Yangjae Station Korean restaurant: best-ever pork gomtang, Yangjaeok

After training wrapped up, I wanted a hearty Korean dinner around Yangjae Station, so I went to Yangjaeok on a weekday evening! I ordered the juansang (a drinking-table platter), which has bossam (boiled pork wraps), spicy stir-fried pork, tofu kimchi and zucchini jeon (pan-fried zucchini) all in one go. At ₩39,000 you don't have to worry about side dishes for drinking at all. One of the most memorable things was the pork gomtang (pork bone soup) I had alongside it. The broth was deep and rich, and I want it again..!

Where is Yangjaeok near Yangjae Station?

Yangjaeok is a Korean restaurant you reach by walking straight from Yangjae Station Exit 4 toward Maebong Station for about 4 minutes. Turn off the main road and its tiled-roof exterior stands out.

How long is the wait on a weekday evening?

There are always lots of people waiting at Yangjaeok on weekday lunch, but we came in the evening and luckily got seated right away with no wait.

Inside there are several 4-person tables, and it has a clean, spacious Korean restaurant feel. Since it was evening, quite a few guests were having juansang with makgeolli (rice wine), which surprised me!

Yangjaeok menu and prices

Yangjaeok serves meals like pork gomtang for ₩11,000 and gogi guksu (pork noodles) for ₩12,000, along with the ₩39,000 juansang, which you can order from 5pm. They also have gomtang, gukbap (soup with rice) and bossam sets, so it works for a proper meal as well as a light drink with food!

• Pork gomtang ₩11,000
• Mul makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles in broth) ₩11,000
• Bossam set ₩16,000 (includes a mini gomtang)
• Gogi guksu (pork noodles) ₩12,000
• Juansang ₩39,000 (evening menu, orderable from 5pm)

What comes in the ₩39,000 juansang at Yangjaeok?

The juansang, Yangjaeok's signature, is ₩39,000 and brings bossam, spicy stir-fried pork, tofu kimchi, zucchini jeon and basic side dishes all on one table. I'd been eating nothing but training-center food.. so I ordered this hearty Korean juansang!

I was hungry and the food came out quickly, which was great for dinner.

Tender bossam and kimchi

The bossam in Yangjaeok's juansang came thickly sliced, with a good mix of fat and lean meat.

Eaten with the kimchi served alongside, the mild meat gets just the right seasoning! I'm someone who thinks kimchi matters most with bossam, and once I tasted the kimchi I knew this was a proper Korean restaurant.

Tangy, spicy tofu kimchi

Yangjaeok's tofu kimchi came with a generous portion of stir-fried kimchi next to warm tofu.

Tangy and spicy, so it would be great with makgeolli too! The piping hot tofu was especially good~

Spicy stir-fried pork and golden zucchini jeon

The jeyuk-bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork) in Yangjaeok's juansang is stir-fried with onions, and I liked its sweet-and-spicy seasoning.

It's the kind of dish that makes you want rice, haha. Wrapping it in lettuce was good too~

The zucchini jeon was fried golden and soft inside, easy to pick at between bites. You can alternate among the four dishes, so the juansang feels like a really solid lineup!

What does Yangjaeok's pork gomtang taste like?

Yangjaeok's pork gomtang (₩11,000) has thinly sliced meat in a clear broth, and the rice is toryeom-style (rinsed with hot broth) and served together. Personally, this was the real star of the day!

The broth is deep but not heavy, and I liked that rice and meat come up on the spoon together. The combination of broth, rice and meat is honestly art..! It was the best gomtang I've ever had. It tastes like it would be perfect as a hangover cure too. If Yangjaeok were right by my office, I'd honestly come for lunch every day, haha.

Yangjaeok in a nutshell

• Juansang: bossam, jeyuk, tofu kimchi and zucchini jeon — a good lineup for trying several Korean dishes at once
• Value pick: pork gomtang at ₩11,000 — the deep broth and toryeom rice were really good!
• Gatherings: works from lunch to an evening drink, and fine with makgeolli too