Hot pot restaurant in Imam-dong, Gwangju with frozen takeout: Dugeori

On a day I was craving a hot, spicy broth, I visited Dugeori Usintang Gwangju Imam Branch. The name 'usintang' was unfamiliar to me at first — apparently 'u' means cow (牛) and 'sin' means spicy (辛), so it translates to a spicy beef soup.

This was my first time trying a Dugeori Usintang branch in Gwangju, so I was curious what it would taste like. This time we ordered two servings of usinjeongol and one serving of galbitang to share a hearty meal with several people.

Broth and short ribs prepared fresh every morning

At Dugeori Usintang Gwangju Imam Branch, the broth is boiled in-house every morning, and instead of using pre-made frozen broth or delivered meat, everything is cooked on site. That's why you get freshly made broth and short ribs every day. There were also several notes about Dugeori Usintang posted on the restaurant walls, which were fun to read one by one while waiting for the food.

How much meat comes in the usinjeongol beef hot pot?

The two servings of usinjeongol finally arrived! It comes out covered with a lid at first, and once it starts boiling, shabu-style beef is added to cook. Even from the photos, you can tell the meat was really generous.

Beyond the shabu meat, there was more beef mixed into the hot pot itself, so there was plenty to fish out the whole meal. Best of all, the meat wasn't tough at all — it was tender and easy to eat. Apparently after the broth boils and the shabu meat cooks, you simmer it down for another two minutes or so until it becomes more like jjaglagi (a thick, reduced stew).

At first the broth is fairly abundant, but as it simmers and reduces, it gets richer and the flavor really soaks into the meat and vegetables. And that's when it becomes an absolute rice thief! Pairing the broth and meat with rice, my bowl of glutinous pot rice disappeared fast. Since the name literally has 'spicy (辛)' in it, I admit I was a little worried at first about how hot it would be.

Is the Dugeori Usintang hot pot too spicy for a spice-shy eater?

But once I actually tried it, it wasn't the kind of harsh spiciness that stings your tongue — more of a deeply flavorful, satisfying spicy heat. It was mild enough that even a spice-shy eater like me could enjoy it comfortably. It felt like the kind of dish you'd crave on a day you want something hot and spicy, or the morning after drinking too much the night before.

Wrapping the beef in perilla leaves is the best part

There's also a way of eating it that I personally really want to recommend. It's wrapping the usinjeongol meat in the perilla leaves that come with the meal!

At first I just ate the perilla leaves like a regular side dish, but once I wrapped the meat in them, the spicy, well-seasoned beef combined with the distinct aroma of perilla leaf surprisingly well. It was a totally different flavor from eating it plain, so after that I kept wrapping it in perilla leaves haha.

The self-serve corner also had perilla leaves plus white kimchi and diced radish kimchi, so if you ran out, you could easily grab more.

We ordered the galbitang short rib soup too

It's not just spicy dishes here. We also ordered one serving of galbitang, and it came in a stone bowl with generously sized short ribs and plenty of hot broth.

If the usinjeongol is on the spicy, rich side, the galbitang is a clear broth, so ordering both meant we got to enjoy two completely different styles. If you're eating with someone who can't handle spicy food, ordering the galbitang alongside would be a good call.

Freshly cooked glutinous pot rice and nurungji

There was one more thing I really liked about Dugeori Usintang — the glutinous pot rice.

Scooping out the warm, freshly cooked rice into a bowl first, then adding the reduced, spicy usinjeongol meat and broth on top, I finally understood why they tell you to simmer the hot pot down like jjaglagi.

After scooping out the rice, you could even make nurungji in the leftover pot, which was a nice way to finish off the spicy meal with something warm and comforting. Having tried it, usintang felt memorable — different from a regular beef soup and also different from a typical hot pot. Since it's a dish where you boil plenty of meat in a spicy broth and reduce it down to eat with rice, it works well as a meal but would also make a great side dish with drinks.

In fact, there was a funny sign posted in the restaurant near the usinjjim and special hot pot that read something like 'not too much even for ten bottles of soju' haha. If you're after a spicy Imam-dong favorite or looking for a filling meal, this place is worth a visit.

Flash-frozen takeout to bring camping

Dugeori Usintang isn't limited to dine-in — you can also order takeout by phone. Takeout orders are packed frozen, so it would be great to prep as a spicy meal to eat at home or take camping. Just note there's both a Jeonju branch and a Gwangju branch, so it's important to check the address and order from the branch you actually want.

A spicy Gwangju meal worth a daytime drink

This time I tried both the usinjeongol and the galbitang, and personally what stuck with me most was just how generous the meat portion was. Wrapping the tender meat in perilla leaves, then reducing the hot pot broth down to eat with the glutinous pot rice, was a great combination. I was a little nervous going in after hearing it was spicy, but it turned out to be a pleasantly hot dish that even a spice-shy eater could handle. Eating it, I thought this would suit anyone in Gwangju looking for a good excuse for daytime drinking pretty well.

From the warm galbitang to the spicy usinjeongol, Dugeori Usintang Gwangju Imam Branch let us pick whatever suited our mood. If you're looking for a different kind of beef hot pot in Gwangju, or an Imam-dong favorite for usintang and galbitang, this place is worth checking out :)