Masan tripe hotpot with pork galbi set: Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol

The evenings have gotten pretty chilly lately and I started craving something hot and spicy in soup form. So I headed to Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol Masan Daetgeori Main Branch, a spot near Gyeongnam University famous for beef tripe hotpot made with 100% hanwoo (Korean beef). Even on a weeknight, slightly late in the evening, the place was packed — and after eating there, I understood why. It's a real Masan Daetgeori tripe hotpot favorite.

Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol Masan Daetgeori Main Branch / Daily 16:30–00:30 / Last order 23:30

Parking and seating at Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol in Masan Daetgeori

This Masan Daetgeori restaurant has some street parking in the alley nearby, but in the evenings spots fill up fast, so I'd recommend using a nearby paid parking lot, Lotte Mart, or Top Mart instead.

Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol Masan Daetgeori Main Branch has several 4-person tables and group tables inside. The space is fairly large, so it works well for a family dinner or a bigger group gathering or company dinner.

Menu and prices: hanwoo tripe hotpot, pork galbi and the couple set

Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol's signature dishes are the hanwoo beef tripe hotpot and pork galbi ribs, plus a couple set that lets you try both. The hanwoo tripe hotpot alone is great, but the galbi is delicious too, so I'd recommend the couple set with hotpot plus half a portion of ribs!

What side dishes come with the meal?

The standard side dishes are seasoned bean sprouts, white kimchi, cabbage kimchi, and mukmuchim (acorn jelly in broth). The mukmuchim broth is made from naengmyeon (cold noodle) stock, so it's sweet and tangy, while the jelly itself was nutty and delicious.

Hanwoo tripe hotpot from the medium couple set

There were three of us, so we ordered the medium couple set. The hanwoo tripe hotpot arrived on a stone plate, which honestly made it look even more delicious.

They served blood sausage and potato dumplings separately, and told us to add them into the hanwoo tripe hotpot and simmer for about 5 more minutes before eating.

Watching the tripe hotpot bubble away on the stone plate made me even hungrier — I couldn't wait to dig in. Hahahaha.

The hanwoo tripe hotpot wasn't just tripe — it was loaded with beef brisket, enoki mushrooms, zucchini, onion, and glass noodles, so it looked amazing even before the first bite.

Along with the tripe, the hotpot had a variety of beef offal in it too — a generous portion, and because it was hanwoo, everything tasted extra nutty and fresh. Picking through the different cuts was fun since each had its own texture and flavor, which made the whole dish even better.

One of us can't handle spicy food, so we ordered it mild, but even at mild spice it was still hearty and hot enough to hit the spot. Eating the various offal cuts along with the vegetables made it filling, and the chewy glass noodles were delicious too.

Adding blood sausage and potato hand-torn dumplings

The blood sausage in the hotpot had that clean yet rich flavor typical of sundae (blood sausage), and it had soaked up the tripe hotpot broth, which made it even tastier. The offal was chewy and fresh too.

There were so many different cuts of offal, and in such generous portions, that more tripe and offal kept turning up no matter how much we ate. The hanwoo tripe hotpot really was a huge portion, and the chewy, soft potato dumplings, soaked in the tripe broth, were even more delicious.

Pork galbi served on a hot stone plate

The galbi also came out on a heated stone plate, so it stayed warm all the way through. The sweet marinade gave it a completely different flavor from the tripe hotpot, and I loved alternating between the two.

The sweetly marinated galbi had a nice balance of lean meat and fat, and it came with pineapple, onion, and mushrooms, which made it even better.

Going from the spicy tripe hotpot to the sweet ribs felt like a whole different kind of delicious — the combination of tripe and ribs was a fun, distinctive pairing.

Finishing the meal with fried rice

No tripe hotpot meal is complete without fried rice, so we made some ourselves. Frying rice in the rich broth left over from the tripe and offal, with the savory, spicy flavor of the broth plus sesame oil and seaweed flakes, made for a genuinely delicious finishing dish.

After eating most of the fried rice, there was the extra fun of scraping up the crispy rice stuck to the stone plate at the end — a satisfying, filling way to finish dinner.

Who should eat at Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol?

Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol Masan Daetgeori Main Branch was an even better Masan Daetgeori restaurant thanks to the combination of 100% hanwoo tripe hotpot and sweetly marinated galbi. From the tripe hotpot to blood sausage, various offal, chewy potato dumplings, galbi, and fried rice, it was truly a complete meal.

• If you want a hearty hanwoo beef tripe hotpot
• If you're looking for a spot for an evening group gathering or family dinner in Masan
• If you're craving delicious galbi ribs

I'd recommend Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol Masan Daetgeori Main Branch, a Masan / Gyeongnam University-area tripe restaurant with a spicy, fresh hanwoo tripe hotpot and tasty galbi that stays warm all the way through!