Seokchon Lake lunch spot for motsunabe with udon noodles: Horanggul

I was on a date near Seokchon Lake when the weather turned chilly and suddenly I just wanted something spicy and hot in broth form? So we finally made our way to Horanggul in Bangi-dong, a place I'd wanted to visit for ages. Rawr 🐯

Where Horanggul Bangi Branch is and when it opens

Horanggul Bangi Branch is a Japanese-style motsunabe (offal hot pot) restaurant right at the entrance of the Bangi-dong restaurant street. It's open from 11:30 to 24:00, with a break time from 3 to 5 pm.

Honestly I'm born in the year of the tiger so I really wanted to visit a place called Horanggul, which means "tiger's den" (TMI). But while searching I found out the owner actually learned to make daechang hot pot directly in Japan, which made me want to go even more, so we did.

There's no dedicated parking, so I recommend public transit — mainly because one bite of the daechang hot pot and you'll definitely end up ordering beer..

Waiting is possible through a table waitlist app. There's a claw machine arcade nearby too, so you can put your name down, play a round, and the time flies.

And here's Horanggul's special event: different discounted menus on different days of the week. Office workers nearby must be so lucky.. they could come every day for lunch and get something different 😋

What the inside of Horanggul Bangi Branch looks like

The inside of Horanggul Bangi Branch has a clean, Japanese izakaya vibe. The tables are spaced generously apart, making it a great spot for a date!

Beyond the lunch specials, there's a wide menu — daechang hot pot, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki and other Japanese dishes are all available, so instead of a trip to Japan, why not just visit Horanggul haha

We visited for lunch, but I feel like the atmosphere would be great in the evening too. I'd recommend visiting after a Seokchon Lake date!!

Horanggul gopchang hot pot for two: ingredients and price

Horanggul's gopchang hot pot is ₩16,500 per person, and we ordered the restaurant's signature dish for two. The food came out in under 5 minutes.. so fast, so fast

Ta-da~! Doesn't it look so delicious? Inside the gopchang hot pot there's Korean beef daechang (large intestine), pork neck, fish balls, fried tofu, tofu, and assorted vegetables all together, so it's fun picking through and eating a bit of everything.

How to eat Horanggul's motsunabe in the right order

With Horanggul's motsunabe, you need to boil the meat and gopchang a bit longer. The Korean beef daechang gets softer the more it simmers, and it adds a nutty richness to the broth — it's like magic, tastier the longer it cooks than on the first bite 🪄

Add a bite of the fried tofu, tofu, and vegetables soaked in that broth, and honestly, this place might as well be Kyoto, Osaka, or Kobe. If you usually like motsunabe, you'll be completely satisfied — you really have to try it.

Since the broth is freshly made each time, unfortunately refills aren't possible, so if you want to eat noodles or risotto later, be sure to leave some broth behind..

Adding noodles: save a third of the broth first

If you add noodles to the Horanggul gopchang hot pot, you can eat it almost like udon — but you need to leave about a third of the broth in the pot after eating most of the solid ingredients. Extra rice is free on weekdays too, so order that along with it for a really filling meal 🤎

By the time we added the noodles, the broth had simmered much longer and gotten richer, so the noodles soaked up that nutty flavor and it felt like a completely different dish!!

• Eat the solid ingredients in the gopchang hot pot
• Mix rice into the broth
• Add noodles to eat it like udon

Try this three-course approach to eat it properly — and even eating it this way still comes out to around ₩30,000.

Is Horanggul Bangi Branch worth it for lunch?

If you've had a date at Seokchon Lake and are craving something warm and spicy, try the Japanese-style motsunabe at Horanggul in Bangi-dong. The moment you take that first sip of broth, you'll catch yourself ordering a drink (I definitely did..)