Insadong gomtang served with rice already in the bowl: Wolhadong

Today I'm bringing you my review of Wolhadong, a Jongno restaurant in Insadong, haha. Wolhadong is super famous for its clear gomtang! It tasted uniquely delicious and clean, and it seemed like a spot a lot of foreign visitors were checking out too >_< When I went for lunch, the wait was longer than expected. Let me give you the Wolhadong rundown right away ✨

Wolhadong hours, break time and parking

• ⏰ Hours: Mon–Sun 11:00–21:00
• 📍 Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: 20:30
• 📍 No parking available

Finding Wolhadong in the Insadong 8-gil alley — still a wait at 2pm

On the outside, Wolhadong is labeled as a pork gomtang and cauldron hot pot specialty restaurant. There was still a wait even at 2pm..! Since there's a break time, it's best to time your visit well. There's also a restroom out front, haha. It's tucked between alleys, but the Wolhadong signs kept appearing along the way, so it was easy to find.

What's on the Wolhadong menu and how QR ordering works

On the Wolhadong menu board, there was Wolhadong gomtang, red (spicy) gomtang, cold jeyuk (boiled pork), spicy squid salad, and sambok hot pot, plus drinks and alcohol. On the other side, there was an explanation of why it tastes so good and how to enjoy it best. You order using the QR code on the table. The menu being so short made me think they're extra confident in their gomtang, which got me even more excited. Places that sell basically one dish are great because there's nothing to agonize over, haha.

There's a review event where writing a receipt review gets you a taste of cold jeyuk, so make sure to write one and grab it!

It said the deep flavor of cheonggeunjang (aged soybean paste) is captured in the broth. A special taste you can only get at Wolhadong — I could feel the pride behind that claim.

Two bowls of Wolhadong gomtang: tender meat and rice already in the broth

The basic side dishes are doenjang, kkakdugi, and kimchi. We ordered two gomtang. It arrives with meat sitting on top of a milky broth. Nothing else stands out visually, but even the smell was incredibly appetizing.

The meat was really tender and delicious. There was more of it than I expected! The rice comes already mixed into the soup, and it was soft and fluffy in a way that went really well with the broth. The meat tastes great with a bit of the doenjang that comes alongside it, haha.

The broth was genuinely different from other places I've tried. It's clean but still lets the meat flavor come through, if that makes sense? It was good for settling the stomach, and I imagine the red version would work well as a hangover cure too.

Bar-table seats for solo diners and how fast lunch turns over

We visited around 1pm, and even at 1pm there were tons of people! Since it's gomtang and a single-menu place, the turnover seemed fast. There's also a bar table, so it seemed like a good spot to come alone, and it turns out quite a few people do come solo, haha. If you love a clean gomtang or are looking for a good restaurant in Jongno, I'd recommend Wolhadong 🤍