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Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀

thokohmakan

May 3

Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀 in Hongdae

[Non-halal] We got our gamjatang craving fixed at Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀 (or Idaejo Pork-on-the-Bone) in Hongdae.

This restaurant is particularly popular with locals, and can get super busy in the afternoon.

Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀 Idaejo Pork-on-the-Bone

Compared to our first visit to Seoul in 2022, we were definitely more adventurous this time around as we sought out Korean dishes in restaurants that are off the -tourist-beaten-paths.

One of the dish on our must-eat list is gamjatang 감자탕 - a Korean stew made with pork back-bone and potatoes. The dish is typically eaten as a hangover soup.

We first had this dish at Kitchen GoHeung in Mont Kiara (see our post here). While we enjoyed the dish at Kitchen GoHeung, we learned that it lacked some key ingredients such as perilla leaves, and we made it a point to try this dish in its home country.

Kitchen GoHeung, Mont Kiara

Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀

Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀 was recommended by Natalie Chai on her Instagram post.

Located in the bustling Hongdae area in Seoul (where Hongik University is located), Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀 is only a 5-minute walk from the nearest Hongik University Subway station.

We visited the restaurant for a late lunch at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon - so we had no problems getting a table.

Find Gamjatang and more here

The restaurant mainly offers three types of dishes - Pork Back-Bone Stew aka gamjatang, Braised Spicy Back Ribs, and Pork Back-Bone Hangover Soup.

The minimum order here is two pax for the first two items (priced from KRW30,000 or USD22), while the hangover soup can be enjoyed as a single order for KRW12,000.

There are options to add rice, ramen, noodles or fried rice to the stew dishes as well.

Gamjatang for two please

As soon as we were seated, we were served kimchi and fresh green chillies with a spicy chilli dip. We were already quite happy with the kimchi here and can't wait to get to the main dish.

We ordered the Gamjatang for two - and soon the metal pot filled with a bountiful of ingredients arrived.

The portion here is huge! There were about five huge chunks of pork back-bone topped with kimchi, spring onion, perilla leaves and nuts.

Interestingly, the bones were cut with a portion of the spine and parts of the ribs. While the pork bones don't look like much, there was actually plenty of meat to dig out in between the bones (and enough to satiate the both of us).

More importantly, the meat was actually very tender and gets more flavourful as it is continually boiled in the pot.

Broth gets better with time

We found the broth to be quite balanced in terms of savouriness, and not that spicy. It has the underlying umami from the pork bones, with enough spicy licks from Korean chilli peppers and possibly doenjang paste.

We really like the addition of perilla leaves which has a slight bitter and acerbic taste to contrast the stew's main flavours.

The raw green chilli was really enjoyable as well as it was fresh and complemented the chilli condiment well.

The stew tasted better as it cooks longer as all the flavours get boiled down in the pot.

We also added ramen (KRW2,000) to cook mid-way - which was so good as the noodles really absorbed all the flavours of the stew.

And yes - we enjoyed it with white rice too.

Summary

Yes - we enjoyed this gamjatang a lot. This was the second favourite dish for our Seoul trip. The meal was particularly enjoyable due to the chilly April spring weather - as it kept our bellies full and our hearts warm.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Idaejo Bbyeodagui 이대조뼈다귀 aka Idaejo Pork-on-the-Bone
Address: 196 Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Hours: 10.30am-10.30pm Daily
Phone: +82 2-324-9797