Itaewon gamjatang restaurant with sujebi add-ins and fried rice: Nuri Maeul Gamjatang

I pushed through that bustling Itaewon night air to get inside~ and came out with my stomach properly soothed by a piping-hot broth.

A gamjatang restaurant right in front of Itaewon Station

It's located right in front of Itaewon Station, so access couldn't be better. The exterior was neat and tidy, so I walked in already in a good mood. It's decorated with all kinds of promotional banners too, which were fun to look at. With this many dishes on offer, I wanted to hurry~ and run right in. 😆

Nuri Gamjatang with add-ins and fried rice on top

Every table has a tablet you can order from easily, so we ordered the moment we sat down. There were two of us, so we got the small Nuri Gamjatang (for 2), and to eat generously we smartly added sujebi (hand-torn dough flakes), potato and ramen noodles too. To finish things off, we set up the full course with self-serve fried rice for 2 and 1 raw egg. A hearty start at ₩50,000 total.

The stew that landed on the burner was unbelievably generous. On top of big chunks of backbone sat a heap of well-simmered ugeoji (outer cabbage leaves), fragrant perilla leaves, enoki mushrooms and more. Once all the add-ins went in, the pot was packed to the point of nearly overflowing.

I lit the gas and, once it came to a bubbling boil, took my first spoonful of broth. A heavy, peppery-hot stock with no muddiness hit the tip of my tongue first. Then the rich savoriness of the long-simmered bones and the sweetness of the ugeoji softly followed.

It's not aggressively salty but deep and richly drawn out, so the moment you swallow a mouthful your insides loosen up and a sigh of admiration just slips out. The kimchi was a freshly made geotjeori (unfermented kimchi) style... which hit my taste buds exactly! That sweet, not-yet-fermented flavor was just right, and I kept reaching for it.

The ugeoji, cooked tender without a hint of toughness, is truly a work of art. With every bite, the juices it's soaked up from the broth burst in your mouth! Roll the ugeoji around some soft meat, pop in a full mouthful and add some crunchy kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), and it's a perfect match.

The potato sujebi we added was chewy and springy, fun to bite into. And the fluffy, crumbly potatoes doubled in nuttiness when I mashed them with a spoon. Clean-looking, fluffy in texture, and they just melted in my mouth.

The portion is enormous too—two or three people could eat their fill. I think it's because they load in the ingredients without holding back compared to other places!

Tear off a big chunk of meat and dunk it deep into the mustard sauce~ and that sharp, tingling kick cuts right through the richness of the meat so it goes down endlessly.

Lifting one bone onto my plate, I could feel its full, hefty weight. And just a light nudge at the joint with chopsticks and the meat slides off softly along the grain. ₊·*◟(⌯ˇ- ˇ⌯)◜‧*･ Not a trace of gamey smell, and the nutty juices and spicy broth had soaked moistly into the meat.

The finishing touch: self-serve fried rice

No matter how full you are, you know the finale is always fried rice, right~ I scooped out the leftover broth until just a shallow layer remained and poured the self-serve fried rice into the pot. Rice with seaweed flakes, finely chopped kimchi and a waft of nutty sesame oil, stirred evenly until fried. Behind the extra-soft, creamy flavor from the egg, the crunch of the kimchi and the salty umami of the seaweed flakes explode.

We scooped the leftovers into a bowl and kept eating those too. haha The broth, kept simmering, turned rich and thick and was out of this world. The seasoning had soaked right through the ingredients, and that's where the true flavor was.

Clean, spacious dining room

What impressed me as much as the food was the facilities and atmosphere. I'd expected the loud, greasy old-diner feel you usually picture when you think of a gamjatang place. But the moment I opened the door, the fresh, clean interior caught my eye first.

The most memorable thing was the cleanliness. Even though this is a bone-dish specialist where broth and grease splatter everywhere, the tabletops and the area around the burners were dry, without a single slick spot.

The seating layout is really relaxed too. The tables are spaced widely apart, so you're not disturbed by chatter from the next table and it's perfect for eating and talking cozily with your own group.

The chairs are cushioned and comfortable, suited to a hot-pot meal where you sit and simmer for a long time, so my back never had a chance to ache during the meal.

With delicious food plus facilities and conveniences this comfortable, it's a place that works just as well for get-togethers, work dinners or dates.