Hongdae Station lunch without drinks: hanwoo jeongol at Doonjeong

I'd been wanting to go to Doonjeong Hongdae Direct Branch for a while — I was craving hot soup.

This place is known for its gomtang (beef bone soup), but it also does hanwoo jeongol, hanwoo gopchang jeongol, and even savory pancakes (jeon), so I'd had my eye on it whenever I was looking for restaurants and bars near Hongik University Station. Finding out it's been Blue Ribbon-selected two years running, 2025 and 2026, made me even more curious.

I hate crowds, so I deliberately went around 1pm, near the tail end of the lunch rush. But there was a wait, of all things — I thought I'd dodged peak time, but there were still about 3 parties ahead of me. It wasn't a long wait though, and once I was inside eating, it seemed like the queue basically disappeared after 1:30pm.

Where Doonjeong Hongdae Direct Branch is, and how long the 1pm wait was

Doonjeong Hongdae Direct Branch is close to Exit 1 of Hongik University Station. It's more on the Donggyo-dong side than right in the middle of Hongdae's main street, but it's still an easy spot to reach if you're looking for a Hongdae lunch place.

Lunch doesn't take reservations — you have to join a walk-in queue on the spot — while dinner can be booked through Naver Reservations. Even at 1pm there was a wait when I went, so if you're heading there right at lunchtime, it's worth expecting to wait a bit.

On the other hand, if you can push your lunch a little later like I did, aiming for after 1:30pm is a good strategy. The place clearly emptied out around then while I was eating.

Doonjeong menu and prices

The signature dish is a clear gomtang made by simmering hanwoo (Korean beef) female cattle for a long time. Clear gomtang starts at ₩13,000, and there's also sujigomtang, chadolgomtang, spicy hanwoo gomtang, and yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef rice bowl).

For sharing with a group, there's hanwoo jeongol at ₩49,000 and hanwoo gopchang jeongol at ₩54,000, plus dishes like chadol suyuk (boiled brisket), hanwoo yukhoe, gogi-muchim (seasoned beef), gogi kimchijeon (kimchi-beef pancake), and shrimp-minari pancake. I was curious about the hanwoo gopchang jeongol too, but I figured ordering that would make me want to drink way too much this early in the day, haha.

I ordered the hanwoo jeongol, plus a bowl of rice and udon noodles on the side. They told me the yukhoe bibimbap ingredients were sold out that day — I'll have to try it next time.

Hanwoo jeongol, 49,000 won: broth that tastes like gomtang

First off, the table setting was totally my style. Even the side dishes came out in pretty ceramic bowls one by one, and with brass spoons and the hot pot itself, the whole thing felt neat and well put together.

The hot pot in particular was a gold-toned pot that looked like a brassware jeongol pot, which matched the Korean table setting really well. It gave off a totally different vibe from the usual plain stainless steel pot.

The jeongol came out first with the beef and vegetables nicely arranged, and then the staff poured in the clear broth.

Once it started bubbling, I took a spoonful of the broth first, and wow, my eyes lit up. I'd expected the usual jeongol experience of boiling meat and vegetables together, but the broth itself was genuinely delicious — like a proper clear hanwoo gomtang. It wasn't a strongly seasoned, punchy broth, but one where the clean flavor of hanwoo broth came through cleanly. Tasting the jeongol broth alone, I immediately understood why Doonjeong is famous for its gomtang.

I picked out the meat and vegetables, ate them alongside the rice, and finally added the udon noodles at the end. Normally when I have jeongol, my first thought is to reach for a drink, haha, but that day the broth was so good that I ended up fully hangover-curing myself with no alcohol, just focused on the food.

Having hanwoo jeongol for lunch didn't feel heavy at all. Actually, it made me want to come back alone next time just for a bowl of the clear gomtang. With broth this good, it'd make a great solo dining option in Hongdae too.

Inside Doonjeong: a dining room full of foreign travellers

One thing that surprised me while eating was just how many foreign customers there were. They didn't seem like people who'd just wandered in while exploring Hongdae — I kept seeing tourists who'd come specifically, rolling suitcases and all. It made me wonder if this place was already well known among foreign travelers, and once I tasted the broth, I suddenly felt weirdly proud, even though I'm not the owner, haha.

Yeah, this is the taste of Korea. Kind of felt like I was the one spreading the word about Korean food, haha.

The restaurant itself feels less like the typical gukbap joint and more like a polished Korean restaurant. Even the tableware and place settings feel considered, so it seems like a good spot to bring your parents, or take a foreign friend to try Korean food. For lunch, a bowl of gomtang or yukhoe bibimbap; for dinner, hanwoo jeongol or hanwoo gopchang jeongol with a drink — the menu is set up well for both.

Next visit: gopchang jeongol at Doonjeong for dinner

I had the hanwoo jeongol this time, but the broth made me even more curious about Doonjeong's other menu items. I want to try the clear gomtang, and I'm curious about the yukhoe bibimbap that was sold out that day — and honestly, I still can't stop thinking about the hanwoo gopchang jeongol, haha.

It's good for hot soup at lunch, and good for jeongol, suyuk, or jeon with a drink at dinner, so it feels like it could work as both a Hongdae lunch spot and a Hongdae evening drinking spot, with a different mood each time. This time I did the full hangover cure without a single drop of alcohol, so next time I'll go for dinner and finally have that drink with the hanwoo gopchang jeongol. A place I want to go back to whenever I'm craving hot soup. Really enjoyed this meal.