Pork bone stew with ramen noodles near Sanggye Station: Somunnan

A while back I was craving something hearty and warm with a deep, rich broth, so my partner and I went out for gamjatang (pork bone and potato stew). This time we visited Somunnan Gamjatang near Sanggye Station — apparently the flagship store started back in 1995, making this the second branch of a Nowon gamjatang institution that's kept the same taste for over 30 years. It's a place that's been loved by locals for a long time, so my expectations were already high before I even took a bite 😀

What's the atmosphere like at Somunnan Gamjatang?

Walking in, the place was clean and nicely organized, and the owner greeted us with a bright smile, which put me in a good mood from the moment I stepped in. These days, even if the food is good, I hesitate to go back if the service isn't friendly — but here the owner was warm and welcoming, so we got to enjoy our meal in a relaxed atmosphere!

Gamjatang small for two, plus added ramen noodles

Since there were two of us, we ordered the small size (for two) and added a serving of ramen noodles to go into the broth. After sitting down and waiting a bit, the side dishes arrived first — and one bite in, I was already impressed.

The geotjeori kimchi is a work of art

First off, the kimchi here is incredibly good. For gukbap or gamjatang places, I think the kimchi makes up more than half of the meal, and Somunnan's kimchi had just the right balance of salted seafood aroma and seasoning — really impressive. The geotjeori (fresh, lightly seasoned cabbage kimchi) in particular was crunchy and truly a work of art, haha. Spicy, slightly sweet, and full of savory depth, I kept reaching for it even before the main dish arrived. It tasted freshly made, and paired perfectly with the meat too.

The small size for two — but is the portion really this big?

Our small gamjatang arrived on the table burner. The moment I saw the huge hot pot bubbling away, my mouth was already watering.

As you can see in the photo, even though this was the small size for two, the portion was absolutely huge — I was genuinely surprised. Honestly, when I order the small size elsewhere, I often get just a few bone pieces and a little bit of radish greens, leaving me feeling shortchanged. But here, the portion was truly generous, with big pork bones packed in without holding back — you could really feel the owner's generosity.

Above all, the stew was packed with ingredients — plenty of potatoes cooked to a fluffy, soft texture ❤️

Radish greens piled on generously

Best of all, there was a generous pile of radish greens (siraegi), which I happen to love. Since siraegi is my favorite, getting such a generous portion made me really happy. Wrapping the soft greens, soaked in the deeply simmered broth, together with a tender piece of well-cooked meat made my mouth burst with savory flavor.

The meat falls off the bone at a touch

The meat must have been simmered carefully for a long time, because the bone and flesh separated smoothly at just the touch of chopsticks. The meat wasn't dry at all — it was tender, with the seasoned broth soaked all the way through. Dipping it in the wasabi soy sauce and adding a piece of the delicious geotjeori on top made me instantly crave a shot of soju with that broth.

The fun of tearing in your own sujebi dough

And there's one truly fun and special point about this place. Usually at other gamjatang restaurants, you have to pay extra for a sujebi (hand-torn dough flake) topping, and often get a small amount, or they just toss in pre-made, stiff frozen sujebi. But Somunnan Gamjatang gave us a separate ball of sujebi dough to tear in ourselves.

With disposable gloves on, we tore off bite-sized pieces of the chewy sujebi dough by hand and dropped them straight into the rich, bubbling gamjatang broth — this little activity was genuinely fun and made for a nice small memory. Tearing the dough by hand gave each piece a fun, irregular shape, and once simmered through, it was chewy and clingy in a totally different league from the store-bought sujebi you find at the supermarket. Fishing out the self-made sujebi soaked in broth was a real treat 👍👍

Finishing with ramen noodles — the fried rice had to wait

After eating our way through a good amount of the meat and radish greens, the ramen noodles we'd ordered at the start were dropped into the broth and simmered until bubbling. With noodles turning springy in the rich, deeply reduced pork bone broth, there was no way it could taste bad. Wrapping the chewy, well-cooked ramen noodles with the radish greens and geotjeori I'd been saving, I couldn't stop reaching for more even though I was already full.

The real finishing move at any gamjatang place is supposed to be the fried rice, stir-fried right in the salty leftover broth. But the gamjatang portion itself was already so generous, and after thoroughly working through the radish greens, potatoes, sujebi, and ramen noodles, I was just too full ㅠㅠ Unfortunately, we had to leave without the fried rice because we simply couldn't fit it in. Next time, I've decided I'll pace myself better so I can make it all the way to the fried rice.

With the deep, rich broth carrying 30 years of expertise, fresh and tender meat, generous servings of radish greens and potatoes, and friendly service all around — it was a satisfying meal where we ate until we were completely stuffed, and nothing was lacking 🙂