Insa-dong gimbap and bibimbap restaurant near Anguk Station: Goshine

I visited a makguksu (cold buckwheat noodle) place before summer left — I feel like I hadn't had makguksu at all this year... We decided to eat near Anguk Station in Insa-dong and while looking around I found this makguksu restaurant, Goshine Donghae Makguksu. Visited it, and honestly recommending it as an Insa-dong must-eat.

Goshine Donghae Makguksu Jongno branch

Honestly I kept misreading it and writing about it without noticing, but when I actually looked at 'Donghae' (동해, East Sea) properly, turns out there's a flagship location in Gangneung~ Isn't a chain basically a guaranteed good restaurant? So I went in trusting that.

How to walk to Goshine Donghae Makguksu from Anguk Station

Goshine Donghae Makguksu Jongno branch is tucked inside Insa-dong, and you can get there in just 3 minutes from Anguk Station. Super close — I got there in a flash haha

Goshine Donghae Makguksu menu prices and prepaid kiosk ordering

There was a menu board outside so I checked it out, but it looked like an old menu board. Once inside, the kiosk menu showed that mul-makguksu and bibim-makguksu had gone up by about ₩1,000, eel stone pot bibimbap is now ₩20,000, salad buckwheat gimbap is ₩7,000, and so on — some prices have gone up, so keep that in mind! There's a payment pad below the kiosk, so it's prepaid!

Hanok-style seating in Insa-dong: solo diners and groups

The seating is split left and right and there are tons of tables! The interior has a hanok (traditional Korean house) feel, so it's very traditional. I think a lot of foreign tourists would enjoy visiting too~ Looks fine for group dinners and also seems comfortable for eating alone.

This is the spot right to the right as you walk in — there's also a restroom inside the restaurant. We ordered mul-makguksu, roe stone pot bibimbap, and salad buckwheat gimbap. There were two of us but everything looked so good we ordered three dishes haha

Four basic banchan and the self-serve side dish corner

Four basic banchan (side dishes) come with the order. The diced radish kimchi (kkakdugi) was well-fermented and tasty. The yeolmu (young radish) kimchi was a bit disappointing — seemed underfermented! The pickled onions also go perfectly with bossam (boiled pork), but we didn't order that this time, unfortunately... I'll try it if I get the chance.

You can get more side dishes from the self-serve corner. So generous. When I went there was even baechu (napa cabbage) kimchi.

Salad buckwheat gimbap, 7,000 won: the best dish at Goshine

This is the salad buckwheat gimbap, ₩7,000 — the dish I enjoyed most here. When I order buckwheat gimbap elsewhere, it's usually mostly buckwheat with little filling inside. Here it's the opposite — the salad is the star haha. So it's light to eat and the flavor was excellent too. Recommended for the ladies (and everyone, really).

Just looking at the photo you can tell the filling is packed in, right? Full of crunchy ingredients — cabbage, carrot, cucumber, even paprika. I like that kind of thing. Bite-sized pieces that are easy to eat, so I ended up finishing the whole thing myself.

Roe stone pot bibimbap, 13,000 won: as much flying fish roe as rice

I was craving roe so I ordered the roe stone pot bibimbap, ₩13,000. The moment I saw it I was like, why is there so much flying fish roe?! Love a place that doesn't skimp on ingredients.

Seriously it was like 1 part rice to 1 part flying fish roe, and it was amazing. Did you see how the rice turned orange even after mixing? They also gave us gochujang (red chili paste) to season it more, but we just ate it as is. Still, I think you could add more — it was a bit mild/plain.

Mul-makguksu, 11,000 won: noodle portion and warm broth

When you order makguksu, they also give you warm broth in a small cup. Warm broth is just the standard pairing right? It'd probably taste amazing drinking it in winter...

Mul-makguksu is ₩11,000. It comes with broth full of slush ice. You've got to eat this before it gets cold out! Everyone hurry up and go eat it, not much time left.

When I loosened the noodles into the broth, even I — a total glutton — was surprised by how much noodle there was. One fistful, maybe two. That much.

It felt a bit bland so I added some of the radish from the basic banchan. Goes great together!! Everyone, when you eat makguksu, pile on the radish — you know the rule, at least one piece of radish per bite of noodles. There was half an egg, plus plenty of cucumber and seaweed. The portions were so huge I left completely full at Goshine Donghae Makguksu Jongno branch.