Ingye-dong hangover soup restaurant, rainy lunch beer: Jeju Eunhuine

Why a rainy lunch in Ingye-dong means haejangguk at Jeju Eunhuine

Jeju Eunhuine Haejangguk

It was drizzling steadily and I was craving soup, craving haejangguk (hangover soup). Since I was near Ingye-dong, I dug through every restaurant recommendation for the area and spotted Jeju Eunhuine Haejangguk, which I'd already heard was good. A restaurant with its own parking lot in Ingye-dong, where parking is a nightmare? I was genuinely moved. Hello, Jeju! A dol hareubang (stone grandfather statue) welcomed me at the door — so cute.

Inside Jeju Eunhuine: Jeju-style decor and a wide dining hall

True to the name, the interior brought Jeju Island to mind, with little stones studded throughout. And it's really, really spacious. The wall near the entrance is a full glass window, which makes it feel even bigger. It looks like it could seat any size group with room to spare.

The menu, the self-serve bar and free rice at Jeju Eunhuine

The menu is simple: haejangguk and tripe soup, dombe pork and tripe salad, plus an option to add blood tofu. Somehow we ended up ordering everything except the tripe salad.

If the side dishes run low, there's a self-serve bar to top up. And if you order one menu item per person, rice is free — take as much as you like! A generous haejangguk restaurant is the best kind.

If you write a Naver review, you get either a drink or a taster of blood tofu soup and tripe salad. Both sound delicious — they'd make a great drinking snack.

Haejangguk, 12,000 won: chili seasoning under the scallions and a pile of glass noodles

We were chatting away when all the dishes arrived in no time. The regular haejangguk comes topped with the chili paste mix (dadegi), while the tripe soup's red broth was already stimulating my salivary glands.

Haejangguk, ₩12,000. Piled high with scallions. With such a white broth I wondered if it was a clear blood-tofu soup, then remembered I'd ordered the standard version with the chili paste mixed in. You can also order the haejangguk and tripe soup without the chili paste, so you can add it yourself.

Sweep aside the mountain of scallions and the chili paste peeks out. And my beloved glass noodles — plenty of them. Plenty of beef too. I'm not usually one to scoop out the solid ingredients, but at Eunhuine's haejangguk, if you don't scoop them aside, you can't even reach the rice — that's how much there is.

Once you mix in all the chili paste, the broth turns a deep, fiery red — but it's not actually that spicy or harsh. It's a perfectly balanced, deliciously hearty heat. I love blood tofu and thought about adding some extra, but I was already full just from the solid ingredients, so I skipped it.

Tripe soup, 13,000 won: how much comes in the bowl

Tripe soup, ₩13,000. My companion's pick. Unlike the haejangguk, this came already mixed with the chili paste, spicy and hearty. Piled high with scallions again — a great-looking bowl. I love tripe soup too, but I'd craved blood tofu more and ordered the haejangguk instead — seeing this, I thought, I should've gotten the tripe soup!

The amount of solid ingredients is no joke. Haha. Have you ever seen a tripe soup this loaded for 13,000 won? Plenty of tripe, plenty of blood tofu — jaw-dropping. You wouldn't need to add extra rice to feel stuffed; even big eaters would leave satisfied. And most importantly, it's just really delicious. Jeju Eunhuine Haejangguk! All that searching through Ingye-dong recommendations was worth it.

Dombe pork (small), 13,000 won: Jeju pork belly for wrapping

Dombe pork (small), ₩13,000. Eunhuine's dombe pork is said to be made with Jeju-raised pork belly, served with raw garlic and chili peppers. This was my first time trying dombe pork, and the glossy sheen on the meat was impressive. Being able to try it in a small portion was really nice. Given how much the haejangguk already fills you up, anything above the small size would be too much — you'd need to take the rest home.

Wrapped with garlic and chili — ah, so tender and soft, with absolutely no off-flavor, clean all the way through. It's tasty on its own, but I'd recommend wrapping it up with the raw garlic and chili that come alongside.

A beer with lunch, and no break time at Jeju Eunhuine

You can't have haejangguk without a beer, right? My companion had driven so I toasted alone, but a cold beer alongside the hearty soup and tender dombe pork made for such a happy lunch. The best choice for a rainy day. If you're looking for good food in Ingye-dong, give Jeju Eunhuine Haejangguk a try — for lunch or dinner, since there's no break time in between.

Ah, so good, so happy. When I went to pay, feeling great, I noticed a cute little dol hareubang figure spinning around, wearing a knit tangerine hat and holding a tangerine. It's so cute it made me even happier. Look closely and there's a bottle of Hallasan soju sitting next to it too. Haha. Who needs to go all the way to Jeju — this place is Jeju enough.