Hongdae gomtang dinner for two: sikhye in a sauna water jug, Baengni

Ask about Hongdae and pasta, brunch and all kinds of fusion food come to mind first, but one day I was craving something hearty and clean: Korean food... 🤤 While searching, hanwoo gomtang (beef bone soup) and yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef rice bowl) looked so good that I headed to Baengni Gomtang (백리곰탕) in Hongdae! I ordered a bit of everything, from the large hanwoo gomtang to hanwoo soy yukhoe bibimbap and cold suyuk salad.

• Hot, rich gomtang
• Bibimbap loaded with hanwoo yukhoe
• Tangy-sweet cold suyuk salad
• Sikhye (sweet rice drink), the Korean dessert drink

I enjoyed every bite 🫪 Let me show you 🫶

Baengni Gomtang location and hours

Baengni Gomtang is a Korean restaurant in Hongdae at 40-18 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, 1st floor, Unit 1, open from 11:00 to 22:00.

What's the atmosphere at Baengni Gomtang like?

The restaurant isn't huge, but it was neat and tidy, so it was comfortable to eat in. We went in the evening, and there were all kinds of guests: older folks from the neighborhood, young students, even foreign visitors 😯 Well, gukbap (rice soup)... can't resist it 🫶

Every table has a kiosk, and you add pepper and salt to taste! There's a review event for homemade tteokgalbi, but they had run out that day so we couldn't join, sob. They looked so good though!! Do join in 👍🏻

What we ordered at Baengni Gomtang, and the side dishes

• 🥣 Hanwoo gomtang (large)
• 🍲 Soy-sauce hanwoo yukhoe bibimbap
• 🥗 Cold suyuk salad (chilled boiled beef)
• 🥤 Sikhye, Coke Zero

All our dishes arrived!! 🤤 I loved that everything came out at once, and the side dishes were kkakdugi, potato salad and salted squid. A perfect match for the meal 👍🏻 Let me go through them one by one!!

Is the large hanwoo gomtang generous?

At a gomtang restaurant, gomtang is the first thing you want to try, of course. This time it was the large hanwoo gomtang!

We ordered the large size, so there was plenty of meat and it was easy to enjoy generously. On days when you want warm soup rather than something spicy and heavy, nothing beats gomtang for a filling meal.

Where I live in Gyeongnam, pork gukbap is far more common, sob. Sometimes I just crave a clear broth like this! (Is it... only me? 🙄)

Scoop up a spoonful of hot hanwoo gomtang, top it with kkakdugi, and the rice power kicks in on its own haha

Soy-sauce hanwoo yukhoe bibimbap: gungchae pickles are the kicker

The hanwoo yukhoe bibimbap came with a choice of soy sauce or gochujang seasoning, and I picked soy! One of us had the soup, so I had to order something different~~ The menu photo showed a mountain of yukhoe, so I tried it, lol, and it really was a moun-tain 👍🏻

With plenty of yukhoe seasoned with soy sauce and garlic plus gungchae jangajji (pickled stem lettuce), the flavor had a real kick and the texture was so good!! My husband and I said we'd chop up pickles like these for our next bibimbap at home; they really matched. If you like soy-based yukhoe, definitely go for the soy version!!

How about cold suyuk salad as a side?

The side we ordered this time was the cold suyuk salad! (Can't skip a side 🐽) Gomtang and bibimbap alone felt like not enough, so we picked it to go along.

The fresh, tangy, spicy salad went so well between the warm gomtang and the rice dish. This three-dish combo was so good... (I'm praising myself 🫶) If you go with a group, do order a variety!! 👍🏻👍🏻

Dessert: sikhye in a jjimjilbang water jug

We finished with sweet 🥤sikhye🥤, which foreigners love haha. My husband and I always have sikhye when we go to the market, so we were happy to order it!! It came in a jjimjilbang (Korean spa) water jug, which made it even more fun and tasty!

The side dishes... the bibimbap... even the broth that came with it, all wiped clean.....🐽

And finally, the receipt photo you can take on the way out....🫶 Things like this make a memory, don't they.....haha

If you're looking for a good Korean restaurant in Hongdae, I recommend Baengni Gomtang! 🫶