Clear vs spicy gomtang taste test in Insadong, Jongno: Wolhadong

This is a review of Wolhadong (월하동), a Korean restaurant near Anguk Station in Insadong that I'd recommend for clear, clean-tasting gomtang.

Wolhadong's location and hours

• Address: 16-1 Insadong 8-gil, 1st floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: Lunch 14:30 / Dinner 20:30

It's easy to get to, about a 4-minute walk from Exit 5 of Anguk Station. The restaurant doesn't offer its own parking, but you can use the nearby Suwoon Hall parking lot.

A hanok tucked into an Insadong alley

Wolhadong is set in a hanok (traditional Korean house) style building tucked into an alley in Insadong. It keeps the traditional hanok atmosphere while feeling clean and trendy overall, so it has a different vibe from your typical gukbap (soup and rice) joint. It's a great spot to stop by while sightseeing around Insadong, and I saw quite a few foreign visitors there too.

Inside: the mood and solo-diner seats

The interior also keeps the hanok's wood and lattice-window feel while staying modern and tidy. There are bar seats that make it comfortable to visit alone for lunch. It's quiet and clean overall, so it'd work well for an Insadong outing with your parents, or when you're craving Korean food on a date.

Menu and prices

We ordered the Wolha Gomtang, Hong Gomtang, and cold pork.

• Wolha Gomtang: ₩12,000
• Hong Gomtang: ₩13,500
• Cold pork (half plate): ₩10,000

Besides gomtang, there's a range of other Korean dishes like spicy squid salad and hot pots, so the place looks good not just for a meal but for a light drink too.

How different are Wolha Gomtang and Hong Gomtang?

The food came out fast, in under 10 minutes!

Personally, the best dish that day was the Wolha Gomtang. It's a broth simmered from pork, and it's genuinely clear and clean, so it felt easy from the very first spoonful. People who prefer clear broth over rich gukbap will especially love this. The broth was clean yet savory, great for mixing with rice, and the meat was tender too, so the whole balance was good.

Hong Gomtang is spicier than Wolha Gomtang. On first taste, it wasn't quite the familiar Korean-style spicy broth I expected — it had a slightly exotic quality, more like a Thai or Hong Kong soup. It's made spicy with chili oil-soy sauce, so its flavor direction was clearly different from Wolha Gomtang, and it was fun to order both and compare them!

Don't skip the cold pork as a side

I'd also recommend ordering the cold pork as a side. It's pork that's been boiled until tender, cooled, and eaten with a sauce, and the pairing with gomtang worked really well. Gomtang alone can feel a bit lacking, but adding the cold pork made the meal much more filling.

If you're going as a pair, order it this way

If you're visiting as two, two bowls of gomtang plus a half plate of cold pork would be just right. Overall, Wolhadong felt less like the traditional gomtang restaurant we usually picture and more like a modern-style reinterpretation of fusion Korean food. Of the two, the clear, light Wolha Gomtang was more to my taste, while Hong Gomtang felt refreshingly different with its exotic aroma and spicy kick.

Above all, I loved being able to eat clean gomtang in a hanok-style space. I actually saw a lot of foreign visitors there too, so it seems like a good way to experience Korean space and food together. If you want something a bit different from the usual hanjeongsik (Korean set meal) in Insadong, I'd recommend Wolhadong 🤤 Next time I go, I think I'll get the Wolha Gomtang and cold pork combo again!