Hongdae Korean restaurant for sweet, not-spicy pork tail jjim: Anok

Looking for a spot near Hongdae with great atmosphere that also fills you up haha. I went hunting for a hotspot where you can enjoy food with a quiet hanok (traditional Korean house) feel in the middle of all that bustle! Lots of people still haven't tried Pyongyang naengmyeon, so I'll show you the menu, prices, interior vibe and my honest review!

Where is Anok, and what does the hanok look like at night?

Anok is a hanok Korean restaurant at 13-4 Hongik-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul. From the entrance, the warm orange lighting and neat hanok door put you in a good mood right away!

The corridor leading to the courtyard looked so atmospheric at night, seriously so atmospheric haha.

The terrace-style seating area overlooking the courtyard is also super charming!

Stepping inside, there's a kiosk set up within the hanok structure, so ordering was really convenient haha.

Inside Anok: tables and atmosphere

The tables inside Anok are clean and pleasant, giving you a comfortable atmosphere to focus on the meal!

What side dishes come with a meal at Anok?

Once you order, Anok starts setting out side dishes neatly arranged in pretty bowls haha. They even give you a special sauce to dip the meat in, all served neatly haha.

The crunchy, salty jangajji (pickled vegetables) really woke up my appetite! Kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) is a must with gukbap (soup with rice), and it was fermented tangy just right, pairing well with the broth haha. The spicy-sweet geotjeori (fresh kimchi) was also the best helper for cutting through the richness of the meat!

Finally all the dishes I ordered came out at once, and the table was absolutely packed!

Pork gomtang, pork tail jjim, and Pyongyang naengmyeon — isn't the visual just incredible haha.

Anok's pork gukbap: a clear, clean broth

The first main, Anok's pork gomtang, has a broth so clear and clean with zero gamy smell that it just clears out your insides!

Thanks to the finely chopped green onion, a fragrant, clean flavor spreads through your whole mouth — it's a deep taste haha.

It comes out piping hot in a big bowl, so you can enjoy the warmth all the way to the last spoonful! It's not like a tonkotsu vibe at all — more clear and clean.

There was so much lean meat packed in generously that I was genuinely touched by the owner's generosity haha. Seriously a lot of meat.

They told me to dip this meat in the special sauce, so I piled it on, and it wasn't salty at all, which I loved.

Anok's Pyongyang naengmyeon: mild broth, generous portion

Anok's Pyongyang naengmyeon has a subtle, deep meat aroma soaked into the broth, which was great as a finisher haha.

Slices of suyuk (boiled meat) sit gently on top of the noodles, giving it a perfectly finished look visually! The amount of meat is seriously huge again — that's the highlight.

You could feel the care put into every single dish just by looking at it, which made eating a genuine pleasure the whole time haha. The buckwheat noodle aroma blends with the clear broth in a way that has you drinking it up again and again haha.

And the portion is genuinely huge too haha. It's not just the meat — the noodle portion is also massive, so I couldn't finish it all. The noodle texture was so chewy and soft it had me slurping without even thinking. This Pyongyang naengmyeon is meant to be eaten mild, so if you find it too bland, you can ask for something like vinegar and they'll give it to you!

Is the braised pork tail at Anok spicy?

Anok's pork tail jjim has almost no spiciness and comes in a sweet sauce. The second special dish, pork tail jjim, had a chewy texture with a sweet sauce swirled through it — pretty unique. It's not a dish you come across easily, so finding pork tail jjim in Hongdae, there was no way I wasn't going to order it.

The lean meat parts were tender to chew, and it would genuinely be the best drinking snack! They had makgeolli on the menu too, and I debated ordering a bottle about five hundred times...

Usually pork tail jjim comes spicy in most places, but maybe because Hongdae draws so many tourists, this one was barely spicy at all and more sweet. It's rich and sweet in a way that feels like it'd match foreign palates perfectly!

Verdict: who should eat at Anok?

Anok, a Hongdae spot for gukbap and Pyongyang naengmyeon enjoyed in a hanok — since it's new, I was so curious, and visiting in person, I fell for the space being prettier than expected and for the reasonably priced meals. Just being able to find Pyongyang naengmyeon in Hongdae feels like enough of a draw on its own.

The atmosphere is quiet and the food is neatly prepared, so this is somewhere I'd really love to bring a foreign friend. If you want a hearty Korean meal in a special atmosphere near Hongdae, it's worth a visit haha.

The combination of pork gomtang, Pyongyang naengmyeon, and pork tail jjim I enjoyed at Anok this time, paired with the neat hanok atmosphere, made for a truly quiet, peaceful meal haha. The deep, rich broth flavors and the chewy-textured dishes kept my mouth happy the whole meal, and I left full too. The portions are seriously huge to start with! With good atmosphere, taste, and value, I think this place would appeal to anyone who loves Korean food or is looking for a date course.

Anok menu and prices