Gwangju sundae-guk restaurant with ₩3,000 soju: Old Gyeongseong

A steaming bowl of sundae-guk on Ibaejae-ro in Gwangju, Gyeonggi

When the temperature swings are big and the weather turns chilly like it has lately—or whenever I’m craving a hearty meal—there’s one of Korea’s ultimate soul foods that comes to mind: sundae-guk (Korean sausage soup), bubbling away in a pot!! I was passing near Ibaejae-ro in Gwangju, Gyeonggi and stopped in for lunch, and I found a place with seriously rich sundae-guk and absolutely no porky smell. ⭐️ I bookmarked it and had to tell you about it ASAP >_<!

📍 Address: 374 Ibaejae-ro, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (경기 광주시 이배재로 374 1층) 🕗 Hours: Daily 08:10–21:00 (last order 20:30) 🅿️ Parking: Spacious parking available in front of the restaurant

Highlights: Clean, spacious dining room, breakfast available, and a drink-discount event!

It’s right on the ground floor along Ibaejae-ro, so it’s super easy to get to, and parking out front is convenient too—perfect for driving over. They start serving at the impressively early hour of 8:10 a.m., so it looked great for breakfast or an early lunch as well!

We arrived right around lunchtime!

The dining room was already buzzing with customers here for gukbap! 👍🏾

Even with so many customers, the whole place was kept very pleasant and clean, so I had a great first impression right away.

Ordering regular and spicy sundae-guk

Once seated, we looked over the menu and had that happy dilemma of what to order. To enjoy their signature sundae-guk in different styles, we ordered one regular and one spicy version. (Honestly, there was no deliberating—we ordered right away haha. At a sundae-guk place, you have to order the signature dish. It’s the rule.)

Soju and beer for ₩3,000?

Then I spotted an unbelievable fact on the menu...!!

Soju and beer were only ₩3,000?! 🍺🍶

In an era when a bottle of soju costs ₩5,000–₩6,000, this is amazing news for a drink lover like me.. Soju and beer for ₩3,000—can this be real?! ♥ I vowed to come back one evening with a whole crew of soju fans, order gukbap and suyuk (boiled sliced pork), and go for it haha.

Neat side dishes and barley tea

After you order, they bring out a neat spread of basic side dishes. There’s kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) and kimchi—the lifeblood of any gukbap restaurant—plus onions, peppers, salted shrimp, and more! The kimchi and kkakdugi were perfectly fermented too.

The staff set out the initial side dishes, and if you run short while eating, you can comfortably grab more from the self-service bar on one side of the restaurant—no need to feel awkward! The self-service bar was also managed very hygienically and neatly ✨

And here’s one more small but lovely point!

Instead of plain water, they serve refreshing, nutty barley tea 😌

Having a cup of savory barley tea before or after a meal—or when the weather is cold—just made me feel good. Oh yeah! 🍵

Deep, rich sundae-guk with no off smell

Finally, the main dish we’d been waiting for! The sundae-guk arrived bubbling away in a ttukbaegi (earthenware pot)ㅠㅠㅠ

First up was the regular sundae-guk, dusted with fragrant perilla seed powder! Ahh... I took a big sip of that hot broth first.

This place is the real deal. Huh? Yes. I’m telling you, it’s for real. So freaking good.

The broth is deep and rich, coating your mouth without even a trace of fishiness or pork odor. It warms you from the inside out(?) and makes you automatically go “ahhh”—a truly glorious broth 😭

The plump, springy sundae, chewy head meat, and offal were all generously packed in, so every time I lifted my spoon, it came up loaded with meat.

Next was the spicy sundae-guk, with its appealing peppery, warming broth! The spicy broth was flavorful with an explosion of umami—perfect as a hangover cure. Mix in a bowl of rice, top it with kkakdugi, and you can finish a hot bowl of gukbap in 10 minutes flat. Even anyone sensitive to pork odors can enjoy this comfortably; the quality is that good. The whole time, I kept saying, “We really found a good one!” and telling myself I had to come back again.

From the clean dining environment and deep, rich sundae-guk with no off smell to the generous amount of offal, savory barley tea, and above all, the incredible ₩3,000 soju-and-beer promotion—this restaurant totally won me over.

If you’re looking for a truly great gukbap restaurant in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, don’t hesitate—head to Old Gyeongseong Sundaeguk Mokhyeon Ibaejae Branch (옛날경성순대국 목현이배재점)! I’ve absolutely saved this as a place to revisit. It gets my 200% revisit-intention medal 🏅✨