Nowon Station pork bone soup restaurant: deluxe vs regular, Somunnan

Why I went to Somunnan Gamjatang near Nowon Station on a rainy day

Somunnan Gamjatang Sanggye Branch (소문난상계감자탕) is the second directly run branch of Somunnan Gamjatang, near Nowon Station by the back gate of Byeoksan Apartments. On a drizzly day I went there for pork bone soup at lunch.

For some reason, days like this make me crave hot soup. While thinking about lunch, I headed to Somunnan Gamjatang near Nowon Station for the first time in a while. It's long been famous among locals and I'd walked past it a lot, but this day I decided to properly eat the pork bone soup.

When I got there, the red awning and big sign jumped out at me. On a rainy day, it was exactly the kind of place that makes you want broth.

The address is 32 Hangeulbiseok-ro 24-gil, 1st floor, Nowon-gu, Seoul. The hours the writer noted are 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next day, with a break from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Somunnan Gamjatang menu and pork bone soup prices

The pork bone soup at Somunnan Gamjatang is ₩11,000, and the deluxe pork bone soup is ₩13,000. This time I ordered one of each.

On the menu I saw gamjatang (pork bone stew) in large, medium and small, plus braised pork ribs, samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), spicy sundae soup (blood sausage soup) and regular sundae soup.

A notice on the wall said the Junggye main branch is open 24 hours, while the Sanggye branch is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Cold buckwheat noodles and perilla oil buckwheat noodles were also on sale as summer menu items.

Atmosphere and seating: is it okay to eat alone?

The restaurant was bigger and cleaner than I expected. There were tables for two, good for eating solo, all the way to seats for bigger groups.

Side dishes: kkakdugi, kimchi, pickled onions

After ordering, the side dishes came first: kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), kimchi and pickled onions. The kkakdugi looked appetizing from the color, and when I tried it, it was nicely fermented, crunchy and refreshing. The kimchi was the kind that goes well with gamjatang too.

How is the deluxe pork bone soup different from the regular?

The deluxe pork bone soup clearly looked different from the start. It had plenty of big pork spine bones, topped generously with ugeoji (dried cabbage leaves), siraegi (dried radish greens) and green onions.

Soon the bubbling soup arrived, and the rich broth aroma rose the moment it hit the table. It really made my mouth water.

The broth: red but clean, not harsh

The broth was a deep red, but it was less harsh than I expected. It was spicy yet had deep savory richness, and the flavor of a long-simmered stock filled my mouth. I especially liked that it wasn't heavy and went down cleanly. With hangover soup the broth is everything, and I immediately understood why this place has been loved for so long.

Spine meat and ugeoji

The spine bones were cooked so tender that the meat came apart with just a light touch of chopsticks. As you can see in the photo, the meat was really thick, and when I took a bite it was moist, not dry, with no gamey smell at all. The more I chewed, the more savory flavor and juiciness came through, so I was very satisfied.

The ugeoji was impressive too. Soaked with broth, it was soft to chew while keeping its earthy flavor, and eating it together with the spine meat seemed to double the savoriness.

Personally, what I liked most was the generous portion of the deluxe. The regular pork bone soup is already plenty, but the deluxe has much more meat, so I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a hearty meal. I put rice into the broth, topped it with ugeoji and meat, and a whole bowl vanished in no time. Maybe because it was a rainy day, I was even more satisfied.

Is Somunnan Gamjatang near Nowon Station worth recommending?

For anyone near Nowon Station looking for a filling lunch, needing a hangover cure, or loving rich pork bone broth, Somunnan Gamjatang is worth recommending. The deluxe in particular has so much meat that the extra cost is not a waste at all, and I plan to order it again next time.

This pork bone soup spot near Nowon Station feels like somewhere I'll naturally come back to on rainy days or whenever I crave hot soup. If you like big portions and rich broth, I recommend giving it a visit.