Sokcho Korean restaurant for octopus hangover soup breakfast by Deungdae Beach: Deungdae Gotgan

Deungdae Gotgan (등대곳간), the Deungdae Beach restaurant I went to the moment I arrived in Sokcho.

It sits right in front of the beach, so you can eat with an ocean view.

Ocean-view restaurant by Deungdae Beach that serves breakfast

It's within walking distance of Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal and there are lots of places to stay nearby, so it seems a lot of people find their way here. Most places around here open after 11, but Deungdae Gotgan opens at 8am, so you can have breakfast. It closes at 5pm, and there's no break time, so you can drop in any time during opening hours.

The first floor is a claw machine arcade; you just head straight up to the second floor.

Since so many travelers come through, they have plenty of high chairs, and I was told dogs are welcome too.

Cute Smurfs greet you.

An ocean-view restaurant with a great view. It was a little cloudy and raining slightly, but while we ate the clouds cleared right up and it turned sunny!

Deungdae Gotgan menu and how to eat jjageul nakji

• Nakji haejangguk (octopus hangover soup) ₩13,000
• Jjageul nakji (spicy octopus stew) ₩14,000
• Pork cutlet ₩14,000
• Nakji-juk (octopus porridge) ₩13,000
• Octopus perilla porridge ₩13,000
• Jeyuk-bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork) ₩13,000
• Cheese add-on ₩3,000
• Udon noodle add-on ₩2,000
• Somyeon (thin noodle) add-on ₩2,000
• Fried shrimp ₩5,000

There's a self-serve corner, but the owner brings the side dishes to you herself, so it's an easy meal.

Since stir-fried octopus is the main dish, aprons are set out right where you can see them.

How to eat jjageul nakji the tasty way

• Once it starts bubbling, add udon or somyeon noodles and eat.
• Put rice into the leftover sauce with plenty of pickled radish and seaweed flakes, drizzle a round of sesame oil, and fry it up.
• Add the cheese too and it's twice as rich. Diet starts tomorrow.. ^^

The tables on both sides of us were eating jjageul nakji and kept saying how good it was, so I wanted it, but I'm not great with spicy food and it was a bit gloomy when we arrived, so a hot bowl of soup was calling my name more that day. We ordered nakji haejangguk for 2!

Nakji haejangguk for 2: a deep, refreshing first meal

Tableware served neat and clean.

Bean sprouts, yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), seasoned eggplant, and gim (dried seaweed) with soy sauce.

And while we were eating, they brought over stir-fried sausage too!

They had Tams Zero, so I ordered one.

Nakji haejangguk, available for orders of 2 or more.

They said once it starts boiling, let it go a little longer and then eat. It's loaded with minari (water dropwort), octopus, mushrooms, bean sprouts, radish and so on, all the things that make the broth deeper. And the broth really is deep and refreshing!

Every menu item except the pork cutlet needs rice ordered separately. A bowl of rice pressed in nice and firm 🍚 The pork cutlet looked so good too.. If you come with kids, the grown-ups could order the octopus dishes and get the kids the pork cutlet.

The hot red chili gives it a slight kick, and I thought it really is a great hangover food. If you can't stand spicy at all, I think you could ask for it without the chili. Anyone visiting Sokcho who needs a hangover cure, please try this nakji haejangguk!!!

Tofu, bean sprouts, and octopus, all nourishing ingredients as my first meal, and my stomach felt so settled :) There's quite a lot of octopus in it too.

By the time we finished, the weather had completely cleared. Delicious, full, and the weather turned nice too, so we walked out at the end of the meal in a really good mood.

The restroom is easy to use and clean.

Cute little things tucked away here and there.