Sokcho Beach Korean restaurant: cucumber kimchi refills, Gwandongjip

A local Korean restaurant near Sokcho Beach: what is Gwandongjip?

Gwandongjip (관동집) is a gamjatang (pork bone stew) and aged kimchi bone jjim (braised pork bones) restaurant on a food street among the apartment complexes of Joyang-dong, Sokcho. It is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., closed every Wednesday, and has parking in front.

Our Gangwon-do trip has somehow gotten long, and this time it's Sokcho! After several days on the road, I got sick of the obvious tourist food and menus. So today I came looking for a local favorite in Sokcho. Gamjatang seems to be the star here!

Gwandongjip is also within a 10-minute walk of Sokcho Beach, so it's easy to reach. You can park in front of the restaurant. We walked over from our accommodation.

Inside Gwandongjip: good for couples and groups?

The layout at Gwandongjip works for couples and group gatherings alike. Even outside the restaurant, a delicious smell was drifting out, just like you'd expect from a Sokcho local spot, so my expectations went up.

It's not a proper room, but there's a private area screened off with cloth that groups would probably like.

Gwandongjip menu and ordering tips

The main dishes at Gwandongjip are gamjatang, aged kimchi bone jjim and spicy chicken stew, and for meals there's also bone hangover soup, budae-jjigae (army stew) and tofu hot pot. We came because we fell for the look of the aged kimchi bone jjim, so we ordered it without a second thought.

By the way, extra kimchi and bones can only be added when you first order! Because of how the dish is cooked, adding them later is difficult.

Why we refilled the side dishes twice

If you go to Gwandongjip, I recommend trying the side dishes. I usually don't touch side dishes because I focus on the main dish, but maybe because this is a local place popular with nearby residents, the sides were so good they'd give a home-style restaurant a run for its money, and I refilled them twice.

This cucumber kimchi (oi-sobagi) in particular was sooo good. It wakes up your appetite, and it's the kind of flavor you want to pile on white rice.

Aged kimchi bone jjim for two: is there enough kimchi?

Even though we ordered the two-person size, the aged kimchi bone jjim at Gwandongjip was quite generous. It came out soon after, while we were savoring the side dishes. I'm a total kimchi monster, so I'd be disappointed if an aged kimchi dish skimped on the kimchi, but the amount was satisfying too.

Four neat pieces of tofu on top, and the aged kimchi hugging the braised bones underneath.

Tear the aged kimchi lengthwise (don't cut it crosswise) and eat it on top of the meat or on white rice.

Bone size and meat texture in the aged kimchi bone jjim

In the two-person aged kimchi bone jjim at Gwandongjip, there were about 7 pieces of bone, varying in size. They were quite big, and meaty too. If this is the aged kimchi dish, how good must the gamjatang, the house specialty, be?

The day we visited, some foreign travelers were there too. Somehow they'd found this local Sokcho spot serving Korean food near Sokcho Beach, which is packed with raw fish restaurants, and they kept saying "Soft!" as they ate.

Despite the big size, the meat was so tender and moist that it slid right off the bone with just a touch.

This cut sits between the bones and I have no idea what it's called, but the chewy texture was a work of art.

I was rationing the aged kimchi because I planned to add ramen noodles, but the meat was nutty with no gamey smell, so even just dipping it in the soy-mustard sauce was great. Next time I'll just add extra kimchi from the start and stop worrying.

Is adding ramen noodles to the aged kimchi bone jjim a must?

After tasting the broth and aged kimchi, I felt I'd be in trouble if I didn't order ramen noodles, so I ordered them right away. They add ramen that's been lightly pre-boiled so the flavor doesn't change, and they bring a little broth along with it too.

The broth isn't spicy or fiery at all, but the deep savory richness from the well-ripened aged kimchi is the best.

Thanks to that, the ramen blended perfectly with the bone jjim broth. The owner is so thoughtful 😄💗

Is Gwandongjip worth a return visit?

Gwandongjip is a local spot near Sokcho Beach where you can eat homestyle food, so I'd love to stop by again. The owner seems to have figured out we weren't Sokcho locals, because on our way out we were given a coupon for a shop on Pojangmacha Street (tent bar street) to try during our Sokcho trip, but we couldn't fit it into our schedule, which was a shame.

If I travel to Sokcho again, I'd stop by on my own dime and recommend it as a place to eat like you're having a home-cooked meal!