Daegu Korean soup restaurant with generous tripe soup: Hanwoojang

I visited Hanwoojang (한우장), a gukbap (rice soup) restaurant in Daegu’s Jongno area that is great for a hearty lunch. As soon as I walked in, I noticed the entrance covered in Blue Ribbon selection stickers; it turns out the restaurant has been selected by the Blue Ribbon Survey for 12 consecutive years. Since it has been loved consistently for so long, I was excited to try its gukbap, too.

Hanwoojang information and how long we waited

• Address: 555 Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea
• Hours: Open 24 hours / Open year-round
• Parking: No parking lot
• High chair: Available
• Takeout and reservations available

Hanwoojang has apparently been around since 1968. The father first opened the restaurant, and his son now runs it as the second generation. They simmer the broth for more than 12 hours every day and make the kimchi, kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), and stir-fried anchovies themselves, so you could really feel the care put into every dish at this long-running favorite.

I visited right at lunchtime, and it was really busy. The place was already full when we arrived, so we waited briefly. Still, tables turned over quickly, so we did not wait as long as expected and were seated before long.

Hanwoojang’s gukbap menu and our order

There was a pretty wide range of gukbap on the menu. Along with basic seolleongtang (milky beef-bone soup), there were separate rice soup, special separate rice soup, oxtail soup, ox-knee tendon soup, Korean beef head-meat soup, and tripe soup. There was also an extensive suyuk (boiled sliced meat) selection: boiled beef, tendon, tripe, assorted meat, and oxtail. It looked good both for a gukbap lunch and for having suyuk on the side. We ordered seolleongtang for ₩11,000 and tripe soup for ₩15,000!

The basic side dishes were kimchi, kkakdugi, stir-fried anchovies, and marinated onions. You could easily bring back more side dishes from the self-service bar if you needed them.

The generously portioned tripe soup

I ordered the tripe soup that day. It is a soup made with yang, a section of beef stomach, and its distinctively chewy texture makes it a menu item that anyone who likes offal will probably enjoy.

There was so much tripe in it that I thought I had ordered the extra-large portion..

At first, I tried a spoonful of the broth without adding the spicy seasoning paste or pepper. The pale broth was lighter and cleaner-tasting than I expected, and it went down so easily with the tripe without feeling heavy.

Then I mixed in the spicy seasoning paste and pepper and took another bite! The paste added a little heat to the broth, while the pepper aroma came through, making it feel much richer.

The kimchi was crisp, with spicy seasoning that paired perfectly with the gukbap.

Seolleongtang with beef and somyeon noodles

The seolleongtang came with both beef and noodles, so there was plenty to eat in one bowl.

I started with a spoonful of the seolleongtang broth, which was nutty yet light and clean going down. The beef inside was tender rather than tough, and the somyeon (thin wheat noodles) made it especially nice to slurp up with the broth. There was a generous amount of beef, and with the noodles too, one bowl left me incredibly full.

Hanwoojang was a great place for a hearty lunch in Daegu’s Jongno area! The tripe soup was genuinely generous in portion, and the seolleongtang was also very filling with tender beef and somyeon noodles. I loved the clean broth and tasty side dishes, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a gukbap restaurant near Jungangno.