Stroller-friendly Gangneung restaurant: pork cutlet and makgeolli

A restaurant near Ojukheon in Gangneung, Gangwon Matdeurin Sundubu Haejangguk & Gamjatang

What is Matdeurin, the Korean restaurant near Ojukheon in Gangneung?

Here's my review of Matdeurin Sundubu Haejangguk & Gamjatang, a restaurant near Ojukheon in Gangneung, right where a bunch of great Gangneung sightseeing spots are clustered together — Ojukheon, the Gangneung City Museum, the Gangneung Embroidery Museum, and more 🍲🥢 We got to enjoy local Gangneung food and drink here, like sundubu gamjatang and Saimdang makgeolli, plus a pork cutlet the kids love eating. Matdeurin is technically a haejangguk (hangover soup) and gamjatang (pork bone stew) specialist, but the side menu pork cutlet turned out to be amazing..! Full cutlet review below ⤵️

Can you bring a stroller into Matdeurin? Parking and seating

Matdeurin, our pick near Ojukheon in Gangneung, is a place where you can eat without worrying about parking. It opens at 8:30am, so breakfast is possible too.

There's a ramp at the entrance, so it was easy to wheel the kids' stroller inside! When my first child was little and it was just one kid, I never had to think about this stuff, but now that I'm raising three, mom and dad's hands aren't enough, so whether a restaurant allows stroller access has become really important when we're picking a place to eat. Matdeurin is easy to get a stroller into, and both the inside of the restaurant and the parking lot are spacious, so we could eat without feeling like we were in anyone's way.

There's plenty of comfy sofa-style seating and baby chairs are also on hand.

The Gangwon traditional liquor showcase beside the side-dish bar

Before eating, I looked around the place a bit. What caught my eye was the liquor showcase next to the side-dish self-serve bar. You can buy various regional sojus and traditional liquors like Gangneung soju, Malgeun Gangwon soju, Donghae soju, Inje gorosoe-ju (maple sap liquor), and gamjasul (potato liquor). It's nice to enjoy them with gamjatang at the restaurant, but they'd also make good souvenirs to bring home and drink later.

What's on the menu at Matdeurin

The menu at Matdeurin Sundubu Haejangguk & Gamjatang, our pick near Ojukheon in Gangneung. There's gamjatang, sundubu (soft tofu) gamjatang, beef tripe hot pot, octopus tripe hot pot, sundubu octopus tripe hot pot, bone haejangguk, sundubu ugeoji (dried radish greens) haejangguk, beef offal soup, chodang sundubu, sundae (blood sausage) haejangguk, stir-fried octopus, sundae, galbi mandu (dumplings), and more, plus a good range of drinks.

Matdeurin Sundubu Haejangguk & Gamjatang uniquely sells a gamjatang with sundubu added, so that's what we ordered, along with side dishes and makgeolli to go with it. Kimchi and diced radish kimchi come as basic side dishes, and you can grab more from the self-serve bar.

Saimdang corn makgeolli, 4,000 won

Saimdang corn makgeolli (4.0), a Gangneung liquor. It was interesting how you could actually taste the corn, and it's not strong, so it's easy to drink lightly. Since this was a stop right at the start of a trip with the kids, we only drank about half a bottle.

What can the kids eat? Handmade pork cutlet 15,000 won and fried shrimp 5,000 won

Matdeurin Sundubu Haejangguk & Gamjatang, a good spot for eating with kids in Gangneung, has fried shrimp (5.0) and a handmade pork cutlet (15.0) that are easy for kids to eat. The cutlet turned out surprisingly good. The taste is clean and the portion is generous, so I'd recommend Matdeurin's handmade pork cutlet as a full meal for adults too. We ordered ours with the sauce poured on top, but you can also get the sauce on the side.

Matdeurin's signature sundubu (kongbiji) gamjatang, 35,000 won

The signature menu item at Matdeurin Sundubu Haejangguk & Gamjatang near Ojukheon in Gangneung: sundubu (soft tofu) gamjatang (35.0). There's also the regular Matdeurin gamjatang, but since we'd come all the way to Gangneung, I wanted to try the version with sundubu added, so that's what we ordered. With sundubu tofu curds added, the broth of this sundubu gamjatang is soft and mellow, and it went really well with the makgeolli.