Family dinner in Gwangju, special beef hot pot for three: Dugeori

As the weather cools down, it's the season when a hot bowl of soup starts sounding good 🍲 Today I'm sharing Dugeori Usintang in Imam-dong, Gwangju, my dad's usual go-to spot, where I went again this time with my parents. Tender Korean beef, loaded with mushrooms, in a spicy, deep broth — a proper place to get your strength back up ✨

[Hours] Daily 10:30–22:00 / [Last order] 21:00 / [Closed] None

Where is Dugeori Usintang Gwangju Imam Branch, and where do you park?

Dugeori Usintang Gwangju Imam Branch is located in Imam-dong in the Hyocheon district, right in front of the main gate of Hyocheon Jungheung S-Class Eco Park. Being right in front of the apartment complex, it's pretty accessible if you're eating around the Hyocheon area or Imam-dong 👍🏻

🚗 For parking, there's a lot behind the building, in front of Daeyang Sikjaemart.

A spacious hall for family gatherings and group dinners

The seating is genuinely spacious. The layout is split into two areas total, with a separate inner room set apart 🌿

Also recommended for anyone looking for a place for a big family gathering or group dinner!

How clean are the restrooms?

Restroom rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Restroom cleanliness] ☑️ Separate for men and women 👌🏻 ☑️ Toilet paper stocked 👌🏻 ☑️ Cleaned 👌🏻 ☑️ Hand sanitizer available 👌🏻 ☑️ No odor 👌🏻

Usintang, usinjeongol and teukjeongol: what is the difference?

Usintang, a dish you can only find at Dugeori, gets its name from the Chinese characters for cow (牛) and spicy (辛) — basically think of it as a spicy Korean beef hot pot. You can choose between jjim (steamed), jeongol (hot pot), and tang (soup), and the difference is in the side dishes that come with it.

• Usintang: served with chapssotbap (sticky pot rice)
• Usinjeongol: served with shabu + chapssotbap
• Teukjeongol: shabu + vegetable porridge + udon noodles + extra broth included 🍜

Barley tea and the side dishes served first

Even the water isn't just plain water — it's a very rich barley tea, served both hot and cold. The basic side dishes are pickled perilla leaves, diced radish kimchi, white kimchi, and salted squid — since the hot pot itself is spicy and rich, a cool side dish like white kimchi worked really well, and the salted squid was the perfect match with rice!

Personally, my favorite was the pickled perilla leaves — they come soaked in what tastes like a sesame-based sauce, and that's honestly the real kicker 😋

What comes in the usin teukjeongol beef hot pot for three?

We ordered the usin teukjeongol set for three. Inside the hot pot were enoki mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, pine mushrooms, and more, along with tofu, chives, carrots, and even jujube. Just looking at all those healthy ingredients packed in felt reassuring ✨

The beef in the hot pot was cooked so tender it practically fell off the bone, and with the pot already packed full of Korean beef, plus the extra shabu that arrived on the side, it turned into a full-on meat party 🥳

Piling a perilla leaf — the one I said was great in the side dishes — with vegetables and meat from the pot, then a bit of salted squid on top: wrap it up and eat it in one bite, it's genuinely delicious.

The broth isn't very spicy — just moderately so — which would make it great for curing a hangover too 🍲

The finishing order: shabu, then udon noodles, then porridge

Once you've eaten enough of the hot pot, it's time to add the udon noodles — they give you plenty of chives too, and cooking them together deepens the flavor even more.

The longer it simmers, the deeper the broth gets — the rich beef flavor and the sweetness of the vegetables concentrate, and the noodles really soak it all up 🌸

Egg vegetable porridge to close the meal

Once you finish the udon, move straight on to the porridge! Ideal is leaving just enough broth that you can't quite see the bottom, but it still ripples. The owner complimented us for leaving exactly the right amount 😄

Stir it so the rice grains soak up the broth, then crack in one 🥚 egg and keep stirring well — you end up with a very thick, savory porridge.

I really recommend not skipping the finishing porridge. That one bowl completes the whole meal ✨

Order the chapssotbap (sticky pot rice) as soon as the hot pot arrives

Partway through the meal we remembered we wanted sotbap (pot rice) too, so we added it separately mid-meal. The pot rice takes about 15 minutes, so if you want it, it's best to order right when the hot pot arrives!

The rice was fluffy yet chewy in a way that stood out, and we finished it off by pouring in hot water to make nurungji (scorched rice tea) 🍚

Takeout is available too

Dugeori Usintang also does takeout. It seems like it would be even easier to enjoy comfortably at home, or bring along on a camping trip.

On a day when a cool breeze starts blowing and you're craving hot soup with family 🍲 — the restaurant is spacious with seating for groups, so it's great for anything from a family meal with parents to a gathering with several people. If you want to warm up with hot broth and plenty of tender beef when the weather turns chilly, I recommend Dugeori Usintang Gwangju Imam Branch :)