Hongdae Korean restaurant for shrimp minari pancake: Doonjeong

Doonjeong Hongdae Direct Branch (도온정 홍대직영점). I did go looking for a gomtang (beef bone soup) place in Hongdae, but gomtang was not what I ate that day.

Once we put hanwoo gopchang jeongol (Korean beef tripe hot pot) in the middle and added a shrimp minari pancake, the atmosphere was quite different from the gukbap (rice soup) restaurant I had imagined.

I came for a meal with friends, and it naturally turned into drinks alongside the hot pot. Doonjeong Hongdae Direct Branch was also close to Hongik University Station, so it was a nice choice for a meetup spot.

A different mood from the Hongdae gukbap place I expected

Doonjeong is known for gomtang and seolleongtang (ox bone soup), so at first I expected the usual gukbap restaurant atmosphere.

But once I went in, the restaurant was cleaner and more put together than I had expected.

It felt closer to Korean dining than an ordinary gukbap place, so it was good for chatting over a meal with friends—and in the evening, it had the kind of atmosphere that naturally carries on into drinks.

That day, we ordered hanwoo gopchang jeongol and a shrimp minari pancake.

A gopchang hot pot generously filled with Korean beef

Before long, the hanwoo gopchang jeongol arrived in a huge pot.

It was not just tripe: lean hanwoo beef, tendon, aroong-satae (beef eye round), white wood ear mushrooms, and all kinds of vegetables filled the pot. The big pieces of tripe caught my eye first, especially.

The staff helped cook it at the table, so we could comfortably wait from start to finish.

After the vegetables had released some of their juices, they added broth, and they also kept an eye on the heat and broth along the way. We chatted with friends while waiting, and before we knew it, it was ready to eat.

A pleasantly spicy broth made with gomtang stock

Once the hot pot had boiled enough, of course I tasted the broth first. Perhaps because it used gomtang stock as a base, it was clean rather than heavy, with a pleasantly spicy kick. It was not a broth where heat came first; as the beef and tripe cooked, the flavor became richer and richer.

The tripe did not have an off smell, and I liked its savory, chewy texture.

The tendon was pleasantly springy, while the lean hanwoo beef was tender, so each ingredient had a slightly different texture.

The meat also went well dipped in the soy sauce that came alongside it.

It would have been perfectly good as a meal, but it felt a little disappointing not to have a drink with a menu like this.

Shrimp minari pancake

The shrimp minari pancake we ordered with the gopchang hot pot arrived soon after. It came piled generously on a large plate, and I thought it might be too much for two people, but once we started eating, we kept reaching for it.

It had minari's distinctive herbal aroma and shrimp as well, so it offered a different flavor from the hot pot.

Taking pieces of shrimp minari pancake between bites of the spicy gopchang hot pot made for a good combination. If several people visit, I think sharing one hot pot plus one type of pancake would work really well.

A deeper drinks session with one hot pot on the table

With the hanwoo gopchang jeongol in the middle and the shrimp minari pancake to pick at, the meal I had initially imagined became quite long. We drank Saero and Donghae that day. As the gopchang hot pot simmered, its broth became richer, while we could keep picking up pieces of pancake right away, so we did not need separate drinking snacks.

Sipping the hot-pot broth, eating shrimp minari pancake, and having drinks in between naturally made our conversation with friends go on longer too. Rather than feeling like we had set out for a bar from the beginning, it was more like we went for a delicious dinner and ended up having drinks as well.

A good Hongdae spot for both dinner and drinks

After visiting, Doonjeong Hongdae Direct Branch left me with the impression that it is more than a restaurant where you simply eat gomtang and leave. It is a good place to enjoy a meal and drinks over a range of hanwoo dishes. The hanwoo gopchang jeongol was particularly fun because I could pick out different ingredients, including tripe, tendon, and aroong-satae, and the staff's help with cooking made it convenient. Ordering the shrimp minari pancake as well made the table feel very generous.

Doonjeong Hongdae Direct Branch information

The address is 1F, 183-12 Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 마포구 동교로 183-12 1층), about 214 m from Exit 1 of Hongik University Station.

It opens from 11:00 AM. Be sure to check the latest opening hours and closing days before visiting. Group seating, takeaway, reservations, a waiting area, and Wi-Fi are available.

• Hanwoo gopchang jeongol ₩54,000
• Shrimp minari pancake ₩19,000