Insa-dong makguksu restaurant with eel buckwheat gimbap: Goshine

Today I want to recommend an Insa-dong restaurant. It's Goshine Donghae Makguksu, a buckwheat specialty restaurant that's been running for two generations right in front of Gangmun Beach in Gangneung. It's also a place where you can enjoy Gangneung's local buckwheat food in a hanok atmosphere in Insa-dong.

It had been ages since I'd visited Insa-dong and Samcheong-dong! Recent construction made things feel a bit chaotic, but it's still a great place for a Seoul stroll on a nice day. Insa-dong and Samcheong-dong are full of shops with that hanok feel, so it's somewhere I tend to visit once autumn rolls around. This time I had a gallery exhibition I wanted to see in the Insa-dong area, so before heading in, my friend and I stopped by the original Gangneung favorite — Goshine Donghae Makguksu!

Where is Goshine Donghae Makguksu Jongno branch, and what are the hours?

📍How to get to Goshine Donghae Makguksu, an Insa-dong restaurant Address: 3 Insadong 12-gil, 1st floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea (*7-minute walk from Anguk Station Exit 6 / located inside Insa-dong Ssamziegil!)

📍Hours: Mon–Sun: 11:00 AM–9:30 PM (*Break time: 4:00 PM–5:00 PM) (*Last order: 9:00 PM) No parking / takeout available / Naver reservations available / Wi-Fi provided / free corkage

Noodles pressed after you order: water makguksu and eel buckwheat gimbap

Goshine Donghae Makguksu's signature menu, made with fresh-cut buckwheat noodles!

We ordered Goshine Donghae Makguksu's signature dishes: water makguksu, perilla oil makguksu, and eel buckwheat gimbap. What makes this place special is that instead of using noodles boiled ahead of time, they cut the noodles fresh for each order. So the noodles had great chewiness and that distinct buckwheat aroma — really good! And I have to eat eel at the end of summer, haha.

As a side, we added eel buckwheat gimbap (seaweed rice roll). Apparently in 2020 they developed a 'buckwheat gimbap' using buckwheat noodles aged in black vinegar. It's gimbap made with buckwheat noodles topped with eel brushed in teriyaki sauce and grilled — eaten alongside the cool, clean water makguksu, it was genuinely delicious! I officially declare this a true buckwheat noodle gem haha.

What does the perilla oil makguksu taste like?

My friend ordered the perilla oil makguksu, and I was curious so I tried a bite! Even before mixing, the perilla oil smell was quite strong, but once you actually eat it, it's not as greasy as you'd expect — pretty clean and light. The nutty perilla oil clings nicely to the buckwheat noodles, and the more you chew, the more that distinct nutty buckwheat flavor comes through. It's less about the seasoning and more about savoring the noodles and perilla oil, so if you like makguksu that isn't too intense, this would suit you well.

Inside the Insa-dong hanok: seating and who eats here

A place where you can enjoy Gangneung's local buckwheat food in a hanok atmosphere in Insa-dong

True to its Insa-dong location, the restaurant is built as a hanok! The interior had that Korean feel throughout, decorated with cute little Korean-style props — I couldn't help but keep looking around.

Maybe because of this Korean atmosphere, when I visited around lunchtime there were so many foreign tourists! Especially Westerners, haha. Blonde hair, green eyes, blue eyes, haha — foreigners were having lunch all over the place, and I thought, 'Ah, this is a place where you can really feel the might of K-culture,' haha. Watching them diligently using chopsticks and enjoying Korean food made me proud as a Korean, haha.

Self-serve banchan bar: the yeolmu kimchi is the standout

The basic kimchi banchan! So delicious.

Basic side dishes and water were run on a self-serve system. The restaurant was bigger than I expected. Since it can seat a good number of people, it made sense that basic banchan and basic service were left up to the customers to handle themselves, haha.

The yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi) in particular was delicious. Later my friend put yeolmu kimchi on top of her perilla oil makguksu and mixed it all together. The yeolmu kimchi was so good I felt like I could just eat it with plain rice — that good, haha. The yeolmu kimchi here is legit!!!!