Kimchi fried rice diner in Dangu-dong, Wonju: Haengbokhan Udong Gage

I finally made it back to Haengbokhan Udong Gage, a place in Dangu-dong, Wonju that basically everyone in town has been to :) That same retro charm and flavor got my heart racing all over again ❣️ And the staff were as kind as ever — thanks to them it was a delicious, feel-good meal. Can't keep it all to myself, so let me introduce you :)

• 🗺️Address 364 Dangu-ro, Wonju, Gangwon, Haengbokhan Udong Gage Dangwan Branch
• 🕰️Hours Daily 11:00 – 4:30 the next morning
• 👍🏻Signature menu Gakgi udon / Old-style pork cutlet / Kimchi fried rice / Spicy pork rice bowl / Squid rice bowl

Haengbokhan Udong Gage Dangwan Branch: open in Wonju until 4:30am

The retro vibe starts right from the sign ✨ At this Dangu-dong, Wonju favorite, the interior leans even more retro, and it brings back all kinds of old memories :)

🕰️It's open from 11am to 4:30am, and every item on the menu is available for takeout during those hours. Honestly, even bars don't stay open that long these days. But this Dangu-dong spot runs until 4:30am and lets you take any menu item to go the whole time! On top of that, there's a solid waiting service — anyone who waits to be seated gets a free 🍶soju or 🍺beer. Makes the wait worth it, right?

What the inside looks like: classroom-style retro decor and walls of customer notes

The inside of Haengbokhan Udong Gage Dangwan Branch feels just like the school I went to a long time ago. From the wooden chairs to the rough wooden walls, memories kept popping up. Parents with young kids could probably give them a modern history lesson right here instead of hauling them to a museum 😆

The walls were covered edge to edge with notes left by customers, and reading through them while waiting for our food, I could really feel the genuine fandom of the regulars who keep coming back ❣️ We were the first customers of the day thanks to our open-run, but before long the tables filled up one by one until the place was packed. I saw fathers and sons holding hands, and it seemed like a spot especially popular with men 👍🏻

The menu at Haengbokhan Udong Gage: udon, soba, pajeon and dureuchigi to share

There's udon, soba, pork cutlet, fried rice, rice bowls, and dumplings for a quick, easy meal, plus anju (drinking food) like pajeon (savory pancake), dureuchigi (stir-fried pork and vegetables), soup, and fruit. They say the noodles here are house-made over 48 hours, and the broth is drawn straight from katsuobushi and dried anchovies for a genuinely healthy stock. So I can vouch for the udon flavor 👍🏻 In particular, the noodles aren't the thick white kind I was used to — they're thin and chewy, and genuinely so good!!!

👍🏻The popular items here are the spicy pork rice bowl / gakgi udon / handmade pork cutlet / kimchi fried rice. Good thing after good thing, so I end up with decision paralysis.

Squid rice bowl, old-style pork cutlet and kimchi fried rice in aluminium bowls

This time we ordered squid rice bowl / old-style (Western-style) pork cutlet / kimchi fried rice. Everything comes served in a tin bowl, so you really feel that retro atmosphere right away, right? Kind of like how ramyeon somehow tastes better cooked in a tin pot — the kimchi fried rice and squid rice bowl felt extra delicious for the same reason, somehow :)

Kimchi fried rice: the dish a picky-eating child finished two-thirds of

👉🏻The kimchi fried rice was the dish our little one ordered. My kid is obsessed with kimchi fried rice. Every time we come here it's kimchi fried rice only, and after one bite comes a little nod of approval 😆 Even though she's a picky eater, she always finishes more than two-thirds of the kimchi fried rice here.

It's loaded with bacon, kimchi, and gim (dried seaweed). It tastes kind of like what grandma used to fry up for me — stir-fried with perilla oil until it's sweet and savory, nutty and full of that nostalgic feeling. Eating it, I found myself thinking about memories with my grandmother out of nowhere ❣️

Western-style old-fashioned pork cutlet, served with its own bowl of rice

👉🏻The old-style (Western-style) pork cutlet. I used to prefer Japanese-style tonkatsu, but I guess I've gotten older, because now I like this crispy old-school style better. It reminded me of my mom pounding the meat with a mallet to make it. Now that I think about it, every single dish here brings up some kind of memory :)

And it's really big and thick — hard to finish alone. It's big enough that even some women might have trouble eating the whole thing solo. The value for money is off the charts. And even though the meat is thick, it's not dry or tough at all — tender enough for a kid to eat, and delicious. Crispy outside, juicy inside 👍🏻

Usually with pork cutlet you just get a small round scoop of rice on the plate, right? I was caught off guard when a full bowl of rice came out separately. That's how generous this place is :)

Squid rice bowl: a sauce worth ordering extra rice for

👉🏻The squid rice bowl has a genuinely delicious sauce! Not too spicy, with real depth of flavor — oh man 🤤 It's packed with plump squid too, so you get plenty of good chewy texture. And the sauce is so good I honestly wanted to mix in one more bowl of rice 👍🏻

I'm always torn between the spicy pork rice bowl and the squid rice bowl ㅠ Please just make a squid-and-pork combo bowl!! Please 🙏🏻