Ox bone soup and tripe soup in Dongseong-ro, Daegu: Hanwoojang

The mornings and evenings are getting a little cooler, which means summer is nearly over and fall is on its way. My body, worn out from the heat, was craving hot soup..! Wanting a proper boyang (health-boosting meal), I headed to a seolleongtang spot in Dongseong-ro, Daegu: Hanwoojang.

Hanwoojang: a 24-hour ox bone soup institution in Dongseong-ro, Daegu

Hanwoojang is a long-running seolleongtang spot in Dongseong-ro. The moment I arrived, what caught my eye was the sign proudly announcing 12 straight years as a Blue Ribbon pick. Already excited~~

And it's open 24 hours. Great if you've had a drink in Dongseong-ro and want hot soup to sober up in the early hours, or if you want a hearty breakfast without worrying about timing. There's no dedicated parking lot, so I parked at the public lot near Gyeongsang Gamyeong Park and walked over.

Stepping inside, it really feels like an old-school institution. The wooden tables and chairs, the whole atmosphere — you can feel the years. One wall is covered with signatures from famous visitors.

Ordering seolleongtang and yangtang, somyeon noodles included

We ordered seolleongtang and yangtang. The seolleongtang comes with basic somyeon (thin noodles) included.

Everything came out neatly plated. The broth looked pale and milky and pretty delicious.

How much meat is in the seolleongtang, and how to season it

Hanwoojang's seolleongtang has a good amount of meat in that milky broth, plus somyeon noodles mixed in. It's a generous portion, so one bowl leaves you pretty full and satisfied. There's a large size too, so if you're a big eater, go for that!!

The broth was on the richer side and needed some seasoning. I added a shake of pepper and a bit of sauce, and honestly it tasted way better this way haha.

What I especially liked was the amount of meat.. With some seolleongtang places, you see meat in the first few spoonfuls, then it's just noodles and broth by the end — but here the meat stayed fairly generous throughout. Grabbing a bite of meat with the noodles, then a spoonful of broth, is just perfect >_<

Yangtang, the tripe soup mom liked even more

Hanwoojang's yangtang uses beef tripe (yang) as the name suggests, and when I stirred it around, the amount of tripe was genuinely massive. Every time I scooped with the spoon, more kept coming, so even without noodles it's filling and hearty. It has that distinctive chewy-yet-tender texture, so if you're into offal, you might like yangtang even more than seolleongtang. Mom ordered the yangtang and absolutely loved it.

There's an insane amount of tripe in there lol. You eat and eat and it never runs out.. Next time I'll tell my husband to get the large size. At the table next to us, some older folks were having suyuk (boiled meat slices) with soju, and the tripe suyuk or tail suyuk looked really good too... Suyuk and soju in broad daylight, so perfect right? Lolol I need to sneak in a daytime drink next weekend.

The yangtang broth was also rich and great for mixing with rice, and adding a little pepper and sauce gave it a spicy kick that made it perfect as a hangover cure. Feels like one bowl of this the morning after drinking would completely fix you up!

Kimchi, kkakdugi and the self-serve banchan corner

Hanwoojang's kimchi and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) are genuinely delicious. A good gukbap (soup-and-rice) place always has good kimchi and kkakdugi. The kimchi comes out in big chunks so I cut it with scissors as I ate. No matter how good the broth is, a seolleongtang place with disappointing kimchi always feels 2% short — but here the banchan game is solid. A spoonful of milky seolleongtang topped with a piece of well-ripened kimchi is a perfect combo.. and alternating with crunchy kkakdugi kept my chopsticks going.

You can grab extra banchan from the self-serve corner — onions, peppers, and anchovies too. The anchovies are seriously delicious lol.

Is Hanwoojang worth it for late-night or early-morning gukbap?

For food like seolleongtang or gomtang (bone soup), the basics matter most — rich broth, generous meat, filling portions, plus delicious kimchi and kkakdugi. There's a reason Hanwoojang has kept its Blue Ribbon status for 12 straight years. Being able to get a hot seolleongtang any time, 24 hours a day, right in the middle of Dongseong-ro, is a big plus too!! Good for a hearty lunch, good when you're hunting for breakfast, and especially good as a last stop for a hangover cure after drinking late in Dongseong-ro.

A nice touch — they even hand you a coffee on your way out haha. At the tail end of summer, this felt like a proper boyang meal of hot seolleongtang and yangtang. If you're looking for an old-school gukbap spot or a 24-hour seolleongtang place in Dongseong-ro, I'd recommend Hanwoojang.