Hongdae pork gomtang restaurant with burdock sides and beer: Anok

I visited Anok, a restaurant near Hongik University Station where you can enjoy Korean dishes in a hanok (traditional Korean house) atmosphere~ From gukbap (soup with rice) to Pyongyang naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles) to cooked dishes like pork tail jjim (braised pork tail), it's a pork gukbap spot I want to recommend to every Korean food lover! Everything was so tasty with zero gamey smell haha.

• Hours: 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:00), closed every Monday
• Address: 13-4 Hongik-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Parking: none on-site due to the neighborhood, use nearby public parking lots

Walking to Anok from Exit 9 of Hongik University Station, and the hanok interior

Walk about 7 minutes from Exit 9 of Hongik University Station and you'll reach Anok~ The hanok entrance really sets the mood~

Step through the door and Anok has a serene hanok interior haha. It's an atmosphere hard to find in Hongdae, and it seems perfect for a date or a visit with foreign friends~

The tableware was clean and tidy too!

The interior is neat and orderly too~ Group seating fits up to 12, and since seats are limited, they said calling ahead lets them accommodate you~

Anok's menu in Hongdae and the burdock side dishes

Here's the menu board! There are simple meal options great for lunch, plus meat, hot pots, and jeon (savory pancakes) that pair well with drinks in the evening. Perfect if you're craving Korean food or want to introduce it to a foreign friend haha.

First, the basic side dishes: seasoning sauce, kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), kimchi, and burdock. The kimchi and burdock were so good! Especially the burdock, with its crunchy, chewy texture like dried radish strips, was so addictive I kept reaching for it haha. The burdock went great with the naengmyeon, and the kimchi paired well with the gukbap!

Our order arrived~ We ordered clear pork gomtang, Pyongyang naengmyeon (in broth), and steamed pork tail!

Clear pork gomtang, 13,000 won: broth with a faint hwangi aroma

Clear pork gomtang (₩13,000): with big chunks of meat, this looked so appetizing! The broth had zero gamey pork smell at all — clean and delicious haha. As we ate, we caught a hint of the medicinal herb aroma you get in samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), and we were saying, whoa, this flavor works surprisingly well in pork gomtang too, when—

So that's why it tasted like samgyetang's herb flavor! They said there's a faint hwangi (milkvetch root) and burdock aroma, and they use Korean domestic pork. With that gentle samgyetang-like scent, it's satisfying and warm without feeling heavy — highly recommend it for lunch or your first meal of the day haha. A Hongdae gukbap must-try!! A flavor almost anyone would like.

Pyongyang naengmyeon in broth, 14,000 won: easy even for first-timers

Pyongyang naengmyeon <broth> (₩14,000): apparently the naengmyeon broth is also freshly made clear stock, just like the gomtang. Wow, it's clean and mild enough that even naengmyeon beginners could enjoy it, and the buckwheat noodles were nutty too! Recommended if you like clean, subtly savory flavors. I kept reaching for more haha.

As the staff suggested, eating the seasoning sauce with the meat in one bite created a contrast against the clean broth that kept me coming back haha. Even though the meat pieces were large, they weren't tough at all — soft enough that I ate them in big, satisfying bites.

Steamed pork tail, 29,000 won: a texture like jokbal skin

Pork tail jjim (₩29,000): a mouthwatering look!!.ᐟ I've had braised oxtail before but never pork tail, so I was curious what it would taste like — it has the soft texture and flavor of tender jokbal (pig's trotter) skin~ Add the salty seasoning on top, and it's a flavor any Korean would love!!

Since it's called a bone jjim, I thought it would have just a bit of meat you'd have fun picking at, but there was actually a lot of meat to eat!! It was tender enough that picking at it wasn't a hassle at all — easy to eat! The more I ate, the more that spicy seasoning made me crave something else..?!

Haha...! No beer would be a crime, so we added beer, planning to just have one light glass each!

Cheers~ Seriously, the beer went down so smoothly. We visited for lunch, but I think this place would also be great for dinner as a meal-plus-drinking-snack combo!

After a few beers, I started craving something salty and bold, so I sprinkled on salt and pepper for a new salty twist and started round two of the gukbap haha. Another master-eater moment for S today lol.

Is Anok in Hongdae worth a visit? Final verdict

At Anok in Hongdae, we ate satisfyingly and deliciously, from a clean, hearty single meal to cooked dishes that pair perfectly with drinks~ There was zero gamey smell and it suited my taste perfectly — highly recommend!!

• A Hongdae date with a friend or partner
• Introducing Korean food to a foreign friend
• A quiet family gathering meal in Hongdae
• A small group dinner of 12 or fewer in a hanok space

I recommend Anok as a great place to visit~