Gumi loach soup spot for parents, forest-view waiting room: Irojeong

Irojeong Gumi Geumosan Direct Branch location and hours

Irojeong Gumi Geumosan Direct Branch (이로정 구미금오산직영점) is at 32 Bakjeonghui-ro, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and is open daily 11:00 - 21:00. Break time is 15:00 - 17:00.

Today's stop is Irojeong, a loach soup place in Gumi! It's a brand-new hotspot in Sangmo-dong :) I came with my parents for some summer stamina food! There's a big parking lot right in front of the restaurant, which is so convenient.

How long is the weekend evening wait at Irojeong?

There were 6 teams ahead of us on a weekend evening, so we waited a little in the forest-view waiting room. Lush green views and it's done up like a café, so I was amazed 🫢 The waiting room is also big and comfortable, and the time just flew by.

In the waiting room they have barley snacks to nibble on while you wait, plus Sipjeondaebo tea (a herbal tonic tea), sikhye (sweet rice drink) and sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch). Of course, you can also have them as dessert after your meal :) This kind of thoughtful touch made me very happy.

Private rooms and a kids' play room for family gatherings

The inside is huge with lots of tables, so a seat opened up quickly for us! Maybe because it's new, the interior is super clean.

I felt it's good for family gatherings or club meetups because there are many private rooms where you can eat in privacy! The tables are roomy and the chairs comfy, and you can tell it was built with customers in mind.

I'd also recommend it as a Gumi restaurant to go to with kids, because Irojeong even has a play room with game machines!! It has safety mats, so it's a good pick for a family meal with children.

Even the regular water is a tea brewed from Sanghwang mushrooms (phellinus). It tastes nutty, and it's good for your health, which makes it even better.

Boiled pork, mackerel and loach soup set for ₩18,000 per person

You order from a kiosk, and we got the boiled pork + mackerel + Sanghwang loach soup set :) It's ₩18,000 per person.

The side dishes and boiled pork came out as a neat full table spread: salad, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), fried loach, wood ear mushrooms and assorted kimchi. The most surprising was the fried whole loach! It tasted good and was a healthy stamina food too.

Boiled Duroc pork belly

They say the boiled pork (suyuk) is made with premium Duroc pork belly, one of the world's three great pork breeds, and it was moist, tender and had no gamey smell, so delicious. Topped with geotjeori (fresh kimchi) and dried radish strips, it was amazing,,

Turmeric rice

The rice isn't plain white rice either but a healthy version with turmeric 💛 It doesn't taste special, it tastes just like regular rice, so no worries. I felt this place has everything that health-minded older folks would like.

Grilled Norwegian mackerel

Grilled mackerel that's moist and rich with oil. Being Norwegian makes it even tastier, and the big bones are all removed, so it's easy to eat. The seasoning was just right too, a total rice thief (so good you keep eating rice).

How does Irojeong's Namwon-style loach soup taste?

Irojeong's star dish, Nambawon-style loach soup (chueotang), arrives bubbling in an earthenware pot. It's rich but not heavy, and nutty, really delicious. My parents raved that it was far better than the famous loach soup places!

Nambawon-style loach soup is made by finely grinding whole loaches, so it has deep savory flavor, a nutty taste and a clean aftertaste. It's good even for first-timers, and it restores your strength, so I highly recommend it as a summer stamina food :)

Self-serve bar plus watermelon and sweet pumpkin sikhye for dessert

You can take as many side dishes as you like from the self-serve bar in the middle, and somyeon (thin wheat noodles) are there too! The geotjeori in particular was really good ^__^

On top of that, they have sweet watermelon ready for dessert 🍉 A restaurant that's perfect even down to dessert,, really

If you join the review event, you get a heart-shaped puffed rice cracker 🩷 I finished the meal full and happy with a glass of sweet pumpkin sikhye too-!

Parking, the waiting space, the taste of the food, dessert, nothing was missing at Irojeong, and I was satisfied with all of it. It's the best place for a family gathering, so please go!! Highly recommend!!