Seolleongtang near Daegu Station with self-serve banchan: Hanwoojang

On a day when I wasn't feeling well and really craved Korean food, with the weather turning chilly and my body not cooperating, I decided lunch would be gukbap (soup with rice) and went looking — that's how I ended up at a famous seolleongtang spot in Daegu!

Easy to find, near Daegu Station

The Daegu seolleongtang and gukbap restaurant I visited is called Hanwoojang! It's close to Daegu Station, a subway station, and bus stops, and there's a public parking lot nearby, so it was easy to get to. Since gukbap is the main menu, table turnover was pretty quick too.

12 years running on the Blue Ribbon list, open 24 hours

Hanwoojang has been named a Blue Ribbon restaurant for 12 years straight, which is quite something. I love good food and have been to plenty of restaurants around Daegu and North Gyeongsang, but this was the first time I'd seen a place recognized and loved for such a long stretch!

On top of that, it runs 24 hours with no holidays or break time, so you can eat there anytime. I've seen restaurants near Jungangno and Banwoldang in Daegu that stay open late, but this was the first one I'd seen open around the clock — daebak!

Hanwoojang has been beloved since 1968, a 40-year tradition. It's old but the interior is clean and stylish, and with flavors that please a wide range of ages, it draws all kinds of customers.

A spacious dining room and self-serve banchan

Here are photos of the inside of Hanwoojang. It's clean and spacious with plenty of tables, which I liked. Even though I visited during a busy hour, the staff were kind and quick, and the food came out fast too.

Hanwoojang has a self-serve bar, so I could take as much banchan (side dishes) as I wanted. The self-serve bar was kept tidy, and staff checked regularly and quickly refilled anything running low — great touch!

We ordered teuk-seolleongtang and yangtang

This is the menu board at Hanwoojang. We ordered yangtang and teuk-seolleongtang. Looking at other tables, a lot of people were eating somaeri gomtang (ox head bone soup) and dogani-tang (beef knee cartilage soup) too — I'll have to come back and try those next time!

Four banchan and millet rice

Hanwoojang serves four banchan as standard, and they were all tasty. Onion jang, kkakdugi (radish kimchi), stir-fried anchovies, and kimchi were all seasoned just right — they paired well with the gukbap, but were also good enough to eat on their own without being too salty.

The rice had millet mixed in, giving it a nutty flavor and a nice chewiness that made me say the rice itself tasted great. They must use good rice, because I really enjoyed it.

What is teuk-seolleongtang?

Teuk-seolleongtang has more meat and noodles than regular seolleongtang. The meat was tender and the broth had a clean yet deep flavor that was really good. No gamey smell from the meat, and the broth wasn't heavy at all, so I mixed in a bowl of rice and finished it off happily.

How was the yangtang?

Yangtang is a dish you don't see often elsewhere, and I was satisfied with how well the tripe was cooked, the generous ingredients, and the depth of the broth. Friendly service and great taste — highly recommend this Daegu seolleongtang and gukbap spot, Hanwoojang!!

Visit info

• Location: 555 Gukchaebosang-ro, 1F, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea
• Hours: Open 24 hours