Hyangdong gomtang restaurant for an evening reservation: Doonjeong

If you live in Hyangdong, Deogyang-gu, you already know Doonjeong, the beef gomtang spot! It's been picked for the Blue Ribbon Survey two years running, so I'd been curious about it for ages — finally made it there with my mom and dad haha~

Where is Doonjeong in Hyangdong, and where do you park?

Doonjeong is at 130 Kkonnaeum 1-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, on the first floor of a corner house behind the Hyangdong Daiso. It's open daily 11:00-21:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00.

Parking right in front of the shop is a chronic source of complaints, so use Hyangdong Public Parking Lot No. 1 instead! It's super cheap and only a 3-minute walk. Parking for an hour comes to about a thousand won.

Blue Ribbon two years running: Doonjeong's exterior and dining room

The exterior is so clean and upscale-looking, right? It sits tucked among quiet houses.

We showed up around 5:30, about 30 minutes after break time ended. I figured it'd still be quiet since it was early for dinner, but there were already quite a few customers!

There's a Blue Ribbon sticker right on the outside of the shop~ Two years in a row, apparently, so as someone who loves a good gomtang, I was already pretty hyped haha.

The first thing I noticed walking in was how neat and clean the whole place felt! The tables were spaced well apart too, so it felt really comfortable.

Since we had a reservation, we could sit right down with no wait. I heard there's sometimes a wait during peak hours, so I'd recommend booking ahead!

Maybe because the atmosphere is so pleasant, there were a lot of families dining together.

The tables were wide enough that even with a bunch of dishes laid out, it never felt cramped! We ate the whole meal without any discomfort, super comfortably haha.

There were baby chairs too, so a lot of tables had families with kids.

Doonjeong menu prices and side dishes

Here's the menu at Doonjeong, the Hyangdong favorite.

• Beef yukhoe (raw beef) bibimbap ₩16,000
• Spicy beef gomtang ₩15,000
• Spicy lamb gomtang ₩18,000
• Clear beef gomtang regular ₩13,000 / special ₩16,000 / tendon ₩16,000 / brisket ₩18,000

So there was a good variety of main dishes, and then there was also—

• Seasoned lamb tripe
• Seasoned meat
• Meat and chive pancake
• Meat and kimchi pancake
• Shrimp and water dropwort pancake
• Boiled sliced pork/beef
• Beef hot pot
• Beef tripe hot pot

Lots of hot pots and pancakes that would go great with drinks in the evening!

There was also a wide range of drinks, from traditional Korean liquors to makgeolli and soju! Great for pairing gomtang with a drink at dinner too. The table next to us was drinking with tripe hot pot, and the smell wafting over was seriously tempting haha.

The staff were super kind and got the side dishes out quickly! The basic side dishes are simple — kimchi, kkakdugi, soy sauce dip. But... the taste is anything but simple.

This place is seriously a kimchi champion. The kimchi was cool and refreshing without being sweet, which paired perfectly with the gomtang!! One of the best kimchis I've had recently.

The kkakdugi was also fermented just right — delicious!

Salt and pepper are set on the table, so add them to taste.

Doonjeong also says it uses 100% domestic Korean ingredients across all its menu items. It had that homemade, made-with-care feel, so it was easy to eat with trust.

Clear beef gomtang, regular and special: how were the broth and rice?

Doonjeong's clear beef gomtang is ₩13,000 for regular and ₩16,000 for special — I ordered regular, and my dad ordered special. The gomtang finally arrived! Clear, clean broth loaded generously with beef.

The broth wasn't harsh or salty at all — mild yet deep in flavor, and honestly so good I nearly teared up.

This one's the regular beef gomtang. My dad got the special, and even the regular had a generous amount of meat, but the special had a genuinely insane amount of meat..

The rice doesn't come on the side — it's served already mixed into the broth!

The rice grains held their shape and stayed springy instead of getting mushy, so eating them with the broth was genuinely delicious. The meat was tender and soft too, with no gamey smell at all..! Dipping it in the special soy sauce that comes alongside made it even better.

The weather's gotten chilly lately, and a bowl of this beef gomtang warmed me right up, so nice 🥹 Now that I'm getting older haha I prefer warm over cold these days.

Honestly, I think Doonjeong's beef gomtang is the kind of thing pretty much everyone would enjoy without any complaints!

Don't skip Doonjeong's meat kimchi pancake

And then there was the meat kimchi pancake, which exceeded expectations!

My mom is so good at making kimchi pancake that my standards for pancakes are pretty high haha. So I usually shrug off most pancakes, but Doonjeong's kimchi pancake was genuinely delicious!

Crispy outside and moist inside, packed with meat and kimchi for insane savory flavor.. It's not even noodles, but it went down that fast, ha.

It paired great with the gomtang and was perfect to order as a side. You have to try the meat kimchi pancake together with the soup!

My dad told me to take a photo of him finishing his bowl completely haha. This one photo says everything about how good it was—

Final verdict: is Doonjeong worth it for gomtang in Hyangdong?

True to its two-year Blue Ribbon streak in Hyangdong, the beef gomtang was clean and mild, making for a satisfying meal. The staff were really kind and kept the side dishes coming without being asked, so it was a pleasant meal from start to finish! If you're looking for a clean gomtang restaurant in Hyangdong, I'd recommend Doonjeong. My mom and dad were super happy with it too!