Hyocheon hot pot restaurant in Gwangju, short ribs added at lunch

Dugeori Usintang Imam Branch

Address: 849 Imam-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju, 1st floor Hours: 10:30–22:00 Parking: Lot behind the restaurant; also the dedicated lot behind Daeyang food materials mart

I never even tried Dugeori Usintang back when I lived in Jeonju... lol. It's been ages since I left Jeonju and I'm only just now eating it!!! lol

Where do you park at Dugeori Usintang Imam Branch?

Dugeori Usintang Imam Branch has a lot behind the store, but it's on the small side, so you can park at the Daeyang food materials mart lot right behind it!

Street parking nearby is possible too, but I'd recommend just parking at the Daeyang mart lot for peace of mind!

Noon lunch peak: the wait and the dining room

We arrived right around the noon lunch peak! The dining room was already packed with people eating, and I was even surprised to see people sitting in the waiting area.

The dining room is split into two sections, and during lunch peak both are in use — once the peak passes, they only use the main hall!

All menu items are available for takeout, and for long-distance trips, if you order 2 days ahead they can pack it frozen!

I thought Dugeori Usintang started in Jeonju since the flagship store is there, but it actually started in Ansan!!!

That 'spicy' character in the name has me excited…❤️

Special hot pot and usin jjim: order only after 1pm

Just a heads up — Dugeori Usintang's special hot pot (teukjeongol) and usin jjim can only be ordered starting at 1pm!!!

I wanted to order the special hot pot but didn't know it was only available from 1pm, so that was a bummer!! ㅠㅠ

What we added to the usin hot pot for two

• Usin hot pot for two
• Mushroom & vegetable add-on
• Shabu beef (140g) add-on
• Galbi (6 pieces) add-on

I thought I'd need to order rice separately and was about to add it, but apparently pot rice comes included as standard!

The shabu beef and mushrooms/vegetables we added! The mushroom and vegetable portion was pretty generous, which made me — a vegetable lover — very happy with the amount!

The basic side dishes were diced radish kimchi, white kimchi, seasoned salted squid, and pickled perilla leaves.

If you run out of any side dish, you can grab more from the self-serve bar!!

While waiting for the hot pot to boil, I looked around the restaurant and saw the word 'spicy' everywhere, so I was really hyped!! lol

Wow….. that makgeolli in the ice pitcher looks so refreshingly cold and delicious!!!!!! My partner went one step further and said if you added cider to that, you'd have the perfect ice-cold makgeolli-cider combo… made my mouth water… lol

We were told to just leave it once it starts boiling since the owner comes to mix in the seasoning, so we waited patiently for the owner to arrive lol

Shabu beef wrapped in pickled perilla leaves

At Dugeori Usintang, they told us the shabu beef tastes best wrapped in perilla leaves once cooked! So of course, straight into the perilla leaf it went 👍🏻

Wrapping the perilla leaves — pickled in a sweet soy-based seasoning like chamsauce — together with the beef and bracken mushrooms made for a really clean, refreshing bite!

They also neatly transfer the pot rice into a bowl for you! And pour in hot water to make nurungji (scorched rice) for dessert 🤭

Broth refill rules and adding beef short ribs

If you order just the usin hot pot with no add-ons, broth isn't refilled extra, but if you order add-ons, they bring extra broth along with them! (For teukjeongol, broth refills keep coming even without extra noodles/rice cake)

At first we only added shabu beef and vegetables/mushrooms… but the galbi that comes in the usin hot pot itself was seriously so tender and soft!!!??

Beef short ribs wobbling that gently means it's super tender!!! So we immediately went for the galbi add-on, go go go

How spicy is the usin hot pot at Dugeori Usintang?

With the extra broth poured in, plus the vegetables and galbi added… oh…. it was back up to the original serving amount lol With the 'spicy' character right there in the name, I expected something really fiery!!! But it was more like Jin Ramen mild flavor spice level?

So it's totally approachable even for people who can't handle spicy food! Since it's got beef and vegetables, it also seems like a good dish to share with older family members, and even though the side dishes weren't many, they were tasty to pair with the meal.

Pretty put-together, right? lol

The seasoned salted squid had radish strips, cheongyang chili, and garlic mixed in, giving it great texture too — not too salty, with a sweet edge, it was a total rice thief!

That salted squid alone could finish off a whole bowl of rice!! Honestly I'm not usually a fan of white kimchi, but this one wasn't over-fermented, so even I found it clean-tasting and delicious! If it weren't for watching my blood sugar, I probably would've eaten all of it… lol

At the end, gathering up the leftover meat to eat neatly with the nurungji 🤭

Staff who walk you through how to eat it

The kind owner even explained how to eat everything, which felt nice, and it was delicious, so that made me happy too, and being able to keep adding noodles/rice cake throughout the meal made it even better 👍🏻👍🏻 When we paid, the owner proudly said we ate really thoroughly, and hearing that made me proud all over again❤️ lol

For Chuseok 2026, they'll be operating normally on September 24 and 26 except for Chuseok day itself, so please check before visiting!!