Yongsan Korean restaurant with mung bean pancake: Baekok Yongsan

What kind of restaurant is Baekok Yongsan?

Lunch today was at Baekok Yongsan, a gukbap (rice and soup) restaurant. Baekok specializes in clear pork gomtang with a broth that's genuinely delicious.

It's open daily 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:00). Parking is free at the Yongsan Tax Office lot, about 5 minutes away.

Baekok's pork is cooked minimally at low temperature so you get maximum texture, and the rice is Saecheongmu rice from Gangjin, Jeollanam-do, lightly rinsed and cooked with minimal water so it keeps a chewy bite even soaking in broth for a while. The broth itself, they say, is made from thoroughly cleaned pork bones and foreleg meat simmered clear, with various root vegetables and burdock added for body — the result is a broth that's light but still deeply savory.

The 2nd-floor window seats and the HYBE building view

Baekok Yongsan has a great view. The 1st floor, which is attached to the dining area, gets crowded during peak hours, but if you go a bit early or late to dodge the lunch rush, you can snag a window seat on the 2nd floor.

Since Baekok Yongsan sits right behind the HYBE building, the view out the window is pretty striking. HYBE has a lot of BTS fans around, and sure enough, a lot of them seem to end up eating here too. Who knows — maybe BTS will show up for some pork gomtang someday. haha

Since it's a pork gomtang restaurant, the side dishes are kept simple.

Baekok Yongsan menu and what comes in the set

Here's the recommended menu at Baekok Yongsan. Pork gomtang is the most basic and essential order, and hot gomtang, herbal gomtang, cabbage mandu, spicy pig tail, and cold pork round out the best of the menu.

As for the set menu and dishes — ordering the set gets you gomtang plus cabbage mandu plus a drink, so it's the better value option. Baekok Yongsan also has a dish called the dondon platter, sold in a limit of only 10 servings a day. Muk (acorn jelly) salad and mung bean pancake are also worth ordering as extras.

We ordered the pork gomtang set and a mung bean pancake. This wasn't my first time at a Baekok location, so I already knew the flavor, but today was just one of those days craving gukbap, so I waited with my mouth watering. Clear pork gomtang and cabbage mandu arrived.

How the clear pork gomtang broth tastes

Baekok's pork gomtang is genuinely delicious. The clean, clear broth in particular is a work of art. Pork gomtang is usually made with a milky white broth, but that can get heavy and tiring fast. Foreign diners tend not to love that heaviness either, and given this place is right by HYBE, a clear-broth pork gomtang feels especially fitting here.

Adding a mung bean pancake to the meal

A pancake-style dish pairs well with gomtang. Eating just soup dishes makes you crave something crisp. Ordering one mung bean pancake doubled the enjoyment of the pork gomtang.

A full spread of pork gomtang laid out on the table. Everything plated beautifully in brass bowls — a neat, appetizing visual. haha

Cabbage mandu: the reason to come to Baekok Yongsan

Cabbage mandu (dumplings wrapped in cabbage instead of dough) is Baekok's signature dish. The wrapper is made from cabbage rather than flour dough, giving it a distinct texture and a different flavor profile altogether. Personally, this is a big part of why I come to Baekok.

Taking a spoonful of the pork gomtang — the pork is sliced thin, so it has a totally different texture from the thick-cut pork found in typical gukbap. The combination of the tasty broth and the pork is really good.

Ordering the pork gomtang set gets you a free Pepsi Zero Sugar. Just a sip or two makes the meal that much better.

Atmosphere and final verdict on Baekok Yongsan

Baekok Yongsan has a youthful vibe. The customers are young, and there are plenty of international diners too. If you're around Yongsan, it's worth stopping by for lunch.

Baekok Yongsan delivers on both flavor and atmosphere.