Sokcho Korean restaurant with gamjatang and sujebi: Gwandongjip

Gwandongjip near Cheongcho Lake

Gwandongjip (관동집), a great restaurant in Joyang-dong, Sokcho, where I had a delicious meal.

Apparently, Gwandongjip is a local favorite near Cheongcho Lake in Sokcho that has been around for a long time! They specialize in Korean dishes such as soups and hot pots, and gamjatang is their signature menu item.

It began with Jeopalgye Gamjatang, which opened in Hwacheon, Gangwon-do in 2005. I heard it is a place where the owner has carried on the flavor tradition from the owner's parents' restaurant, interpreting it in their own way, with the parents' life story woven into it all. The owner looked young, so I felt there had to be a reason they opened a gamjatang place! I was even more excited for the food... The Gwandongjip gamjatang was genuinely so delicious that they can be proud of every dish they serve.

A spacious restaurant that still served late lunch

We came for a late lunch after visiting Seoraksan, so the restaurant was nice and quiet. Break time starts at 3 PM, so we hurried over, but thankfully we could still eat! The interior is spacious and there are separate private rooms, making it a good fit for family meals or group gatherings. There is parking and high chairs, too!

Gwandongjip menu and prices

• Specials: Gamjatang — large ₩45,000 / medium ₩37,000 / small ₩30,000; aged kimchi braised bones — large ₩50,000 / medium ₩43,000; spicy chicken stew — large ₩50,000; extra bones ₩18,000
• Meal dishes: Pork bone hangover soup ₩10,000, budae-jjigae (army stew) ₩10,000, tofu hot pot ₩10,000
• Extras: Ramen noodles ₩1,000, udon noodles ₩2,000, glass noodles ₩2,000, sujebi (hand-torn dough flakes) ₩3,000, ugeoji (dried cabbage greens) ₩3,000, rice ₩1,000, fried rice ₩2,000
• Alcohol and drinks: Soju ₩4,000, beer ₩4,000, soft drinks ₩2,000

From the reviews, it seems their aged kimchi braised bones are popular too, and I liked that they even had instructions on the best way to eat them! With budae-jjigae and tofu hot pot on the meal menu, it is also a good spot for lunch, and they offered delivery as well.

The side dishes were neat and delicious. They had that home-cooked feel, and the owner seems to have a great touch in the kitchen. The seasoned cucumber salad tasted as though it had just been mixed—so good! My husband especially enjoyed the macaroni, haha.

Trying the small gamjatang

We ordered the small gamjatang. It came fully cooked, and they told us we could eat it once the vegetables had softened a little more and the potatoes and sujebi had cooked through. We did not add any extra noodles, but there was already a good amount in it, so one bowl of rice was enough to leave us full. We were too full for fried rice, though...

The gamjatang came to a boil quickly. At Gwandongjip, you could taste the care that had gone into simmering the meat and broth. There was plenty of ugeoji and bean sprouts, and the aroma of perilla leaves made the broth even deeper!

The meat had been simmered so well that it did not fall apart, yet there was plenty still attached to the bones and it was incredibly tender. It was delicious dipped in mustard sauce, and also just with rice, ugeoji, and meat together!

You can add perilla seed sauce too, but it seemed perfectly balanced without it, so we did not add any separately!

The sujebi was wonderfully chewy too!

Maybe because I was having gamjatang in Gangwon-do, even the potatoes in it were really delicious! I do not normally like potatoes that much, but the ones in gamjatang are somehow so good 🥔

I was so satisfied with our final-day lunch in Sokcho! Gwandongjip in Joyang-dong is a local Sokcho favorite for gamjatang. It made me realize all over again just how many truly delicious places there are in Sokcho...