No-tripe head meat sundaeguk with warmer-heated jjal sundae: Gukdam

I was craving a hot, hearty bowl of sundaeguk (blood sausage soup), so I visited Gukdam Sundaeguk Main Branch. The restaurant sits on the first floor up a short flight of stairs, and I liked the impression right away — clean and well-kept from the entrance all the way inside. Two of us visited and ordered two bowls of sundaeguk along with jjal sundae (glutinous blood sausage) and a suyuk (boiled pork) tasting plate.

A sweet corn silk tea comes out first.

Ordering and the self-bar

You order via a tabletop kiosk. All the side dishes are self-serve at the bar, and they even provide disposable aprons and hair ties, generously stocked.

The water on offer is a fragrant, nutty corn silk tea.

The side dishes that stuck with me: seasoned pig ear and cucumber peppers

The standard side dishes are seasoned pig ear, dried radish salad, diced radish kimchi, and chive salad. Among the usual sundaeguk-shop lineup, one dish stood out as a bit unusual — the seasoned pig ear. It had a chewy-crisp yet tender texture with a spicy dressing, and it was genuinely impressive.

The cucumber peppers were some of the biggest and freshest I've ever had. One bite was crisp, sweet, and cool — crunchier and fresher than most bell peppers, honestly. It might seem like a small thing, but when the basic side dishes are this good, it naturally raises your expectations for the food.

The dishes I ordered arrived one by one. Let me start with the sundaeguk.

Sundaeguk with rice, ₩10,000 — clear broth loaded with head meat

The broth isn't the milky, heavy style — it's clear and clean, more like galbitang (short rib soup). Tasting it, the broth was light but carried a deep pork flavor.

(This photo is before I added the rice.) There was far more head meat than sundae in the bowl. Looking at the bowl, the meat is piled in generously, boasting a serious quantity. With that much meat, eating it alongside the rice fills you up before you know it.

For reference, this sundaeguk contains no tripe. For anyone who isn't a fan of tripe's distinctive smell or texture, that's actually a plus — and it works well for someone like me who loves a hearty, meat-forward soup.

I added the rice into the soup. You really have to do this. The meat is the main character here, not the broth — wherever you scoop, you find meat. Personally I'm a big dwaeji gukbap lover, so I ate this with real satisfaction, haha.

The head meat came in big, generous chunks — the more you chewed, the more you tasted that clean pork flavor — and best of all, there was plenty of it, so I got to enjoy the meat to my heart's content.

I'm not sure the photo conveys it, but even the regular size was such a solid portion that I nearly couldn't finish it. I'm not joking — before ordering the large size, you might want to think twice. Of course, it was delicious, so I ate it all anyway...

Jjal sundae, ₩8,000 — kept warm from first bite to last

Sundae usually cools off fast once it's plated, but this place serves it a bit differently. A solid-fuel flame sits under a tripod-mounted mini stainless steamer, keeping it warm the whole time you eat.

I've seen this kind of setup used for bossam before, but I'd never seen sundae served this way — it was fun and unexpected. Thanks to it, the sundae stayed warm and chewy from start to finish, which I really liked.

The chewy texture that jjal sundae is known for really comes alive when it's warm, so I was a big fan of this setup. I think it's especially useful for slow eaters.

Not soggy at all — the glass noodles stayed soft and chewy, and the blood component had a clean flavor with no off smell. A great jjal sundae.

Even my mom, who's sensitive to pork smell and doesn't even like samgyeopsal (and can barely eat head meat), finished hers and packed the rest to take home.

Suyuk tasting plate (half order), ₩11,000 — served cold, so I warmed it on the burner

We also ordered the suyuk (boiled pork) tasting plate. Interestingly, unlike the jjal sundae, the suyuk comes out cold. It also looked to be mostly head meat, and while a bit plain, it was clean and easy to eat. With two of us sharing sundaeguk plus jjal sundae and suyuk, the spread was pretty substantial, so we packed up the leftovers.

Partway through, it occurred to me to try warming the suyuk on the sundae's warmer, so I gave it a shot. Personally, I liked it much better warm. The meat turned softer and more tender than when it was cold, and the texture improved too.

So what kind of sundaeguk shop is this?

Gukdam Sundaeguk Main Branch offers a sundaeguk that's a bit different from the milky, heavy version people usually picture — a clear, clean broth generously loaded with head meat. With no tripe and a generous portion of meat, anyone who likes dwaeji gukbap or head meat should be quite satisfied here. The spicy, tender seasoned pig ear and the big, fresh cucumber peppers also stuck in my memory as standout basics, and the little warmer that kept the jjal sundae hot all the way through was a fun touch. Combined with the clean, well-kept atmosphere, it was overall a comfortable place to eat. If you love plentiful meat and a clear sundaeguk broth, it's worth a visit.

+) They gave us a nutritious rice cake as a gift!