Changwon gopchang hotpot restaurant with udon and kimchi: Yeongju

If you've got nothing to do on the weekend, head to Masan~~~ Once again I dragged my other half along on our Subang Road (soju + bread) trip haha. We took the train this time so we could actually drink, and for dinner we hit up a Masan Daetgeori favorite for gopchang (beef tripe): Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol. Let me tell you about it.

📍12 Wolyeong-dong 6-gil, Masanhappo-gu, Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do / ⏰Daily 16:30–00:30 / ✅Group seating available, takeout and delivery available, Naver reservations available

Where is Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol in Masan Daetgeori, and how many tables?

Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol Masan Daetgeori Main Branch is a gopchang hotpot restaurant on the first floor at 12 Wolyeong-dong 6-gil, Masanhappo-gu, in the Daetgeori area near Gyeongnam University. The dining room seats about 11 tables and it's open daily from 16:30 to 00:30.

Here's the exterior of Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol Masan Daetgeori Main Branch, a Masan Daetgeori gopchang favorite. It genuinely looks like a place made for drinking, right,,

Here's the interior! About 11 tables, and we visited before 6pm, before the dinner rush, yet it was already about half full — by the time we left there was a waitlist plus takeout and delivery orders piling up, it looked crazy busy ㄷㄷㄷㄷ

Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol menu and what the hotpot cost

At Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol we ordered the spicy beef gopchang jeongol (small) for ₩29,000, Chamisul soju and Cass beer at ₩10,000 each, and udon noodles for ₩2,000. Their two signature dishes are pork seokgalbi (grilled short ribs) and Korean beef gopchang jeongol.

Here's the menu board at Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol in Masan. Before we went in, after we sat down, even after we ordered — I kept going back and forth, single dish? Set menu? haha ㅜㅠㅠ I was starving and we had a second stop planned, so — stay strong!!!!!!

• Gopchang jeongol (small), spicy — ₩29,000
• Chamisul, Cass — ₩10,000
• Udon noodle add-on — ₩2,000

Second generation running it now!!! A gopchang jeongol legend?@-@ whoa

Their signature pork seokgalbi and Korean beef gopchang jeongol seem popular with families too — the adults eat the hotpot while the kids eat galbi, a perfect combo. Sure enough, nearly every table had a plate of galbi on it!

✔️They have aprons and high chairs available, and the day we visited there was baseball playing on the TV haha. Unfortunately it wasn't an NC or Lotte game that day.

They're also running a Naver receipt review event, so join in and grab a little extra freebie><

Side dishes, sujebi dough and sundae in the pot

The basic side dishes at Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol are seasoned bean sprouts, pickled cabbage, kimchi, and mukbap (acorn jelly). On top of that, you get dumpling soup dough (sujebi) and sundae (blood sausage) served separately to add into the hotpot.

We got to Masan on foot that day — bus, taxi, walking, and then suddenly, should we grab a Nubija bike? haha, ended up cycling like crazy. Felt like I'd exercised so I got extremely thirsty for a soju-beer mix,,,, but hey, that's a valid excuse to drink one right

How does the Korean beef gopchang jeongol taste? Chadolbagi and reduced broth

The Korean beef gopchang jeongol at Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol comes out almost fully cooked, so you just add the dumpling dough and sundae and simmer for about 5 more minutes, they say. The chadolbagi (thinly sliced beef brisket) is tender, and the broth gets richer the more it reduces.

Aah ~~~ the Korean beef gopchang jeongol arrived. It comes out nearly fully cooked already. Whew ~~~~~~ so much filling too~~ ha, they said no round two after this,,,,, can I even make it to Jinju (pfft, tough talk lol)

The chadolbagi was tender, and eating it with the enoki mushrooms and zucchini on top was so good~~ The broth definitely got deeper and richer the more we simmered it compared to how it started, really delicious.

Broth refill, 2,000 won udon noodles and a scoop of kimchi

We were chatting away and eating, and by the time we noticed, the broth had reduced a lot, so we added a broth refill plus udon noodles. The udon comes pre-boiled, so you just drop it in and simmer briefly.

Ahh, of course a hotpot needs udon noodles,,, at this point I kept thinking about adding fried rice and more soju, but I held back thinking of the next day and round two.

Looking at the untouched kimchi sitting next to the bubbling hotpot with the udon noodles in it, my appetite kicked in haha. Let's add the kimchi!!!!! Basically a kimchi-udon jeongol at that point (don't judge me) hahaha

And the result? Total success for this Masan Daetgeori gopchang favorite, Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol hahahaha. Adding the udon definitely made it richer and more filling, and letting it simmer longer added to the flavor too! Oh, I didn't get a photo, but instead of fried rice we compromised on a bowl of rice split in half haha.

Too full for round two at Masan Daetgeori, and still worth it

Even after finishing everything, I still had room for seokgalbi somehow~~ Next time I'm definitely getting the set menu^^…… but we did manage to save some stomach space for round two and enjoyed the meal.

There was an old-school chicken gizzard place I'd visited alone last time but couldn't take my friend to — I really wanted to go together, so the night before I even called ahead around 9pm asking if they'd be open the next day, saying we were coming from Jinju… but we rode a Nubija bike 30 minutes from Daetgeori and the place was firmly shut… the disappointment was indescribable (so annoyed)

Turns out there was a train accident that day,,, we had no idea, but apparently there was chaos with delays?ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Even the train to Jinju was delayed by an hour^ㅠ^ People heading to Seoul had two-hour delays, and there was arguing and shouting at the station, total chaos,,,, anyway, it was fun,,, if you're looking for a Masan Daetgeori gopchang favorite, check out Yeongju Gopchang Jeongol :)