Dongtan Station soup spot: dumpling soup, rice on the side — Baekok

Hello! Today I'm introducing Baekok (백옥) Dongtan, a great spot when you want a clean, tidy Korean meal around Dongtan Station, haha. I'd just finished shopping at Lotte Department Store Dongtan, and instead of anything heavy I was craving a warm soup. I was out on a date with my mom, and since this place is known for clear pork gomtang, we ordered one pork gomtang and one dumpling soup (mandutguk) to try for ourselves, haha. Both have a mild, light broth that's easy to enjoy, but the two are different enough that they work well ordered together!

Baekok Dongtan location, hours and parking

Dongtan lunch spot / Baekok Dongtan 📍 Address: B1, Lotte Department Store, 160 Dongtanyeok-ro, Dongtan-gu, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi ⏰ Hours: Monday–Friday 10:30–20:00 (weekday last order 19:30) / Saturday and Sunday 10:30–20:30 (weekend last order 20:00) 🅿️ Parking: Lotte Department Store Dongtan parking lot available 📋 Facilities: groups welcome, takeout and reservations available, Wi-Fi, child facilities available

Before visiting, I checked the free parking notice first.

If you eat inside the department store, how parking applies depends on your purchase amount, so check the notice. You know restaurants inside department stores tend to be good, haha, since they're selected to get in... this is a solid Dongtan lunch option!

In front of the restaurant there was a standing sign with neatly arranged menu photos. Even on a first visit, being able to see the food while choosing made things much easier.

Takeout orders are available, so neat takeout bags were on display too! It looked like a good option for a day you want to eat comfortably at home or for a family meal, haha.

Baekok Dongtan is on B1 of Lotte Department Store Dongtan. Take the central escalator down to the basement level and you'll find it without trouble. It's about 350 m from Dongtan Station Exit 2, so it's a convenient stop before or after taking the SRT or GTX!

Baekok Dongtan menu and prices

Baekok Dongtan sells several dishes centered on pork gomtang. The signature menu includes pork gomtang, yeolgomtang, yakgomtang and dumpling soup. From clear, mild bowls to ones with a spicy kick, there's something for every taste. Cabbage dumplings and bulkkorangji can also be ordered as sides. Photos and descriptions are laid out at a glance, so it was easy to understand each dish!

What I ordered was pork gomtang for ₩12,000 and dumpling soup for ₩13,000. I wanted to try both the basic gomtang flavor and the texture of the cabbage dumplings, so I got one of each.

Atmosphere, seating and the self-serve corner

The restaurant has an open layout like a food court, haha. You eat at the seats in front of the shop or at shared seating. Even solo diners can sit comfortably, and it's a relaxed place for a quick meal while shopping. The shop name is easy to spot from far away, so you can find it just by walking around B1. Overall it looked clean and tidy, which got me excited before the food even arrived, hehe. Mouthwash, dental floss, wet wipes, pepper and so on are lined up on one side, so you can help yourself to what you need.

You can grab the basics you need mid-meal right there, which made getting around convenient.

Brass tableware and side dishes

Our food came out together on one tray, haha. Broth and rice in brass bowls (nokgureut), kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), gungchae (stem lettuce pickle) and a meat seasoning sauce, all neatly served! As soon as the dishes arrived, a warm broth aroma rose up softly and got my appetite going. The sides served with the pork gomtang were a tidy lineup too.

The crunchy kkakdugi and the crisp gungchae woke up my taste buds between spoonfuls of the mild gomtang. Eating only gomtang can feel a little monotonous, but alternating with the sides worked really well!

How does the ₩12,000 pork gomtang taste?

Baekok Dongtan's pork gomtang has thinly sliced pork and green onion in a clear broth, haha. I love green onions, hehe. The broth is quite transparent, so at first I thought the flavor might be light too, but once I tasted it, the pork flavor was definitely there. It looks clear but has a quietly deep taste! Unlike a thick, rich bone broth, it felt easy on the stomach even after finishing. I like clear broths, so it was totally my style, hehe.

There was also more pork than I expected! The thin slices weren't tough or dry and chewed up tender. I didn't notice any strong pork smell either, so I ate it very cleanly.

₩13,000 dumpling soup with cabbage-wrapped dumplings

What I found fascinating about Baekok Dongtan's dumpling soup is that it has dumplings wrapped in cabbage! Normally dumpling soup makes you think of wheat flour wrappers, but Baekok's cabbage dumplings looked different from the start. Big cabbage dumplings and clear broth came together in a brass bowl, and it looked hearty.

I tasted the basic broth first, then added a little pepper to suit my taste! With the pepper, the meaty flavor of the broth came through a bit more clearly, haha. Rather than adding a lot at the start, I'd recommend tasting the base flavor first and adding a little at a time.

When I cut a cabbage dumpling open, the filling was packed inside. It had meat and kimchi, so it was rich and chewy, and the cabbage wrapped the filling softly. The texture is totally different from a wheat wrapper, so it felt unfamiliar at first but got more appealing the more I ate. I could taste the softness of the cabbage and the juiciness of the filling together. There's kimchi in it, but it wasn't overly spicy or sharp. Each dumpling is fairly big, so just a few were filling, haha. When I cut a dumpling in half and let it loosen into the broth, the filling added flavor and the soup tasted different from the start.

Toryeom style: how is the rice served?

Baekok's gomtang is said to be served toryeom style. Toryeom means pouring hot broth over rice and draining it off again, repeatedly. It evens out the temperature of the rice and broth and lets the stock soak between the grains of rice. The pork gomtang came with rice already in the broth, so I could eat right away without mixing it in myself. The rice blended naturally with the broth and went down smoothly with every spoonful. The dumpling soup comes with rice served separately, so it was nice to enjoy the dumplings and broth first, then add the rice to the leftover broth.

Eating solo, with kids, and busy times

Baekok Dongtan has an open layout, so visiting alone doesn't feel like a big deal. Each bowl comes out neatly, so it's also a fine choice when you need to finish a meal quickly and move on. It's good for eating before catching a train at Dongtan Station or stopping by after shopping at Lotte Department Store. On days when you don't feel like spicy or greasy food, the clear pork gomtang seems especially fitting.

Being inside Lotte Department Store, it's also relatively easy to visit with kids. Child facilities are available, and there's a kids' gukbap (rice soup) menu. The basic pork gomtang isn't spicy or sharp, so I think it suits families who want to avoid strong flavors. However, since it's an open space, it can get somewhat crowded at weekend mealtimes. If you'd like a more relaxed meal, it's better to avoid the lunch peak.

Verdict on Baekok Dongtan

At Baekok Dongtan near Dongtan Station, I tried one pork gomtang and one dumpling soup. The pork gomtang paired a clear, deep broth with tender pork. If you like a light, clean style over a very greasy or heavy broth, I think you'll be satisfied, haha. In the dumpling soup, the cabbage-wrapped dumplings were the most memorable part! Using cabbage instead of a wheat wrapper gave a different texture, and the filling was generous, so it was a hearty meal.

Ordering both together let me enjoy the cleanness of the pork gomtang and the heartiness of the dumpling soup, so the combination worked well. If you're looking for a Dongtan lunch spot at Lotte Department Store, or a place to eat solo near Dongtan Station, or you just want a warm, non-spicy bowl, I recommend Baekok Dongtan's pork gomtang and dumpling soup, haha.