Gongdeok bibimbap restaurant: daily-limited raw beef, Horangi Gotgan

Right by Exit 4 of Gongdeok Station, open every day of the year, with a wide range of Korean dishes — Horangi Gotgan Gongdeok Branch!

How to find Horangi Gotgan: 3 minutes from Gongdeok Station Exit 4

I think there are a lot of really good Korean restaurants around Gongdeok Station, and this time I visited Horangi Gotgan Gongdeok Branch. Walk about 3 minutes along the main road from Exit 4 of Gongdeok Station on Line 5 and you'll spot it — open every day, no closed days, from 11am for lunch until 9:30pm for dinner!

What to order at Horangi Gotgan: a bone-broth house with a wide Korean menu

Horangi Gotgan Gongdeok Branch specializes in sagol (ox bone broth), but the menu of Korean dishes is really varied — from bibimbap and rice bowl dishes to drinking snacks. Apparently bone broth and basic side dishes are served only with the bibimbap/rice bowl menus.

Visiting in the second week of September, the summer special menu was still being sold. There's no fixed end date exactly, but I'd guess it'll come down once real autumn arrives in a week or two.

We ordered raw beef bibimbap with 4pc kimchi jeon added (₩12,000 + ₩3,000), and the yeolmu (young radish greens) water naengmyeon (cold noodles) + pork belly set (₩14,000). The raw beef bibimbap is sold in a daily-limited quantity, so if you visit late in the afternoon it might be sold out!!

Inside Horangi Gotgan: seating, the waiting list and the self-bar

The interior is quite spacious — enough to seat around 7 tables of 4 at once? There's a waiting list at the entrance, so on weekdays or at really busy times you should factor in a wait.

Extra kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) and pickled onion, the basic side dishes, are available at the self-bar.

The basic bone broth, side dishes, and bibim sauce that come with the bibimbap/rice bowl order. You season the bone broth to your taste with pepper and salt. I thought the food would come out quickly, but it was busy so it took longer than expected — I sipped the bone broth to curb the hunger while waiting.

Nice touch — they put a hair tie on every table haha.

Kimchi jeon, 4 pieces for 3,000 won — fried fresh and crisp

Crispy, chewy kimchi jeon (Korean kimchi pancake) — 4pc for ₩3,000. They brought it out before the main dishes. We ordered the 4pc kimchi jeon that comes as an option with the raw beef bibimbap, not the basic mini kimchi jeon on the side menu (₩9,000). It wasn't soggy at all — freshly fried, warm and crispy, which was great!!

Raw beef bibimbap for 12,000 won: how big is the yukhoe portion?

Fresh raw beef bibimbap!! Mixed with lettuce, seasoned laver flakes, bean sprouts and chives — textbook yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef mixed rice). The taste is great, and the portion is seriously generous. The sauce isn't a vinegared chili paste base — it's closer to a spicy ssamjang-style seasoning.

As you can see, it's not a small handful — there's really a lot of raw beef!! It was so good I think I'll order the raw beef bibimbap again next time I visit haha.

Summer special: yeolmu water naengmyeon with pork belly, 14,000 won

Next up, the summer special yeolmu water naengmyeon and pork belly set (₩14,000). The pork belly is grilled over direct fire with the fat well drained off, so it's not greasy at all — clean and light!! It went well even just paired with the chive salad that came alongside. I think it would have been quite good even if we'd ordered the pork belly bibimbap instead!!

Overall the portions were generous across the board — even my big-eater companion Namchini felt the portions were plentiful. The naengmyeon broth isn't overly seasoned, and it's definitely a no-MSG kind of taste! They seem to add a little vinegar and mustard in advance, and there's barely any of the usual naengmyeon sauce packet. The yeolmu kimchi was refreshing too, and the finish of the broth was clean — definitely has its own character. That said, if you're expecting the store-bought naengmyeon taste, it might be a bit different from what you expect. Namchini really enjoyed it!

Is Horangi Gotgan worth it for lunch near Gongdeok Station?

The naengmyeon broth was so good, and above all the raw beef bibimbap was really satisfying haha. Once the summer special menu comes down, I'll have to try the rice bowls or the soup rice. If you're worried that other dishes might be weak since it's a bone-broth specialty restaurant, you don't need to worry at all — the quality of every dish was really good. Whenever I'm back at Gongdeok Station wanting a simple, healthy meal, I think Horangi Gotgan Gongdeok Branch will come to mind.

Recommended as a casual, drop-in-anytime Korean restaurant for lunch near Gongdeok Station!