Afternoon gukbap with homemade kimchi in Jung-gu, Daegu: Hanwoojang

I came to Daegu today ahead of Chuseok. My dad and I went on a little downtown date, and since he was craving gukbap (Korean soup with rice), I took him to my favorite gukbap spot, Hanwoojang.

What kind of restaurant is Hanwoojang, the ttaro-gukbap house near Jungangno in Daegu?

Hanwoojang, the ttaro-gukbap restaurant on Jungangno in Daegu, has won a Blue Ribbon award for 12 consecutive years. It's located at 555 Gukchaebosang-ro, 1st floor, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea.

The walls are covered with autographs from famous people. But honestly, there's probably nobody who's been to Hanwoojang who's only been once.

Is there a wait at Hanwoojang, and are high chairs available?

Hanwoojang is spacious with lots of seats, so you rarely have to wait. I went at an odd hour — not quite lunch, not quite dinner, around 3-4pm — so there were no other customers, but I hear this huge space is always packed at mealtimes.

They also have baby chairs, so it's fine to bring a little one along.

Hanwoojang's menu: regular vs. special, what's the difference?

This is the menu at Hanwoojang, a gukbap restaurant in Jung-gu, Daegu. Whenever I come here, I always seem to order the special seolleongtang (ox bone soup) and special ttaro-gukbap. The difference between regular and special is that the special versions add extra seonji (dried ox blood cubes) and somyeon sari (thin wheat noodles).

Not long after ordering, the full spread arrives like this.

Hanwoojang's homemade kimchi and the self-serve banchan bar

The basic side dishes at Hanwoojang are kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), whole cabbage kimchi, soy-marinated onion, and stir-fried anchovies. Unlike most restaurants that buy in Chinese-made kimchi, this place makes its own — and honestly, I keep coming back just because I can't forget how their kimchi tastes. Without exaggeration, it's the best restaurant kimchi I've ever had. It comes out as a whole cabbage head, so you just cut it with scissors as you eat.

You can help yourself to more side dishes at the self-serve bar.

The self-serve bar has every side dish that came with your meal, ready for seconds. I've never once seen this self-serve bar messy — it's always spotless.

Special seolleongtang: how much beef and how many noodles?

I usually order seonjiguk (dried blood soup), but today I went for Hanwoojang's special seolleongtang.

It's packed with beef, not pork. The meat isn't tough at all, has no gamy smell, and is really tender. There's so much meat that there's still some left even by the time I'm finishing my rice.

Being the special version, it also comes with more somyeon sari than the regular seolleongtang. Even without rice, the noodles alone would probably fill you up for one meal.

Special ttaro-gukbap: does the seonji taste gamy?

This is the special ttaro-gukbap my dad ordered. Daegu-style ttaro-gukbap is always made with seonji, and the rice comes separately — that's why it's called ttaro-gukbap ('separate' soup and rice).

There are plenty of big chunks of seonji inside. I stole a few pieces to try, and even this seonji had absolutely no gamy smell.

Regular ttaro-gukbap doesn't come with somyeon sari, but the special version adds it. Just like the seolleongtang, it wasn't just a token sprinkle of noodles — there was a generous amount.

Second-generation Hanwoojang, a safe bet for gukbap in downtown Daegu

Hanwoojang is now run by the son of the original owner, into its second generation. I'm told they simmer the broth for 12 hours, and rather than buying in kimchi, kkakdugi, or stir-fried anchovies, they make everything themselves. These days, plenty of delivery gukbap places just mix bone-broth extract with water and serve cheap imported kimchi on the side — but this place genuinely simmers real bones and makes its own side dishes.

If you're looking for a can't-fail gukbap restaurant downtown, come to Hanwoojang. I mean it — the kimchi is so good every single time that I hope the owner works less and earns a lot, and keeps this restaurant running for a long, long time~~~