Mokpo Korean restaurant, lunch with Dad: Mujinjang Sik-yuk Kkori Gomtang

Lunch out with Dad for the first time in ages

Even though we live under the same sky, seeing Dad is so... hard. In my twenties, I used to drop by his shop almost every day after work, like I was clocking in, to help him out. I even moved near the shop so I could see him sooner and more often, but ever since moving, why has it become so hard to even cross that threshold?

I always feel sorry for being such a mean daughter—grumbling and snapping despite how I really feel. Watching Dad listen and understand every time makes me wonder whether I could ever be that kind of parent... But for now, I want to live for Dad more than for myself.

Anyway, I brought Dad, who cannot eat just anything, to Mujinjang Sik-yuk Kkori Gomtang.

They used to operate from a spot on the right before you reached Pyeonghwa Square, under a yellow sign, and I remember coming there with Dad. At some point they moved over toward Pyeonghwa Square. This used to be the site of Pyeonghwa Gukbap, which I loved—when did it disappear?ㅠㅠ Its gukbap (rice soup) was a little random, thick some days and thin on others... but it was really good. Such a shame.

Making up for that disappointment at Mujinjang Sik-yuk Kkori Gomtang

I decided to soothe that disappointment here. The soju and beer prices are beautifully low, but since I was here with Dad today, I skipped them.

Here is the menu.

They also won an excellence award at the Mokpo local-food competition in 2008.

You can see signs that famous people have visited, too.

A familiar dining room. We sat where Dad chose.

Mujinjang Sik-yuk Kkori Gomtang says it uses only Korean beef tails and beef bones.

Check the Wi-Fi details.

A review event comes with one complimentary drink. They say the broth is already seasoned with salt and pepper.

The guests who came in after us must have been customers from Dad's shop, because they came over and greeted him first. Somehow that made me happy too, haha.

One earthenware bowl of Korean native beef cow tail gomtang

There was nothing to deliberate over—we ordered the Korean native beef cow tail gomtang.

I was looking forward to finding out whether the milky broth would taste like it did back then.

When I was little, this was just white broth whose flavor I did not even understand. But the older I get, the more I prefer white soups to red ones. Maybe it is all the drinking experience that comes with age, but I increasingly love foods that help a hangover.

The somyeon (thin wheat noodles) came already mixed into the soup.

There was quite a bit of meat still clinging to the tail, too.

Dad said he could not remember the last time he had tail gomtang, and he enjoyed it so much.

I loved that it came in an earthenware bowl, so it stayed hot until the end, but I slurped it down too casually at the start and my tongue is still stinging from the burnㅠ

This, looking chewy at a glance, is surely the taste of adulthood, right?

After taking a bite...

Dad was enjoying it so much that I made this excuse and that excuse and gave him all of it—even the bones I had been eating off, haha. He said to stop giving him more, then ate it all anyway. Such a cutie, Mr. Taehak, hahaha.

Luckily(?) there was one piece of meat left in my bowl, haha. I topped it with kimchi and ate it. Just watching Dad eat made me feel full. Is this what a parent's heart feels like?

But really, he cleaned out the entire bowl, hahaha.

Next time, a drink with good broth

On the way out, I stopped to say hello to the owner and came out maybe 2–3 minutes later... and there was no waiting for me whatsoever. Why are men like this? Hahahahaha. The drinks are inexpensive too, so next time I will come back for a drink with a good bowl of broth!