Gamjatang restaurant near Sangye Station with a ramen finish: Somunnan

Somunnan Gamjatang / Nowon restaurant · Sangye Station gamjatang

I'm a certified Korean food lover among my friends! Haejangguk (hangover soup) especially is something I really, really love and eat all the time 🤤 So once again while hunting for a good gamjatang spot, I found great reviews for Somunnan Gamjatang, a Nowon restaurant, and went to check it out 🔥

Where Somunnan Gamjatang's Junggye main branch is, and what the room is like

The Junggye main branch of Somunnan Gamjatang is about a 5-minute walk from Sangye Station Exit 2 (Line 4), so it wasn't hard to find! The place I visited is the original branch — apparently it's been drawing crowds as a local favorite for over 30 years, so much so that they opened a second branch nearby 👏🏻

True to being the main branch, the restaurant was big and spacious! Lots of tables, but seats filled up fast once dinner time hit 🫢 I was also surprised at how many takeout orders were coming in — a lot more than I expected haha

Small gamjatang, 36,000 won: what we ordered and what it cost

Let me show you the menu at this Sangye Station gamjatang spot! From gamjatang to bone jjim, samgyetang, and various haejangguk, there's quite a wide range so you can order to your taste 👍🏻

• Gamjatang (small) ₩36,000
• Ramen sari ₩2,000
• Rice ₩1,000 × 2
• Soju ₩5,000
• Beer ₩5,000
• Total ₩50,000

Just so you know, they have a receipt review event where you can get a free drink 😎

Sujebi comes free, kimchi is refillable

After ordering, they set the table up quickly. I was actually planning to add a sujebi (hand-torn dough soup) topping separately, but turns out it comes free with the gamjatang order — huge, and honestly a real touching moment 🙏🏻 And for a haejangguk place like this, kimchi is especially important — both the kimchi and kkakdugi were so good I lost count of how many refills I got haha

With side dishes this good, drinks felt mandatory, so I ordered soju and beer 🍺

How much food is in the small pot, and the perilla and perilla-leaf broth

The main event, the gamjatang, finally arrived!! Honestly, the portion and the amount of ingredients surprised me as soon as I saw it — the perilla powder and perilla leaves were piled on generously 😋

Once the gamjatang started boiling, in went the sujebi!!! Tearing the thick dough by hand really let me feel the chewy texture properly 🔥

Isn't this such an appetizing spread?! This is exactly why I can't quit Korean food… hehe 🤣

How big the bones are and how easily the meat falls off

The most important part of gamjatang — the meat!! It was big and the meat clung to the bone so thick that just one piece was pretty filling 🧡 Is this really the small size…?! haha

On top of that, the meat was so tender it came off easily, which made it easy and pleasant to eat!! Even for the small size, it was packed with meat and tasted great, so the drinks kept flowing 🙆🏻‍♀️

The meat was so soft I could pull it off with just chopsticks haha. The meat itself had no gamey smell and tasted great on its own, but dipping it in the sauce that came with it made it even better!!! It was such a rice thief that I finished a whole bowl of rice in no time…

Finishing the pot with a 2,000 won ramen noodle add-on

When we were almost done at this Nowon restaurant, in went the ramen sari (instant noodle add-on)!!! Gamjatang, sujebi, and ramen — that's the classic combo, right? The broth is so deep and rich that you really can't skip the ramen 😋 Just note that with all the perilla powder in the gamjatang, it leans more nutty than spicy!

Gamjatang near Sangye Station: a meal out or a night of drinks?

This Sangye Station gamjatang restaurant loaded the pot with meat, ugeoji (dried napa cabbage), and perilla leaves without holding back, and the savory flavor was fantastic! It works great as a filling meal and just as well as a drinking snack, so I'm very satisfied 👍🏻 If you're looking for a good value Nowon restaurant for a proper meal, I highly recommend Somunnan Gamjatang near Sangye Station ✨