Spicy bean sprout galbitang in Hwigyeong-dong with parents: Hoegi Wang

Why I took my parents to Hoegi Wang Galbitang in Hwigyeong-dong

Hoegi Wang Galbitang (회기왕갈비탕) is a galbitang restaurant at 54 Imun-ro in Dongdaemun, Seoul, and it has parking out front, so it was easy to drive there with my parents. I recently took them out for galbitang. The hospital I go to regularly is nearby, so after my appointment I looked for a good galbitang place in Hwigyeong-dong and ended up here!!

You can park right in front of the restaurant, so driving is no problem. I came by car too and parked out front.

When you're tired of hangover soup and sick of sundaeguk (blood sausage soup), try galbitang for once~~!! It's stamina food, after all haha, galbitang especially!!!

Hoegi Wang Galbitang menu and ordering rules

The menu at Hoegi Wang Galbitang lists recovery galbitang, spicy galbitang, stamina special galbitang and beef shank galbitang, and braised short ribs (spicy or soy sauce flavor) are written as medium 5.8, large 7.2. You can also add rice cake or glass noodles.

I don't think I'd ever seen a spicy galbitang before! I like spicy broth and I was curious, so I ordered the spicy one~!

Hoegi Wang Galbitang requires one order per person, and you get unlimited rice refills. I heard that if you get takeout, they give you double the broth!!

Side dishes and the barley gangjeong self-serve corner

When you sit down at Hoegi Wang Galbitang, napa cabbage kimchi, radish kimchi, barley gangjeong (crunchy barley snack), chili peppers and onion come out as side dishes haha. There's barley gangjeong at the self-serve corner so you can have more, and everyone seems to eat it as dessert!! Dad and I went back for more twice haha.

You can grab more of any of the side dishes at the self-serve corner. They also sell the barley gangjeong: ₩3,000 for 1 bag!! 2 bags for ₩5,000!! It must be that good, because some people buy extra bags after eating haha.

How many ribs come in the stamina special galbitang?

The stamina special galbitang that Dad ordered came with a whopping 3 big rib bones;;;

The stamina special galbitang had a clear, deep broth~~ not greasy, just going down clean and smooth?? The ribs were tender and well cooked, so the meat came off with just a touch of chopsticks!! The more you chewed, the more the nutty beef flavor spread. It's the perfect dish for when your energy is low, so the name really fits haha.

I think it's a great food for recovering when you're a little tired!! The broth is clean and there's nearly double the meat, so it's hearty and healthy. The bowl is topped with egg strips (jidan) and green onion, and the colors are so vivid that they seem to whet your appetite, don't you think?

What does the spicy galbitang at Hoegi Wang Galbitang taste like?

The spicy galbitang at Hoegi Wang Galbitang comes with 2 rib bones and bean sprouts, so from the smell of the broth it felt like a spicy hangover soup. Next up is the spicy galbitang I ordered~~ The spicy aroma definitely poked right into my nose~ haha. It looks a bit like bone hangover soup (ppyeo haejangguk).. haha. The standard bowl has two bones!! With the bean sprouts too, it honestly feels like hangover soup, lol.

The meat in the spicy galbitang was just as tender and lean as the meat in the stamina special~~ a little fatty too, and it practically melted in my mouth! Best with rice!! So so delicious ㅠ I cleaned the bowl.

Maybe it's because the weather has turned a bit chilly, but I kept craving soup. And funnily enough, the older I get, the more I love soup ㅠㅠ The glass noodles inside were savory and so good that I thought I'd add extra noodles next time haha.

If you usually enjoy spicy food like me, or you like regular galbitang broth but want a different flavor from the usual, I highly recommend the spicy one!!!

Restroom and misugaru dessert at Hoegi Wang Galbitang

The restroom at Hoegi Wang Galbitang is right out the back of the restaurant, with separate men's and women's rooms. It was convenient being in the restaurant itself~ and it was clean inside, so no inconvenience at all!!

And~~ after eating you can have 'Grandma's 17-grain misugaru' as dessert haha. A mouth freshener in one go, pretty great, right~~

It felt a bit like instant mix coffee haha, but the misugaru was sweet and nutty. It was a day that ended with hot galbitang with my parents, something we hadn't done in a while haha.