Juchon, Gimhae pork bone soup restaurant: bone-in vs boneless

There's one dish that never gets skipped when my husband and I eat out — pork bone haejangguk (해장국, hangover soup). With heavy rain pouring down after a long dry spell, I found myself craving a spicy, hot broth, so we headed to Ppyeodae Itneun Haejangguk Juchon Branch. It's the kind of Costco Gimhae favorite where one visit turns into two, and we've already been back many times as regulars.

7-8 minutes by car from Costco Gimhae: where do you park?

We punched it into the navigation and arrived at Ppyeodae Itneun Haejangguk Juchon Branch, a restaurant just 7-8 minutes by car from Costco Gimhae. Parking is easy too, with a dedicated lot right in front of and beside the store.

The inside is quite spacious, and besides regular tables there's a separate room, so it works fine for work dinners or bigger group gatherings.

On one wall hangs a nameplate and citation the restaurant received from the government as a master of Korean cuisine — seeing it somehow made me trust the place even more.

What's on the menu, and what side dishes come with it?

The main menu is haejangguk and gamjatang (spicy pork bone stew). The extra menu includes pyeonyuk (boiled sliced meat), seasoned crab, skate salad, and even hot pot rice — so you can cover everything from a full meal to drinking snacks.

You order comfortably right at the table, and the side dishes are brought over by a serving robot.

There's fresh geotjeori (lightly seasoned cabbage) and kkakdugi (radish kimchi) among the side dishes, but I especially love the taste of pyeonyuk they give you here as a starter. I'm normally not a big pyeonyuk fan, but here the chewy, springy texture paired with a savory dipping sauce is so good I never leave any behind.

If you run low on side dishes, you can refill them yourself at the self-serve corner.

Haejangguk is our go-to order as regulars. Every time we come, we say "let's try gamjatang next time~" but somehow we always end up ordering haejangguk anyway haha.

Bone-in haejangguk, 11,000 won: how much meat, and how tender?

My husband's pick today was the bone-in haejangguk (₩11,000). The first thing that catches your eye is definitely the amount and size of the meat. The pile of bones with thick chunks of meat clinging to them already earns a passing grade on looks alone, before you even pick up a spoon.

I believe the real skill of a haejangguk restaurant lies in how tender the meat is, and the bones at Ppyeodae Itneun Haejangguk Juchon Branch in Gimhae are boiled so soft that the meat slides right off with just a touch of chopsticks. The texture stays moist without any dryness all the way through, so you can enjoy it happily down to the very last piece. Dipping the tender meat lightly into their signature sauce is especially addictive — I couldn't put my chopsticks down.

Don't want to pick meat off the bone? Try the boneless haejangguk

For anyone who finds picking the meat off the bone tedious or messy, I recommend the boneless haejangguk (₩11,000). Since the tender meat is already fully off the bone, it's great for slurping the broth over rice right away, and you can eat it cleanly without getting your hands dirty.

How does the broth taste?

We tasted the broth first. A moderate spiciness and sharpness combined with a deep savory flavor built up from long simmering — perfect for warming you up from the inside on a rainy day like this. I'm pretty sensitive to gamey smells from meat, and there was none of that at all — just a clean yet spicy flavor that would work well as a hangover cure too.

After eating some of the meat first, we started round two: scooping a spoonful of rice mixed into the broth, paired with the crunchy kkakdugi and geotjeori kimchi that come as basic side dishes. The fresh sweetness of the well-fermented kkakdugi balances out the spicy broth nicely, wrapping up a satisfying meal.

Spicy seasoned crab as an add-on: just how hot is it?

We also ordered the seasoned crab today. Whew~ one bite of the spicy seasoned crab (양념게장, ₩12,000) and you immediately understand why it's named that. It's quite a high difficulty level for anyone who's sensitive to spice. Even my husband, who's good with spicy food, was going whew~ whew~~ and sweating buckets as he ate it.

Final verdict

This is a place where, once you taste it, you keep thinking about the broth, and the generous amount of meat naturally turns you into a regular. Ppyeodae Itneun Haejangguk Juchon Branch, a Costco Gimhae favorite, is great for a solid solo meal, and it also works well for family dinners out or group work gatherings.