Gumi loach soup restaurant with partitioned seats for five: Irojeong

These days, when my energy's running low, all I can think about is a good hearty meal! I headed to Irojeong Gumi Geumosan Direct Branch this weekend to recharge a bit. A 19-team weekend lunch wait — for real? I'll share parking, waiting, and reservation tips in this review.

Where is Irojeong Gumi Geumosan Direct Branch? Hours and parking

• 🏠 Address & location: 32 Park Chung-hee-ro, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:00-21:00 / break time 15:30-17:00 / last order 20:10 / closed on Chuseok and Lunar New Year Day
• 🅿️ Parking: Private lot available

The parking area in front of the restaurant is huge, but cars kept streaming in and out nonstop.

How long is the weekend lunch wait at Irojeong in Gumi?

I reserved the night before and arrived around noon on the weekend — already 8 teams waiting! If I hadn't booked ahead, I'd have been standing around forever. By the time we finished eating and left around 1pm, the wait had climbed to 19 teams — genuinely wild. A reservation really does seem essential for weekend lunch!

You can also join the remote waitlist through Tabling, so I'd recommend checking before you head over.

Waiting area, kids' play space, and the private partitioned table for five

The waiting area was well set up too, with snacks, drinks, and even cups of ice ready to go, so kids probably wouldn't get bored while waiting.

Inside, there's even a play area with arcade games, which explains why so many families come here.

We'd reserved for five people in advance, so we were shown to a private table with partitions. It was really nice being able to eat quietly and comfortably just among ourselves! There are both rooms and private partitioned seats, so it looked like a good spot for family outings or gatherings too.

They have baby chairs too, of course.

Even the water wasn't plain water — it was sanghwang mushroom tea.

Irojeong Gumi Geumosan Direct Branch menu and what the party of five ordered

Loach soup and black goat soup are the main dishes here. I thought about ordering black goat suyuk (boiled meat) separately, but the set meal looked like better value, so I went with that instead.

• ✔️ Boiled-meat sanghwang mushroom loach set for 2
• ✔️ Wild ginseng black goat suyuk set for 2
• ✔️ Whole octopus seafood pancake
• And since Arirang makgeolli was on sale, I ordered that too for ₩2,900!

They also sell whole loin pork cutlet, which is another reason it's a good spot to bring kids. Check the video for the drink and beverage menu.

Both the loach and the black goat are domestically sourced, so it felt even better for you!

How do the sanghwang mushroom loach set and wild ginseng black goat suyuk set taste?

Going in with a real 'let's properly recharge my body' mindset, the table setting was pretty generous from the start. The boiled-meat sanghwang mushroom loach set came with boiled meat, salad, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), fritters, and more.

Having the boiled meat included made the whole spread feel much more substantial than just eating the soup alone.

The black goat suyuk came topped with beautifully yellow-tinted eun-i mushrooms and snowflake wild ginseng.

Underneath was a generous bed of chives, and dipped into the accompanying perilla oil sauce, there was almost no gamey smell at all — it tasted clean, so even a first-timer with black goat suyuk wouldn't find it off-putting.

Whole-octopus seafood pancake with Milyang Arirang makgeolli

The whole octopus seafood pancake we ordered as a side genuinely had a whole octopus inside, and it felt fried crispier than a typical pancake — perfect alongside makgeolli.

Especially since Milyang Arirang makgeolli was on promotion at ₩2,900 a bottle that day — couldn't let that pass, haha.

Black goat soup vs. chueotang (loach soup) at Irojeong

Personally, I thought the loach soup was the best — eating it piping hot was so satisfying. The black goat soup was kind of like beef soup, but with no gamey smell and that distinctive hearty-meal feel, great for sweating it out on a hot day.

Even the rice was turmeric rice, which somehow made it feel even healthier.

Self-serve bar and watermelon for dessert

For any side dishes you're missing, there's a self-serve bar with extra banchan, somyeon noodles, salted shrimp, and even watermelon for dessert — really convenient. Finishing the meal off with watermelon made it an even better fit for a hot summer visit.

They're also running a review event, so be sure to grab your ppeongtwigi (puffed rice snack) too.

Final verdict on Irojeong, a loach soup restaurant in Gumi

Overall, the restaurant is spacious and well equipped with amenities — from the waiting area to the play space to the self-serve bar — which explains why so many families come here. If you're planning to visit, I'd recommend the remote Tabling waitlist or making a reservation!

With hearty dishes like loach soup or black goat soup, plus boiled meat, seafood pancake, and even a glass of makgeolli, it was a properly restorative meal on a hot summer day. If you're near Geumosan in Gumi looking for a hearty meal with family, I'd recommend Irojeong Gumi Geumosan Direct Branch!