Yongsan gomtang restaurant, second round upstairs: Baekok Yongsan

What kind of place is Baekok Yongsan?

Baekok Yongsan is a pork gomtang (pork bone broth soup) restaurant at 11-76 Hangangdae-ro 10-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, 638m from Exit 1 of Yongsan Station. My dinner buddy had it all planned out. We'd had a light meat meal at Samgakji Station, but still wanted more, so we headed to Baekok near Yongsan Station. I'd been once before — the gomtang here is genuinely good.

A staff member greeted us warmly. It was well past the lunch rush by then. Every guest who came in was being sent up to the second floor — maybe they wanted us to have some quiet.

Honestly, the second floor is spacious, which is nice. Several groups were already eating. After us, solo diners kept trickling in steadily — and seeing foreign visitors eating alone is a pretty common sight these days.

There's a separate group seating area on the second floor too.

Where is Baekok Yongsan, and its hours and seating

• Address: 11-76 Hangangdae-ro 10-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, 1st & 2nd floor / 638m from Exit 1, Yongsan Station
• Hours: Daily 11:00–22:00, closed on Lunar New Year and Chuseok — call ahead to confirm
• Parking: Not available
• Seating: Table seating, bar table, couple seats, private room, group seating
• Amenities: Free corkage, reservations, takeout, delivery, WiFi, group bookings, Naver reservations

Baekok Yongsan menu and prices

The Baekok Yongsan menu has pork gomtang at 11,000 won, yeol-gomtang (spicy) at 12,000 won, and yak-gomtang (herbal) at 16,000 won, with sets at 16,000, 17,000 and 21,000 won respectively. On top of that there's a donbok platter for 42,000 won and cabbage mandu (5pc) for 10,000 won.

The menu is fairly compact — it's a gomtang specialist, so gomtang is the star. Then there's the donbok platter and the mandu on the side.

Ordering yak-gomtang, yeol-gomtang and a half plate of cold pork

This time at Baekok Yongsan we ordered yak-gomtang (16,000 won), yeol-gomtang (12,000 won) and half a plate of cold pork (10,000 won). My dinner buddy went for the good-for-you yak-gomtang. I was craving a spicy broth so I ordered yeol-gomtang. And we added one order of cold pork on top.

Pickled onions came out as a side dish.

Kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) came too.

Meanwhile other guests had cleared out, so the place got peaceful. Solo diners kept steadily coming in after that.

While we chatted away, the mood wasn't entirely cheerful — my dinner buddy said they'd gotten scammed buying a Chuseok gift. Guess online shopping requires some caution these days.

Yak-gomtang: broth simmered with herbal medicine ingredients

The yak-gomtang arrived — a gomtang simmered with herbal medicine ingredients. As they say, what's good for you is usually bitter. My dinner buddy asked for a side of spicy sauce to stir in separately.

Yeol-gomtang: sharp and punchy with the spicy sauce stirred in

My order of yeol-gomtang came out too. The spicy sauce mixed in makes the broth nicely punchy.

Baekok Yongsan's cold pork is made from cheek meat

The cold pork arrived. The shape looks a bit different from the usual jeyuk (spicy stir-fried pork), right? Baekok's cold pork is made from cheek meat.

Since we'd already had a round of meat, this was plenty for round two.

Stirring in the sauce makes the broth even tastier.

The bowl is generously packed with meat and toppings. My dinner buddy still picked out the fatty bits, as always — so I ended up eating most of the cold pork myself.

Verdict: is Baekok Yongsan worth a bowl of gomtang in Yongsan?

If you're after a bowl of gomtang in Yongsan, why not try Baekok? For this portion, the price is quite reasonable. A simple bowl works fine for lunch, and for dinner, the cold pork or the donbok platter with a drink sounds great too.

While I was writing this post, my dinner buddy texted to say they were having a cocktail at Jusindang in Gangnam Station before heading home. Sounds like another rewarding day wrapping up.

※ Please note the restaurant may get busier after this post goes up — thanks for understanding.