Jongno 3-ga half-and-half dumpling hot pot lunch: Jongga Mandu

Let me introduce Jongga Mandu (종가만두), a Jongno 3-ga favorite serving a clean, healthy dumpling hot pot that's perfect when you want a light lunch that doesn't weigh you down~

Where is Jongga Mandu in Jongno 3-ga, and what are the hours?

Jongga Mandu is a 5-minute walk from Jongno 3-ga Station, at 88 Supyo-ro, 1st floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It's open 11:00–21:30 Monday to Saturday (break time 15:30–17:00) and 11:00–16:00 on Sunday. For parking, use a paid lot nearby. There was already a wait at lunchtime, so it's clearly a popular Jongno 3-ga spot!

The signature dishes are written right out front, which makes them easy to check.

Weekday lunch wait and the atmosphere

We visited at weekday lunch and..! Look at that wait, right? Dumpling hot pot is a great lunch pick, so it's definitely popular at midday.

Inside, it's mostly 4-person tables, with that classic Korean restaurant feel haha

There are lots of seats, and even though they're 4-person tables, some are pushed together, so a group could eat comfortably here too haha

Jongga Mandu menu and the half-and-half hot pot we ordered

Jongga Mandu's main dish is a clean, healthy-tasting dumpling hot pot (mandu jeongol), and there are also meals like bibim guksu (spicy mixed noodles) and tteok mandutguk (rice cake and dumpling soup), so it's easy to have a simple lunch here. We ordered the half-and-half hot pot (banban jeongol)~

The table was stocked with pepper and soy sauce seasoning,

and the side dishes were geotjeori (fresh, unfermented kimchi) and pickled radish. The geotjeori was crunchy and spicy with loads of savory depth, so good haha

What's in the hot pot: veggies, three mushrooms, handmade mandu

The ingredients came out first: beef, napa cabbage, bean sprouts, bok choy and plenty of other veggies, plus oyster mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms and even white wood ear mushrooms. So many mushroom types, I loved it haha

And these handmade mandu..! A staff member shapes them by hand right in front of the shop. The round dumplings looked so tempting~

Kalguksu noodles come with the hot pot by default haha Rice isn't on the menu and has to be ordered separately, for ₩1,000!

How to eat the dumpling hot pot at Jongga Mandu

They set up the broth first, and you just keep the lid on until it's bubbling haha Once it's at a rolling boil, put the mandu in first, then add the mushrooms, veggies and beef and eat haha

The mandu were so plump and tempting, and they felt like a perfect match for a name like Jongga Mandu!

They were making mandu nonstop like this...! Maybe that's why it felt even more trustworthy and tasted even better haha

I tried to film adding the veggies and beef..! But the steam completely blocked the shot, so I'll swap in the finished photo with everything already cooked haha

Veggies and beef dipped in soy sauce like shabu-shabu

I dipped the bean sprouts, bok choy and beef in soy sauce like shabu-shabu, and it tasted really clean and refreshing, with the fragrance of the vegetables coming through~ It goes down easily without feeling heavy, which I loved haha

How are the meat mandu and kimchi mandu at Jongga Mandu?

And this meat mandu..! Seriously amazing. They're big and generously stuffed. The ground meat and vegetables blend well for a really nice mild flavor, and the onion is cut a little bigger than usual, so you taste its sweetness and get a lovely crunch here and there.

The spicy broth wasn't overly intense either: a clear base broth with just a little kick, a clean kind of spicy! The heat of the hot soup and that slight kick were so appealing haha

I tried the kimchi mandu too, and you can definitely see the color difference from the meat mandu~

The kimchi mandu has the same filling as the meat mandu with kimchi added, and rather than sharp spiciness, it's a gentle mildness with a touch of kimchi flavor, easy and tasty to eat.

Finishing with kalguksu noodles

To finish, I added the kalguksu noodles that come with the pot..!

Crunchy geotjeori with noodles soaked in that mild broth: need I say more!! So satisfying.

Why I recommend Jongga Mandu's dumpling hot pot for lunch in Jongno 3-ga

After having the dumpling hot pot for lunch at Jongga Mandu in Jongno 3-ga, I really thought, so there's a reason for the wait?! Overall the seasoning isn't strong, but the broth brings out the natural sweetness and mildness of the ingredients, and the handmade mandu were really good. I enjoyed it, but Kkumi, who especially loves dumpling hot pot, enjoyed it enormously~ Even though it was filling, it didn't feel heavy or uncomfortable, just a clean fullness. A proper dumpling hot pot!