Hwaseong Korean restaurant for pork gomtang: Baekok Dongtan

I visit Lotte Department Store Dongtan quite often. This time, I visited Baekok, a pork gomtang specialist in the Dongtan Lotte Department Store food court, for some clean-tasting Korean food.

Baekok Dongtan (백옥 동탄)

Baekok is known in Dongtan for pork gomtang and cabbage dumplings, apparently.

I heard it was featured on actor Ko Kyung-pyo's YouTube channel, so every time I passed by, I was so curious about what it would taste like.

A weekday meal in the food court

Baekok is in the basement food court, so we did not need to wait separately. The department-store food court must be bustling on weekends, but because it was a weekday, we could eat in relative peace.

Most menu items were in the low ₩10,000 range! For department-store food, I really liked the prices. After wondering what to have, I ordered cabbage dumpling soup and my husband ordered pork gomtang!

Cabbage dumplings and a kids' gukbap menu

Pork gomtang is one of Baekok Dongtan's signature dishes, but they also have dumpling soup with cabbage dumplings that look unusual from the start. Leave a Naver Place review and you get one cabbage dumpling, so do try one. They also offer kids' gukbap (rice soup) for ₩7,000, which looked like a healthy, hearty option when visiting the department store with children.

There are also set menus where you can enjoy gomtang and cabbage dumplings together! Still, even just one cabbage dumpling was incredibly filling.

There are shared tables right beside the shop, along with plenty of tables for families. Since it is clean and easy for everyone, young and old, to enjoy, it would be great for a family meal too.

Pork gomtang and cabbage dumpling soup

A large bowl of generous cabbage dumpling soup and a pale, milky gomtang arrived.

Pork gomtang that was not overpowering

Pork gomtang, ₩12,000. The pork gomtang comes with the rice already mixed in. My first thought after the first bite was: this is not overpowering.

Although it is a soup dish, it was not heavily salty or rich, so it was easy to eat. With the warm broth and meat, it did not feel burdensome, yet one bowl still felt filling. Baekok's pork gomtang is all about a mild flavor, making it easy to finish right to the end!

Unusual cabbage dumpling soup

Cabbage dumpling soup, ₩13,000. I do not usually love kimchi dumplings that much, but these kimchi dumplings wrapped in cabbage were unusual from the way the cabbage was visibly part of them, just as the name suggests. There were four big cabbage dumplings, and the clear, savory broth was completely my style...

Honestly, the presentation was so simple that at first I thought, What is this? But once you taste it, your mind really changes.

When I put a dumpling in my mouth, it was warm all the way through. As the weather gets colder these days, I thought this would be a nice bowl for a day when you want food that is gentle on your stomach.

If you normally like dumpling soup, it could be nice to try it as a slightly different take on a familiar dish.

After filling up on the dumplings, I broke up a little of the filling into the broth and mixed in rice too, making one wonderfully satisfying bowl.

For a meal that sits easy

Switching between the pork gomtang and cabbage dumpling soup, I could taste Baekok's distinctive mildness. These days, even when eating out for one meal, there are so many spicy, salty, boldly flavored options, right? There are days when I crave that kind of food too, but sometimes I want a meal that leaves my stomach feeling comfortable afterward.

Baekok seems like a great fit for those days. If you are looking for a lunch spot in Dongtan, keep Baekok in mind. I tried the cabbage dumpling soup because I was curious about its unusual look, then came away very satisfied with the pork gomtang too!!