost any desire to go back to Gangneung within the next ten years, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.

Inside

The place I’d originally meant to go to was Dongwha Garden, famous for its jjamppong sundubu, but the line was way, way too long. So I just walked into some random place.

Sundubu jeongol (soft tofu hot pot)

It was so spicy I couldn’t taste the tofu at all. Tasty, sure, but at that rate I might as well eat it in Seoul.

The full spread

A pretty generous spread.

Sundubu

Eaten this way, it’s quite good.

The workshop out back

They had kongbiji (soy pulp) set out for anyone to take home for free, but by the time I finished eating it was all gone. I should have grabbed some before the meal.

The factory…

After something spicy, I craved something sweet. A shop called Soontofu Gelato was selling sundubu gelato right across the way, so I headed straight there.

This kind of place…

Sundubu and injeolmi gelato.

It was tasty, but there was nowhere to sit and eat, which was a little inconvenient. Other than that, both the design and the flavor were satisfying. And so my short visit to Gangneung came to an end.

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