Herbal yakgomtang at a Myeongdong Korean restaurant: Baekok

Namdaemun Market has been super hot lately, and my mom and I used to go there often anyway, so we frequently do a Myeongdong-Namdaemun Market route! There's surprisingly little to eat around Myeongdong, but I heard a pork gomtang place I knew from Yongsan also has a Myeongdong branch, so I checked it out!

Baekok Myeongdong / Daily 11:00–22:00 / 👉 4-minute walk from Myeongdong Station Exit 6

How to find Baekok Myeongdong: 4 minutes from Myeongdong Station Exit 6, down an alley

The Myeongdong branch of Baekok is easiest to reach from Exit 6 of Myeongdong Station. Walking further into the alley, an exterior with a late-night-diner vibe appears — such a great atmosphere... the kind of alley foreign visitors would love.

On my first visit I thought, is there really a restaurant back here? It's tucked so deep in the alley haha. Still, there's a sign out front, so it wasn't as hard to find as I expected.

Inside Baekok Myeongdong: solo seats, tables and opening hours

The interior of Baekok Myeongdong was neat and understated overall. It's not a huge space, but the tables are arranged efficiently, and there are both 4-person seats and group tables. Plenty of foreign tourists visit, but it also felt like a fine spot for nearby office workers to eat alone.

I especially liked that they have separate solo seats. The spacing between seats was fairly generous too, so you could eat comfortably without worrying about anyone watching you.

They're open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with no break time, so it's also good for a late afternoon visit.

I liked that they use only domestic ingredients! Plus they cook the rice with tasty Sindongjin rice and simmer the broth for a long time, which made me even more excited haha.

Baekok Myeongdong menu and prices: pork gomtang 11,000 won, yakgomtang 14,000 won

Baekok Myeongdong offers gomtang (bone soup) dishes including pork gomtang, yeolgomtang, and yakgomtang. Besides the soups, you can also enjoy a range of other menu items like cabbage dumplings, cold jeyuk (boiled pork), and fire-grilled pork tail.

There's a large size menu too, for anyone who wants a generous serving. I ordered the basic medium pork gomtang and the medium yakgomtang. Honestly I really wanted to try the cold jeyuk too, but I figured I'd be too full, so I saved it for next time.

Pork gomtang is ₩11,000, and the special yakgomtang with mushroom, astragalus root and various other herbs is ₩14,000. Pretty reasonable prices.

There's also a review event on the back of the menu, worth checking out haha. Since a lot of foreign visitors come, apparently it needs to be a Google review.

Pork gomtang served in 5 minutes: how was the pork?

My pork gomtang and yakgomtang arrived. What surprised me was that the food came out about 5 minutes after ordering. Getting a hot bowl of gomtang that fast seemed great for office workers with a tight lunch break too.

I looked at the pork gomtang first — big chunks of meat and green onion sitting on top of clear broth, with rice underneath. It was loaded with the thin, large-cut meat I love, which made me really happy.

The meat had a good balance of lean and fatty parts, leaning more toward lean, which I liked. Above all, the meat was really tender — soft yet with a slight chewiness, making it fun to eat. The pieces were big enough that lifting just one slice already felt generous.

Yakgomtang broth: bone-broth savouriness ahead of the herbs

Baekok's yakgomtang had a really clear, clean broth. I expected an herbal soup to taste heavy, but instead I could taste the deep, rich flavor of long-simmered bone broth. It wasn't overpowering, yet had real depth — an easy gomtang to enjoy without feeling weighed down.

Kkakdugi (diced radish kimchi) and the side dishes

They also serve kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), which pairs well with gomtang. It was cut small and easy to eat in one bite, perfect alongside the soup. Salt and pepper were also on the table, along with a dipping sauce for the meat.

Adding kkakdugi on top now and then — the combo of gomtang and kkakdugi really is the best haha. The broth was clean yet deep, so I could enjoy it happily right to the last spoonful. Baekok has several branches beyond this Myeongdong one, and this is a place I'd want to come back to in Myeongdong whenever I'm craving a clear, rich gomtang. Next time I definitely want to try the cold jeyuk too haha.