Poi-dong gamjatang restaurant with a wasabi soy dip: Chomu Gamjatang

Why Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station is a neighborhood worth watching

Today's spot is right by Yangjae Citizen's Forest. It's actually close to Yangjae Station too, but Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station carries its own symbolic weight.

1. Lots of big companies. LG Electronics HQ, Hyundai-Kia HQ, and research and industrial complexes for Samsung, LG, KT, LX and more are all here. In other words, lots of high earners.

2. A transportation hub for southern/western Gyeonggi. Via Yangjae IC and Seonam IC right below the station, most express buses from Incheon and the western, southern, and eastern parts of Gyeonggi pass through here as their last stop. No wonder people flock here — and apartment prices reflect that.

This is Juam Janggun Village in Juam-dong, Gwacheon, right near Yangjae-dong. Construction is well underway and the general unit sales have already sold out completely. A brand-new DH High-End development sits in this core location — all in all, an exciting and promising area.

Today I visited a place I want to recommend to my friends working at the big companies in Yangjae: "Chomu Gamjatang."

Chomu Gamjatang: location, hours, parking

• 15-minute walk from Exit 2, Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station
• ⏰ 11:00-22:00 (daily), open year-round
• ✔️ The combination of Jeju-style pork cutlet and gamjatang
• Parking available in front of the restaurant
• ★ High oil price relief subsidy accepted ★

Here's a review summary generated by Naver AI.

I visited Chomu Gamjatang near Yangjae Station and Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station. There's parking for about 4 cars in front of the restaurant. Right at the entrance there was a waiting list — a sure sign of a good restaurant, right?

The dining hall on a weeknight

It was past the usual weeknight dinner rush, but the spacious hall was still packed with customers! Lots of families too, so it seems like a solid spot in Yangjae for a family meal out.

Ordering gamjatang comes with a portable burner set up by default. The tables are big, so you can eat comfortably.

Self-serve bar: the fresh cabbage kimchi is the highlight

At the self-serve bar there's chili pepper, garlic, napa cabbage kimchi, and radish kimchi. The fresh cabbage kimchi was so, so good that I kept going back for refills.

Chomu Gamjatang's menu and add-ons

Here's the menu board at Chomu Gamjatang. For a simple single-portion meal there's pork bone soup and Jeju-style hand-breaded pork cutlet. Gamjatang and ppyeojjim (steamed bones) come in large, medium, and small depending on the number of diners!

There were so many add-ons you could toss into the gamjatang — dumpling batter (sujebi), ramen noodles, napa cabbage greens (ugeoji), even extra bones! We didn't add anything extra to our small gamjatang. Still looked really hearty, right?

The fresh scent of perilla leaves wafts up right away. The bones come fully cooked already, so once it starts boiling you can dig right in.

The small gamjatang: how much meat is on the spine

Once that delicious smell starts bubbling up, you pull out the bones and start with the meat — but the size of these bones... whoa, impressive.

Big chunky bones packed with soft, tender meat. The bone and flesh were cooked just right and came apart easily. There were plastic gloves ready at the self-serve corner, but I managed to pick almost all of it off with just chopsticks. The deep broth and tender pork spine at Chomu Gamjatang are a perfect match.

Dried radish greens, potato, and dumpling batter (sujebi) come standard in the pot, pairing perfectly with gamjatang. You can also add more if you like. Ramen noodles would've been perfect, but I held back since I was already getting full haha.

One huge piece of pork spine. Absolutely no gamey smell, and the meat comes off smoothly.

Wasabi soy sauce dip and fresh kimchi combo

The meat tastes even better paired with the wasabi soy sauce dip that comes with it, or with the fresh cabbage kimchi.

Finishing with fried rice: why I held off on the ramen add-on

The reason I held off on the ramen noodles is that the fried rice is basically a must-order here. We ordered one!

A skilled staff member spreads it out thin and presses it into a crispy rice form. Once the moisture cooks off, the fried rice is done.

The magic that turns one bowl of rice into such a generous dish. The gamjatang broth is so good that you naturally start craving the fried rice. Go enjoy a hearty meal at Chomu Gamjatang.

The pork spine meat here is chunkier, free of any gamey smell, and more tender than anywhere else I've tried. I left Chomu Gamjatang genuinely impressed, down to every last bite.