Gunja café-style Korean restaurant: ₩36,000 shrimp hotpot, Dimideun

What is Dimideun Gunja near Gunja Station?

Dimideun Gunja (디미든 군자) is a Korean restaurant at 13 Dongil-ro 62-gil, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 1st floor (Jungok-dong 534-4), serving everything from gomtang (beef bone soup) to suyuk (boiled sliced meat) and hotpots. It's a very tidy place for a Gunja dinner, good for both food and drinks. It's open 11:30-22:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:30, and closed on Mondays.

My boyfriend and I went to Gunja for dinner after work. We zipped over on an electric bike, and it was quick. Today's spot is Dimideun in Gunja! It doesn't look like a gukbap (rice soup) place, but it is one.

Dimideun Gunja exterior, café-like interior and seating

Dimideun Gunja looked very clean right from the outside.

Inside there are window seats and table seats, and everything looked spotless, maybe because it hasn't been open long.

It felt less like a Korean soup restaurant and more like a cozy, tidy café. The actual counter (?) is U-shaped like a café's, with the kitchen behind it. There are bar seats by the window where you can eat alone.

We sat at a 2-person table in the middle. There are 4-person tables further inside too.

Some families came in, but most looked like couples. We're a couple and a family, haha~

Dimideun Gunja menu and how to order

You order with the QR code on the table.

Dimideun sells a wide range of Korean dishes, from gomtang to suyuk to hotpots. There are good single-meal picks like the rich Dimideun gomtang, Hanwoo-pork (Korean pork) gomtang, minari (water dropwort) beef gomtang and spicy beef gomtang, plus shareable dishes like jeyuk muchim (seasoned spicy pork), mixed suyuk and the brisket and freshwater shrimp hotpot. Hangover-soup-style dishes, hotpots and jeyuk muchim would be so good with a drink.

What drinks does Dimideun Gunja serve?

Maybe that was the idea: besides soju and beer, Dimideun Gunja sells distilled soju like Hwayo and Iltum Jinro, makgeolli (rice wine) like Neurinmaeul and Boksoondoga, and also yakju and cheongju (refined rice wines).

What we ordered for two and how much it cost

I was curious about the gomtang too, but since there were two of us we went with a hotpot. Individual bowls are nice, but on days when two people share the same dish, a hotpot like this suits it well.

• Brisket and freshwater shrimp hotpot ₩34,000
• Two bowls of rice ₩2,000
• Total ₩36,000 (2 people)

How does the brisket and freshwater shrimp hotpot taste?

The side dishes at Dimideun Gunja are kkakdugi and napa cabbage kimchi! I think the kimchi and kkakdugi really matter at a gomtang place, and both were good. They suited my taste.

The hotpot came out with a gas burner. It had napa cabbage hearts, oyster mushrooms, daedagi (seasoning paste), onion, minari, green onion, meat and freshwater shrimp.

The meat comes already cooked, but it needs to be hot, so just boil it well. Going by looks alone, the meat looks more like suyuk than brisket.

What I was most curious about was, of course, the combination of brisket and freshwater shrimp. It was my first time having a brisket and freshwater shrimp hotpot.

I wondered what flavor the freshwater shrimp would add to the rich brisket, and when I tried it, the broth was spicy and refreshing. There was plenty of meat too, so it was easy to share.

Big shrimp would have been a pain to peel, but these freshwater shrimp are teeny tiny and just add a savory depth to the broth, which I liked.

The brisket was tender but still had some chew. I think it's a good pick when you want a slightly different combination from a familiar hotpot. It goes great with a drink, even more than with rice.

Is the brisket and freshwater shrimp hotpot enough for two?

We added two bowls of rice, and eating it with rice, the amount was enough for the two of us. If you're skipping the rice, it would be good to order one more dish.

We polished it off in no time. Spicy, clean and delicious.

Dimideun Gunja: final verdict

I'd like to try the gomtang next time at Dimideun Gunja, and overall it was so clean that I was in a good mood the whole time. The hotpot was tasty, spicy and clean, so it seems good for a family meal out or a date. The prices aren't a burden either, so it's an easy place to drop by.

If you're looking for a Korean dish for two to share in Gunja, give Dimideun in Gunja a visit. They also have a wide range of drinks, so a evening drink here would be great too. Next time, gomtang for me~