Gangneung sundubu restaurant with a 4-year-old: Jeong Eunsuk Chodang

Today I'm bringing you a review of a must-try spot for Gangneung's signature dish — chodang sundubu (soft tofu)!

There are so many tofu restaurants in Chodang-dong, Gangneung, but I went to Jeong Eunsuk Chodang Sundubu, famous for being run by a master of local cuisine who cooks everything herself. This is my review as a Gangneung sundubu spot my 4-year-old happily ate through — let's get into it!

Jeong Eunsuk Chodang Sundubu hours and reservation info

• ⏰ Hours: Sun–Mon 08:00–18:30, last order 17:30
• Closed every Tuesday
• 🔔 Other: parking available, reservations possible via Naver/Catch Table

How long is the weekend midday wait?

When I went at noon on a weekend, there were about 5 parties waiting ahead of me, but since I'd made a Naver reservation a week in advance, I was seated right away. I'd recommend everyone book ahead through Naver too!

The interior isn't huge, but the food comes out and gets cleared so fast that the overall turnover was really impressive. It let me save precious time while traveling, so I was already won over from the start!

What's in the premium table set?

Here's what the menu looked like, and here's what we ordered.

- Order details -

The signature and most popular menu here is the premium table set, packed with generous dishes — a full-course set meal of sundubu-jeongol (soft tofu hot pot) + tofu samhap (boiled pork) + codari-gangjeong (sweet-spicy glazed pollock). Since it's so popular, the day's supply of codari-gangjeong sells out fast, so you basically have to order the premium set, right?

After ordering, we waited a bit and the dishes started landing on the table one by one — the neat side dishes paired with the main dishes looked so hearty just to look at. Even the basic side dishes came in generous portions, so there was barely room left on the table... hahaha.

The taste of the sundubu-jeongol broth

Bubbling away — sundubu-jeongol!

I took a big sip of the broth first — it wasn't artificial or harsh at all, but spicy and clean with a gentle heat that soothed the stomach, really felt like proper hangover relief. There was crab in it too, so the broth was extra refreshing 🌊

The nutty flavor of the sundubu soaked in the broth spread more with every bite, making it the best kind of dish to eat for breakfast or lunch without feeling heavy.

The unexpected rice thief: codari-jorim

And the unexpectedly addictive dish was the codari-jorim (braised pollock)! The seasoning wasn't too spicy or salty, just the right amount of sweetness soaked in, so even mixing the sauce alone into rice was delicious haha. The pollock flesh wasn't dry at all, chewy and soft, and paired with the mild tofu dishes it balanced everything out perfectly.

The highlight: tofu samhap

Today's highlight was the tofu samhap!

Wrapping tender, odor-free boiled pork, tofu made from beans grown by Gangwon-do locals, and tangy-sweet gajami-sikhae (fermented flounder) made with fresh flounder caught in the East Sea, all together in one bite as samhap — it was absolutely amazing! The tangy-sweet gajami-sikhae made from East Coast flounder is this place's hidden kick ! 𖤐ˊ˗ It was so good we finished it all in no time haha.

More than anything, the tofu itself didn't fall apart at all — it was truly springy, and the more you chewed, the richer and nuttier the soybean flavor spread through your mouth, so I kept marveling at how good it was. You could really tell that tofu made by a master of local cuisine is different from the texture to the depth of flavor. Overall, none of the dishes were heavily seasoned — they were all nutty and clean, so even after finishing the meal my stomach felt comfortable, not weighed down.

A table set by a master of local cuisine

This place has had a lot of TV crews film here too — apparently she's the only certified Korean master chef (조리명인) in Gangneung, Gangwon-do! I heard she introduced chodang sundubu to the world as Gangneung's specialty dish during the PyeongChang Olympics, so it made sense that the care and dignity in this table setting felt on another level haha.

Jeong Eunsuk Chodang Sundubu uses only honest local ingredients — flounder caught by East Coast fishermen, seaweed harvested by local divers, and fresh soybeans grown by Gangwon-do residents. If you want a proper, hearty meal filled with tradition and conviction on your trip to Gangneung, I definitely recommend a visit.