Sangam kongguksu restaurant with free upsizing: Sangam Hoegwan

There's one food I truly, truly love: kongguksu (soy milk noodles). When summer comes, you've got to have a cool bowl of it, right? I was bummed I hadn't had any this summer, but then my other half suddenly craved it too, so we rushed off to a kongguksu spot known for being amazing.

It's Sangam Hoegwan, close to DMC. And wow... I've been to Jinju Hoegwan (a famous kongguksu place) many times, but honestly, this one was better. They grind the soybeans right in the store. So here's my honest review of Sangam Hoegwan, a genuine, no-joke kongguksu spot.

Sangam Hoegwan menu and what we ordered

We ordered one kongguksu, one bibim guksu (spicy mixed noodles), and one kimchi pancake. Before heading over, we'd planned to get a pumpkin kongguksu and a regular one, but when we got there, the pumpkin kongguksu was sold out.

Pumpkin kongguksu is such a rare menu item, I really wanted to try it, so it was disappointing it was out. If you see pumpkin kongguksu on the menu, order it right away, everyone. We settled for bibim guksu instead, haha.

A Sangam IT Tower food court easy for solo diners and babies

Sangam Hoegwan sits in what's basically an office-district food court, so the setting is a little unusual. But it's a restaurant with history, nearly 10 years, and apparently they just moved to this location!

The interior is huge, so I saw plenty of solo diners eating without feeling self-conscious at all, which I loved. We came with our baby, and because the dining area is so spacious, we too could eat comfortably without worrying about other people.

Sangam Hoegwan stood out as the brightest spot with the most staff. Even though we visited well past the lunch rush, delivery orders kept pouring in, and there were plenty of dine-in customers too.

Every table has salt and sugar so you can season your kongguksu to your own taste!

Here come today's stars: kongguksu, kimchi pancake, and bibim guksu! I was shocked by the size of the bowls, wow.

Thick soy milk broth ground in-house at Sangam Hoegwan

They seem to make the soy milk broth in-house. I could hear the grinder going in a corner of the kitchen. That's probably why the broth that arrived was so much thicker than anything you'd buy elsewhere, on a whole different level.

Better than Jinju Hoegwan? The best kongguksu yet

Just from the look of it I thought, "oh, this is similar to Jinju Hoegwan," but personally, I liked it far more. (At Jinju Hoegwan I get tired of it partway through eating; here, I never did.)

At a bad kongguksu place, you get a beany smell and your mouth feels chalky after drinking the broth. At Sangam Hoegwan, the soy broth itself is so clean-tasting and nutty, and the noodles are cooked perfectly...!!!! Soy broth can leave your mouth feeling dry, but here it didn't at all, maybe because they use really good beans... wow, so good.

The noodles were cooked just right and springy and delicious, so I kept going for more.

This was our baby's very first kongguksu, and it must have been so good because she kept opening her mouth like a little sparrow, eating a ton too.

An upsized kongguksu at no extra charge

And here's the great part: Sangam Hoegwan doesn't charge extra even if you upsize your order!!!! We were craving kongguksu so much that we ordered the large size, and honestly, we... devoured it. Haha.

That thick, rich soy broth with springy noodles... so good... seriously better than Jinju Hoegwan (and the price is nice too).

Kongguksu topped with geotjeori: the best combination

Here's the way to really enjoy it. The geotjeori (fresh kimchi salad) here is sweet and crunchy and so good. Put it on top of the clean, nutty kongguksu and... it's insanely good... I got so hooked I refilled the geotjeori once more.

Can you tell... I've never scraped a kongguksu bowl this clean before... hahaha. My partner and I and our little one all loved it so much we scraped every last bit. This officially became our all-time favorite kongguksu spot!!!!!

Bibim guksu that tastes like mom's

The bibim guksu was labeled "mom style." Loaded with kimchi, cucumber, and gim (seaweed) flakes, it was sweet, tangy, and spicy, really tasty. It came with a warm broth on the side too, so if the spicy noodles catch in your throat, you can just sip on that.

It had been a while since I'd had bibim guksu, and it was so good, sweet and tangy.

Crispy kimchi pancake fried the moment you order

We felt like just noodles wouldn't be enough, so we also tried the kimchi pancake. It's not a pre-made pancake reheated, they fry it fresh the moment your order comes in! You could hear the sizzling and popping from the kitchen and smell that delicious frying smell, which made the whole experience even more fun.

The kimchi here is delicious, so the pancake was excellent too. Crispy on the outside, warm inside, we polished it off happily, haha.

Soy milk broth to go and free parking in Sangam

It was so good that we took some soy milk broth to go, along with a black soybean (ube) version my partner loves. Since we'd been so eager to try the pumpkin kongguksu, the owner even gave us a serving of it on the house.

Super friendly, great food, and free parking on top of it all, definitely a place I want to visit again. If you're looking for a kongguksu spot in the area, I highly recommend Sangam Hoegwan. We'll absolutely be back!!!! So, so good, a genuine favorite... a top-tier kongguksu spot in Seoul.