Jonggak beef bar: oxtail stew, black sesame Häagen-Dazs, Umi Hoegwan

Where is Umi Hoegwan Jonggak Main Branch?

Come out of Exit 4 of Jonggak Station and Umi Hoegwan (우미회관) is right in front of Bosingak, just a few steps away. Its stylish hanok-style exterior catches your eye naturally, and I figured it would fill up fast at dinner time, so I hurried over.

• Address: 8 Ujeongguk-ro 2-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Gwancheol-dong 260)
• Groups welcome; reservations available
• Parking: Jonggak Dwi public parking lot right in front of the restaurant

How do Umi Hoegwan's lunch and dinner menus differ?

At lunch, Umi Hoegwan serves meals like hanwoo clear gomtang (beef bone soup), hanwoo yukhoe bibimbap (seasoned raw beef bibimbap), hanwoo spicy gomtang and hanwoo seuji-dogani tang (beef tendon and knee cartilage soup). At dinner the mains are a mungtigi brisket set, a mungtigi yuksashimi set, a mungtigi yukhoe set, oxtail stew and assorted suyuk (boiled beef). The sides include stir-fried brisket and odeuregi (cartilage), hanwoo mushroom hotpot, hanwoo mulhoe (cold raw beef soup), hanwoo yukjeon (beef pancake), potato jeon, spicy seuji jjim, old-style tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patties), perilla-oil noodles with yukhoe, hanwoo hangover ramen and nurungji (scorched rice).

You could say it's a rice-and-soup place by day that turns into a moody bar for raising a glass once evening comes!

Umi Hoegwan's identity is hanwoo (Korean beef). All the beef is hanwoo, and its signature mungtigi (Daegu-style raw beef) is made not with leftover or frozen meat from the day before, but with meat slaughtered the same day in Daegu and brought in every morning, they say.

Inside Umi Hoegwan Jonggak: atmosphere and free corkage

The first thing you see when you walk into Umi Hoegwan is an array of traditional Korean liquors. And by the way, it's corkage free, so you can bring your favorite drink and enjoy it comfortably!

Nice atmosphere, right? It's not stiff, but it's not too loud either, which I liked even more. It also feels upscale, so it would be a good place to treat someone special on a special day.

It's perfect for company dinners too... in fact, the friend I went with had been to Umi Hoegwan for a company dinner before. They said the atmosphere and the food were both great, so they had good memories of it :)

The restroom at Umi Hoegwan is clean too. There's thoughtfully provided dental floss and mouthwash, so I freshened up my mouth a bit midway through the meal.

A review event is also running, so be sure to join in and get the freebie.

What side dishes does Umi Hoegwan serve?

At Umi Hoegwan, pickles (jangajji) and a sauce came out first. The food hadn't arrived yet, but a delicious smell hit my nose, and it turned out to be coming from this. It's seriously, unusually nutty. That smell had my expectations soaring before I even saw the food!

All set to eat, ta-da!!

How does the perilla-oil makguksu with yukhoe taste?

The smell of perilla oil from Umi Hoegwan's perilla-oil makguksu (buckwheat noodles with yukhoe) hits you right in the nose, so it already tasted great before I even tried it, haha. There's no way it could be bad!! This is the real deal, seriously!!! I used to think of spicy, salty flavors first when it came to mixed noodles, but these days I really love nutty, mild dishes like this :)

Mix it up well~

The yukhoe (seasoned raw beef) is so fresh, too, T_T It's tasty on its own, but dipped in the sauce that came out at the start it gets even more nutty and delicious!!! The perilla oil is crazy good, and the whole sesame seeds popping with every bite are so nice. The texture is appealing and the nutty aroma fills your mouth~~ every ingredient was in harmony and delicious. Honestly, I could finish a bowl by myself. The yukhoe portion is generous, so you can keep the ratio with the noodles right to the end, haha.

How big is the medium oxtail stew?

I only tried oxtail stew (sokkori jjim) for the first time not long ago, and I got hooked, so I ordered it again at Umi Hoegwan.

Umi Hoegwan's oxtail stew comes with somyeon (thin wheat noodles) in it by default 👍

Since I ordered the regular size, the amount of oxtail itself wasn't big, but every piece was so tender and delicious that I was very satisfied. And to make up for it, there was no skimping on the noodles.

What does the black sesame nurungji Häagen-Dazs dessert taste like?

I saw ice cream on Umi Hoegwan's menu and thought it would be a good palate cleanser, so I ordered the black sesame nurungji Häagen-Dazs.

Who first thought of eating ice cream with nurungji (scorched rice)? It's an unfamiliar combination, but the nurungji texture added to the ice cream is charming. It crunches as you eat the ice cream, which is fun... There doesn't seem to be that much black sesame powder on top, but they must use good sesame, because the flavor is rich and goes well with the vanilla, so I enjoyed it. A perfect finish to the end>< I had a really, really good meal!