Gwangju sundae-guk restaurant with 3,000-won suyuk add-on: Sinjuokmi

Craving Korean food for lunch in Suwan District, Gwangju, I headed to Sinjuokmi Suwan District branch (신주옥미 수완지구점), which has been getting quite the buzz for its sundae-guk lately. I've been here enough times to call myself a regular haha. This is the place where adding 3,000 won gets you a whole plate of suyuk. The broth is so rich people call it 'tonic soup.'

Where is Sinjuokmi Suwan District branch, and where do you park?

Sinjuokmi Suwan District branch sits in the Suwan District food alley. Coming from Suwan Lotte Mart toward Hanam Road 4 in the direction of Hanam Industrial Complex, you'll find it right in the food alley — easy to spot. And there's a public parking lot right in front!

It's also known as a Blue Ribbon-recommended restaurant. Step inside and the open kitchen catches your eye right away — clean and hygienic looking.

Pork boiled every hour in Sinjuokmi's open kitchen

Sinjuokmi's unique philosophy: they don't boil the meat once a day, they boil it every single hour! Fresh batches come out at 12, 2, 4, and 6. Domestic pork — fresh pork, ham hock, and four specialty cuts — get boiled right in front of you, every hour, in plain view.

Then it's sliced right there in the open kitchen and brought straight to your table. The staff even wear proper head coverings while working, which left a good impression for hygiene.

The kimchi and sundae (blood sausage) live up to the Blue Ribbon reputation, no question about it.

Sinjuokmi's self-serve bar: noodles, chives and kkakdugi

The self-serve bar at Sinjuokmi Suwan District branch has noodles, chives, kkakdugi (radish kimchi), chili, onion, and more — help yourself to as much as you want. I really loved that there were noodles for anyone still hungry after their soup. About halfway through the gukbap (soup with rice), grabbing noodles from the self-serve bar and adding them in is its own little delicacy. I loaded up on chives and noodles, no shame.

Spicy myeongin sundae-guk with the 3,000-won suyuk add-on

Add 3,000 won to your sundae-guk and you get a plate of suyuk including innards and liver. There were three of us, and two of us added the suyuk.

They also had a gosari (fernbrake) sundae-guk, but my husband and I ordered two bowls of the 'spicy myeongin sundae-guk' with pork and sundae, while our son got the 'sundae-only myeongin sundae-guk' with just sundae.

The 'spicy' flavor comes from a 20-year secret sauce recipe. It's not aggressively hot, just perfectly spicy in a delicious way. Milder than expected, so even my middle-school son ate it happily.

Eating the sundae and tender meat together, the savory flavor lingers in your mouth for a while. I think it's because they use fresh meat — there's zero gamy or funky smell.

Adding mu-saengchae radish salad to the gukbap

I think this mu-saengchae (seasoned shredded radish) is the real kicker. You have to try adding it into your gukbap. Words fail me... I put in a ridiculous amount of it, honestly.

With the specialty cuts mixed in, there's a nice chewy texture. The soup is also generously loaded with meat.

And this kkakdugi, don't even get me started... my son's favorite, we refilled it who knows how many times. A gukbap place absolutely has to have good kimchi, that's just the rule.

What the 3,000-won plate of suyuk includes

Ta-da, the suyuk arrived! A nice mix of fatty bits, lean meat, liver, and lung. Freshly sliced and still steaming hot. Truly 3,000 won of happiness.

Wrapped it up nicely with onion, cheongyang chili, and ssamjang (spicy dipping paste)! It has that head-meat-like texture, chewy and bouncy — exactly the texture I love.

The liver is best eaten hot! It gets dry and unappealing once it cools, so dig in quickly while it's warm!

Tip: stir perilla powder into the chili-vinegar sauce

A tip for enjoying it: sprinkle plenty of perilla powder into your chogochujang (vinegared chili paste) for an extra nutty, savory kick! I hear people in Seoul don't dip sundae in chogochujang, but around here, it's a must.

Sinjuokmi's 7am to 3am hours and the verdict

If you're craving Korean food for lunch in Suwan District, a rich bowl of gukbap at Sinjuokmi Suwan District branch won't disappoint! Open from 7am to 3am — perfect for a post-drinking hangover cure, don't you think?