Seongsu weekend outing, Korean soup pop-up: Dwaeji Gomtang House

2026.09

It had been so nice on weekdays that I decided to forget everything and get out this weekend, so I headed to Seongsu after a while — of course the weather turned gloomy that day, but it was still a happy weekend somehow. Thanks to my companion for coming along.

Starting a Seongsu weekend with gomtang at Dwaeji Gomtang House

Gotta eat well before playing around, so first stop was Dwaeji Gomtang House (돼지공탕 하우), which I hadn't visited in a while.

This is the original Dwaeji Gomtang House Seongsu branch.

I was going to go there, but since I was heading to Musinsa Mega Store anyway to browse the limited-edition line on the Seongsu café street and hunt for rubber-band pants, and I heard a Dwaeji Gomtang House pop-up had opened inside the mega store, I decided to check out Dwaeji Gomtang House Musinsa Mega Store Branch, well known as one of the top Korean restaurants in Seongsu.

What Musinsa Mega Store feels like on a rainy weekend

Musinsa always feels hot and hip no matter when you visit, but maybe because it was the weekend, there were tons of foreign visitors all over Seongsu — and the mega store especially was so packed with foreigners it was hard to tell if I was in Korea or China.

There's a wide range of cosmetics too, and the floor layout at Musinsa Mega Store seems well organized. Personally I'm not that into cosmetics, and anyway — food first! — so I headed straight up to the food court on the 4th floor.

The Dwaeji Gomtang House pop-up on Musinsa Mega Store's 4th-floor food court

When you go to Musinsa Mega Store, the 4th floor is set up as a food court gathering several restaurants together.

Among them, today's destination was the Dwaeji Gomtang House Musinsa Mega Store pop-up. There are various pop-ups from other well-known Seongsu restaurants on the 4th floor too, like Juak Juak, but since it was morning I went with the light, healthy gomtang.

Compared to the Dwaeji Gomtang House location I usually go to, since this is a pop-up inside a food court, the water station is shared with the other restaurants, and you order with a buzzer for pickup and bus your own table when done.

2,000 won more than the Seongsu branch: does the gomtang taste different?

Compared to the original Dwaeji Gomtang House, this location is about ₩2,000 more expensive — probably because it's right in the heart of Seongsu and set up as a pop-up on the 4th floor of Musinsa Mega Store, so the rent is likely different from a regular storefront. Still, there was no difference in taste, so I was satisfied.

With prices going up lately, I've noticed some restaurants that can't pass the cost onto their menu prices end up cutting corners on ingredient quality instead, losing what made them special — which is a shame. Adjusting prices to fit the situation while keeping the fundamental taste intact seems like the better way to go... just my personal opinion.

What I especially love about Dwaeji Gomtang House is that the clear broth is amazing as a hangover cure, but the thinly sliced meat with its rich flavor, paired with the accompanying chili sauce, is a perfect combination of delicious and healthy.

I haven't had much of an appetite lately and couldn't really eat much, but I cleaned my bowl completely for the first time in a while. After that we browsed short padded jackets and rubber-band pants at Musinsa Mega Store.

Free samples at the HBAF flagship on Seongsu cafe street

No trip to the Seongsu café street is complete without the famous HBAF store. Personally I prefer the flagship store in Seongsu over the one in Myeongdong — it feels less overwhelming, curated down to just the popular new releases. And of course, you can sample everything.

Nobody gave us any funny looks or hassle for sampling, so we could enjoy it comfortably. The new coffee cookie flavor... it was so good I wanted to bring some home, but my companion and I have such opposite taste preferences that I cleanly gave up on that idea.

Ending the day at the Minute Mute showroom in Seongsu

And finally, we ended the day browsing bags at Minute Mute, a brand my companion loves. If the weather had been a bit nicer we would've had even more fun, but still, it was a satisfying weekend outing after a while of staying in. Besides Dwaeji Gomtang House, we hit a bunch of other great restaurants and cafés in Seongsu, and I'll be posting about them one by one :)