Wangsimni gomtang restaurant with Pororo baby dishes: Geumnyeong

Trot trot trot ๑◕‿‿◕๑

Geumnyeong Gomtang, a Wangsimni gomtang (beef bone soup) restaurant, is already a certified local favorite. The broth here is a work of art. They simmer 1++ grade Korean beef shank with medicinal herbs for five hours, which is why the broth beats other gomtang places hands down. If you're ever near Hanyang University, this is really the place to eat.

Where is Geumnyeong Gomtang and when is it open?

Geumnyeong Gomtang is a gomtang specialty restaurant at 11 Wangsimni-ro 20-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. It's open Mon–Sat 10:30–22:00, closed every Sunday, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00.

• 📍 11 Wangsimni-ro 20-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Geumnyeong Gomtang)
• ⏰ Mon–Sat 10:30–22:00 (closed every Sunday / break time 15:00–17:00)
• 🚘 Nearby paid parking
• ✨ A Wangsimni favorite for toryeom-style 1++ Korean beef shank gomtang and gomtang rice noodle soup
• 👼🏻 Kids welcome / baby chairs available / stroller access possible, but it's a 2nd- and 3rd-floor restaurant reached by stairs

Geumnyeong Gomtang is our favorite gomtang place with the baby around Wangsimni. Plenty of people already know it and make a special trip to eat here. This Wangsimni gomtang favorite recently opened a second location in Yeoksam-dong too.

Geumnyeong Gomtang sits near the Wangsimni tripe alley. It's within a 10-minute walk from Wangsimni Station, and not far from Hanyang University Hospital either.

Two floors at Geumnyeong Gomtang: fine for solo diners, bookable for groups

Geumnyeong Gomtang is spread across two floors, the 2nd and 3rd. Book ahead and you can secure group seating too. Lots of people come here to eat solo, actually — given how clean and refreshing gomtang tastes, it's practically a pilgrimage spot for men eating alone who want something healthy and nourishing.

Prices: gomtang 13,000 won, large minari rice noodle soup 16,000 won

True to its roots near the Majang-dong meat market, this Wangsimni gomtang favorite simmers chilled, non-frozen 1++ Korean beef shank for 4–5 hours, adding medicinal herbs plus plenty of minari (water dropwort) and green onion.

• Gomtang ₩13,000
• Minari rice noodle soup, large ₩16,000

The minari rice noodles come in the same 1++ Korean beef broth

The minari gomtang rice noodle soup at Geumnyeong Gomtang is genuinely delicious. It's loaded with minari, and if you get the large size there's plenty of shank meat too. The most important point: the noodle soup broth is 1++ Korean beef broth. It's not the usual spice-heavy pho broth we're used to. You have to try this one when you visit — it's one of my favorite dishes there.

One sip of the broth at Geumnyeong Gomtang and you let out a satisfied "aah~". It's not spicy, clean and refreshing, and finishes with a cool kick right at the end. Most gomtang stops at just "clean-tasting" — this one goes further.

Basic gomtang shared with a 17-month-old, served in Pororo baby dishes

We ordered the basic-size gomtang from Geumnyeong Gomtang for our 17-month-old. Our baby loves meat dishes, so we order a full adult portion even knowing some will be left over. This place serves toryeom-style, so the rice soaks up the broth grain by grain, and babies eat it up all the more happily. The meat is so tender the baby eats it with no trouble at all.

Our baby finished off all the shank meat in the basic size and then started eating from mine too. There's also plenty of green onion in the bowl, and since our baby eats well, even the green onion got cleaned up. By the way, you can ask for the green onion served separately in the gomtang. Our baby spotted the green onion, called it out by name, and ate it happily. Honestly, the broth itself is so good that babies are bound to love it. On top of that, all the baby tableware is ready to go, and the bowl even has a Pororo illustration on it, so our baby had a genuinely cheerful mealtime. Haha.

At home, whenever kimchi shows up as a side dish, our baby feeds it to my husband and me. At restaurants it's the same — spot some kimchi and straight into mom's or dad's mouth it goes. Today was no exception: our baby delivered diced radish kimchi (kkakdugi) right to mom's mouth.

Order the regular rice noodle soup and add a bowl of rice

If you visit Geumnyeong Gomtang and order the gomtang rice noodle soup, the regular size plus an extra bowl of rice works well too. I ordered the large size because I wanted lots of meat. There's also a small terrace garden out front, so the view is nicer than your typical alleyway restaurant.

Both the gomtang and the gomtang rice noodle soup come with a few slices of rice cake (tteok) mixed in.

We had a properly satisfying gomtang lunch with the baby. Above all, since our baby loves Geumnyeong Gomtang so much, it's a restaurant I as a mom can feed my kid at without any worry.