Hongdae Station Korean restaurant for a Saturday dinner trio: Anok
In short
Anok is a hanok-style Korean restaurant on Hongik-ro near Hongdae Station in Mapo, Seoul. On a busy Saturday evening, away from the crowded Hongdae streets, the writer ordered one of each course at Anok — clear gomtang 13,000 won, Pyongyang mul-naengmyeon 14,000 won and braised pork tail 29,000 won — and found the flavors clean and ingredient-led rather than heavily seasoned. Anok is worth remembering in Hongdae when you want a calm family meal or a group dinner.
Good to know
- Clear gomtang (clear beef bone soup)
- 13,000 won
- Pyongyang mul-naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles in broth)
- 14,000 won
- Braised pork tail
- 29,000 won
- Main dishes
- Clear gomtang, Pyongyang naengmyeon, yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef rice bowl)
- Dishes to share
- Braised pork tail, cold sliced pork, potato (cheese) pancake, kimchi pancake, grilled deodeok root
- Drinks
- Standard drinks plus traditional liquors: Maesil Wonju, Yigangju Emillejong, Andong Soju and more
- Banchan
- Napa cabbage kimchi, seokbakji (radish kimchi), pickled gungchae lettuce stems, meat sauce
- Group seating
- Up to 12 people (reservation recommended)
- Address
- 13-4 Hongik-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
as written by the visitor on Sep 14, 2026
A place to enjoy tidy, clean-flavored Korean food near Hongdae Station: Anok
I was looking for somewhere to eat dinner near Hongdae Station on a Saturday evening and ended up finding this place. It's called "Anok," and it lets you enjoy Korean food in a slightly different atmosphere from the usual Hongdae scene. When you think of Hongdae, you usually picture meat restaurants, bars, or izakayas first, but Anok is a bit different from that hectic Hongdae vibe — it's a place where you can eat tidy, clean Korean food in a hanok (traditional Korean house)-style space.
Outside Anok: a calm corner off the Hongdae streets
As you walk from Hongdae Station toward the main Hongdae street, the restaurant itself feels calm and tidy, quite different from the bustling surroundings nearby.
Especially with its exterior, it has that distinct feel of a Korean restaurant, so I think it would catch the eye of foreign tourists too!
Since it was Saturday evening, Hongdae itself was packed with people at that hour, so finding this tidy Korean restaurant felt oddly comforting! Haha.
Inside Anok: how many people fit at the group table?
The interior of Anok was also clean and tidy. The group seating can fit up to 12 people, so if you're visiting as a group, I'd recommend booking ahead!
What's on the menu at Anok, including traditional liquors
Anok's menu is mostly Korean food, so it's also great to visit just for a meal. The main dishes include clear gomtang, Pyongyang naengmyeon, and yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef mixed rice), all good for solo dining, plus side dishes to share like pork tail jjim and cold pork jeyuk.
They also have signature dishes like potato (cheese) jeon, kimchi jeon, and deodeok gui (grilled bellflower root). Along with regular alcohol, they even stock Korean traditional liquors that are hard to find at typical Korean restaurants — maesil wonju, Yikangju Emile Bell, Andong soju, and more. What we ordered was clear gomtang, Pyongyang mul-naengmyeon, and pork tail jjim. We ordered one soup, one noodle, and one meat dish, haha.
The banchan (side dishes) included napa cabbage kimchi, seokbakji, gungchae jangajji (pickled stem lettuce), and a meat sauce.
Clear gomtang at Anok, 13,000 won
Clear gomtang, 13,000 won. Taking one spoonful of the broth, I could taste something clean and light. The savory taste of pork lingered subtly, and since it's a broth simmered in-house, it felt even more clean and mild.
Personally, I feel Anok's clear gomtang is a bit special in that it doesn't try to win you over with a bold flavor, but instead keeps the taste of the ingredients as clean as possible.
With gomtang, the kimchi needs to be good too for the flavor to really shine, right? Adding a piece of kimchi on top of the clean, clear gomtang broth made it incredibly refreshing, haha.
Eating a piece of meat with the meat sauce on top was another kind of happiness, in a different way.
Pyongyang mul-naengmyeon at Anok, 14,000 won: clean and mild
Pyongyang mul-naengmyeon, 14,000 won. Pyongyang naengmyeon is one of those foods that splits opinion, right? If you're used to the sweet-and-sour, strong flavor of Hamhung naengmyeon, Pyongyang naengmyeon might taste bland the first time you try it — and Anok's version was also more about the clean broth than any sweet-and-sour punch.
It felt really clean and light, so I think it would suit people who like clean flavors. And with naengmyeon, the noodle texture matters too — the chewy noodles paired well with the light broth, making it taste even better.
Braised pork tail at Anok, 29,000 won: chewy and rich
Pork tail jjim, 29,000 won. Pork tail isn't a dish you come across often in everyday life, so I was a little curious ordering it that day! The first thing you notice with a bite is the chewy texture. The skin and meat blend together in a chewy way that gets more fun the more you chew, haha.
The softly cooked meat and the chewy lean meat made it surprisingly easy to eat. If you like jokbal (pig's feet) or chewy meat textures in general, I'd recommend this seasoned-base pork tail jjim too!
Is Anok worth it for a quiet Korean meal in Hongdae?
There are so many restaurants around Hongdae Station that it can actually be hard to pick where to eat on a weekend evening. Anok has a somewhat different atmosphere from the usual Hongdae hot spots, making it a good place to remember when you want to eat Korean food calmly. I'd recommend visiting for a quiet family gathering in Hongdae, or a space that feels a bit more formal for a group meal :)
