Seochon hanwoo beef tongue lunch with kids: Tonguidong Gukbinkwan

Mom, I really want to try beef tongue! 😁

My growing son's meat cravings have now escalated to beef tongue. Apparently he saw a video about it and couldn't stop thinking about the taste. Come to think of it, whenever we buy beef it's always ribs, sirloin, or tenderloin — never beef tongue on its own. I quickly looked it up and found a Blue Ribbon-certified hanwoo (Korean beef) restaurant behind Gyeongbokgung Station. Since we already had plans to head to Insadong, we decided to stop by on the way. Today I'm writing about a barbecue restaurant where you can enjoy hanwoo while soaking in the hanok atmosphere in Seochon — Tonguidong Gukbinkwan.

Where is Tonguidong Gukbinkwan? Hours and parking

Tonguidong Gukbinkwan Gyeongbokgung Station Branch is a hanwoo restaurant you reach by exiting Gyeongbokgung Station at Exit 3 and heading into the alley behind it. It's open daily 11:30–22:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00 and last order at 20:30. There's no dedicated parking lot, so you'll need to use a nearby paid lot.

Last week, around lunchtime on a day when the temperature was nearly 40°C, we came out of Exit 3 of Gyeongbokgung Station and turned into the alley our map pointed us toward.

Ugh... it was so hot that just a few steps in, we were dripping with sweat — even our handheld fans were useless.

But all along the alley, foreign tourists were strolling around dressed up in hanbok.

Are you O.K.? In heat this brutal, where even bare arms and legs can barely stand it, wearing layered hanbok... On a day like this you really need ramie or hemp clothes and some shade under a tree. I couldn't help worrying whether everyone was doing alright.

Finding the Seochon alley entrance

At first glance all you see are hanbok shops, a café, and souvenir stores, so I nearly walked right past it. But looking closer, I spotted a small standing sign reading 'Gukbinkwan' off to one side. Wondering if this was really the right way, I went into the narrow, slightly cluttered alley...

...and there it was — 'Gukbinkwan' written on red brick. We'd found the right place.

Blue Ribbon six years running, 2021–2026

At the dark brown entrance was a small menu board and a row of Blue Ribbon marks lined up one after another. I tend to trust the Blue Ribbon guide, and seeing that this place had been certified without a single miss for six straight years got me excited.

• 🕰️ Hours: Daily 11:30–22:00 / break time 15:00–17:00 / last order 20:30
• 🚗 Parking: No dedicated lot; use a nearby paid parking lot

The hanok courtyard with a single pine tree, and the dining room

The signature feature of Tonguidong Gukbinkwan is the courtyard you reach after a short hallway. A gracefully curved pine tree stands there, and to its left is a charcoal hearth where meat is grilled.

And to the left of the courtyard...

...there's a spot where meat is grilled over charcoal briquettes. I'll explain more about what this place is for later.

Opening the wooden door, you step into an interior with a similar tone to the outside. Before being seated, we stood there for a moment looking at the garden — small but tidy, calm and atmospheric, like walking into a high-end Korean set-menu restaurant.

Once we were finally seated and looked around the hall, there were four-seat tables lined up on both sides, and group seating further inside.

Right next to us, meat was aging beautifully in an aging cabinet — you could tell they take the flavor of the meat seriously. Turning back to look from the other side, sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows mixed with the interior lighting, making the whole hall look cozy and warm. What would meat taste like, eaten with a view of this courtyard? And I wonder what it looks like at night.

Side dishes: mul kimchi (water kimchi) and yuzu-dressing salad

The banchan (side dishes) at Tonguidong Gukbinkwan included galchi-sokjeot (fermented hairtail entrails), wasabi, chili and garlic, ssamjang (dipping sauce), baek kimchi (white kimchi), gat kimchi (mustard leaf kimchi), chili and gat jangajji (pickles), sweet pumpkin salad, and mul kimchi. Honestly, whenever I go to a restaurant I try the banchan first — that alone tells you whether a place has real cooking skill.

Sauces and vegetables for dipping the meat,

and kimchi, pickles, salad, and mul kimchi came out. The mul kimchi was so refreshing and tangy — really delicious. Restaurants often fake that tartness quickly with vinegar to save time, but this one had a properly fermented depth to it, not harsh at all. I thought maybe it was just me, but my daughter loved it too and refilled her bowl several times.

The salad dressing was really good too — a yuzu-based dressing, clean and refreshing, with a perfect balance of sweet and sour that paired well with the food. Just from the banchan, I could tell this place was going to be good.

The poached egg sauce is the surprise star

And this is a sauce made with a poached egg — you pop the yolk and stir it in, then dip the meat, and it's genuinely delicious. It's a distinctive touch you don't easily find elsewhere.

Premium hanwoo beef tongue: the kids ate it in silence

What we ordered at Tonguidong Gukbinkwan that day was the one serving of premium hanwoo beef tongue our son had been wishing for, plus two servings of charcoal-marinated short ribs. The menu had a wide range of hanwoo grilled cuts, dishes, and meal options.

Opening the leather-bound menu,

there was a wide selection of hanwoo grilled cuts, dishes, and meals — we went with the premium hanwoo beef tongue our son had wanted and two servings of charcoal-marinated short ribs.

Well-lit charcoal was brought to the table,

and finally — the beef tongue arrives!

When the meat comes out, a staff member grills it for you at first. Six thickly sliced pieces of beef tongue sizzled away on the charcoal.

Beef tongue pairs well with any of the sauces — the poached egg sauce, ssamjang, galchi-sokjeot, or wasabi — but it's even better dipped in the restaurant's own scallion-loaded house sauce. Compared to other cuts, the texture is denser, so it's much chewier and springier, yet surprisingly there's zero toughness. The kids devoured it without saying a word.

Marinated short ribs, seared over charcoal outside before serving

While the kids were absorbed in the beef tongue, the ribs were being grilled outside. That's the charcoal hearth we passed by in the courtyard when we came in — when you order marinated ribs, they're pre-grilled there first. I took a moment to zone out watching the meat cook.

And here's the charcoal-marinated short rib that resulted — the outside is cooked over charcoal briquettes first for a strong smoky char, then finished over the charcoal grill at the table. A staff member cuts it into bite-sized pieces, and you grill it further yourself as you eat.

It's gorgeous just to look at. The meaty flavor and smoky char blended perfectly — so delicious. I was amazed at how expertly balanced the sweet-and-salty marinade was. We ate it plain, and also dipped in the poached egg sauce — the sauce wasn't too salty, so it worked fine even with the already-marinated meat.

Rice and noodles: rib fried rice and hanwoo brisket bibim makguksu

We were fairly full from the meat, but it felt like a waste to stop there, so we ordered two meal dishes as well.

This is the kids' pick — rib fried rice, meant to be wrapped in seaweed. It had a slight kick of spice but nothing too strong, so the kids enjoyed it happily.

And this is my pick — hanwoo brisket bibim mak-guksu (spicy cold buckwheat noodles). It came with generous, thickly shredded brisket, and the sauce was nicely spicy-sweet.

Verdict: the only drawback at Tonguidong Gukbinkwan is the alley

The only real downside to Tonguidong Gukbinkwan is the alley you have to walk through to get there. It's tucked away where you'd easily miss it, and the entrance doesn't quite live up to expectations, but once you're inside, it's clear why they've earned Blue Ribbon status year after year.

The gorgeous hanok with its courtyard has real character, and above all, every single dish was delicious. This time we only brought the kids, but I already know the whole family needs to go back together. Once the heat wave passes and the season for pleasant walks arrives, I'd recommend stopping by Gyeongbokgung and Seochon for a meal here.