Songpa gopchang hot pot with kimchi: Midang Hanwoo Gopchang

I finally found a top-tier gopchang hot pot spot at Garak Market..! I seriously love gopchang, so I’ve been to quite a few places people say are good—but at this one, the second I tasted the broth, an “oh my god, it’s SO goodㅠ” just slipped out.

I’m sensitive to unpleasant odors, so even the slightest gamey smell makes me put my spoon down right away. Let me tell you my honest review of Midang Hanwoo Gopchang near Garak Market—a real gem with no odor and no artificial seasoning taste.

The No. 1 gopchang hot pot near Garak Market, Midang Hanwoo Gopchang

The owner greeted us so warmly the moment we walked in, and they were incredibly cheerful and big-hearted—the whole package! The restaurant was so comfortable and clean that I was already excited before eating, haha.

We were debating grilled gopchang or hot pot, then sneaked a look at the next table. They were having hot pot with soju, so hot pot was immediately our pick..

The menu and ordering the medium gopchang hot pot

The three of us ordered the medium gopchang hot pot. (₩62,000)

Even before the food arrived, the aroma of the broth was drifting over, and our anticipation was already exploding. Just from the look of it, I understood why this gopchang hot pot is such a talked-about Garak Market favorite.

A clean, deep hot pot broth with no unpleasant odor

🥬 The surprising charm of refreshing cabbage kimchi, and a broth with zero unpleasant odor.. The gopchang hot pot finally arrived! As it started bubbling away, I scooped up a spoonful of broth first. Honestly, I’m not exaggerating—it had absolutely no unpleasant odor.

Usually, gopchang hot pot hides any odor behind aggressively seasoned, artificial flavors, right? But this one had none of that distinctive heavy seasoning taste. It was clean yet deep.

The cabbage kimchi in the gopchang hot pot

And there’s one totally unique point that belongs to this place! They put cabbage kimchi right into the hot pot.

At first I was like, “Cabbage kimchi in gopchang hot pot?” But wrapping it around the gopchang and eating it together was such a winning move. It completely cut through the richness and added a refreshing note—seriously, a perfect pairing. I learned another new flavor combination today..

The gopchang pieces were nice and big, and the more you chewed, the more nutty richness came through. The three of us kept saying, “This is seriously a lot of food,” while eating the medium. We reduced the broth down a little, added udon noodles, and cleaned it all up..

Kkakdugi fried rice you can’t resist even when full

🍚 Fried rice you can’t resist even when full, finished the pan with kkakdugi fried rice! No matter how close you are to bursting, you can never resist fried rice—the Korean dessert, haha. If you skip it because you’re full, you’ll think about it at night after getting home and regret it.

So we added fried rice, and oh my—it wasn’t just regular fried rice, but kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) fried rice! It couldn’t possibly be badㅠ (₩4,000)

That crisp kkakdugi texture, plus sesame oil.. With the rich seasoning from the gopchang hot pot as its base, there’s no way this could taste bad.

Even though we were full, we couldn’t stop spooning it up—it just kept disappearing. In the end, we scraped the grill pan clean right to the bottom and finished it all..!

Ending with a prize-draw event and sikhye

🎁 Even a super-fun prize draw! A generous prize even for last place When we were nearly done eating, they told us about the prize-draw event happening at the restaurant! I’m the type who can’t pass up a little event like this, so of course I joined right away.

Write a review and make sure you do the prize draw before you go! The owner said the first-place prize is a whopping ₩50,000 voucher, and apparently no one has won first place yet, haha.

I drew with my heart racing from all the anticipation, but sadly got last place. Still, even last place came with a cool bottle of sikhye (sweet rice drink), so I happily finished with a refreshing palate cleanser. Ending with sweet sikhye was clean and just perfect.

For anyone looking for a great place around Garak Market, or anyone wanting a generous, clean-tasting gopchang hot pot with no unpleasant odor, I mega-recommend Midang Hanwoo Gopchang~~~!!