[Seoul] Spicy Pork Bone With Potato Soup at Idaejo Bbyeodagui (이대조뼈다귀)

posted on October 20, 2015 (updated on June 22, 2016)

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Korean cuisine is not just about kimchi and BBQ. Soups and stews are extremely popular in Korea, especially during the cold winter. When Kev and I visited Seoul this summer, we stopped by a famous pork bone soup restaurant in Hongdae, in the midst of our a shopping spree madness. The umami-rich broth and mountainful of fresh ingredients definitely deserved a thumbs up!

For soup lovers like me, drinking bowls of hot spicy soup in the middle of a warm summer day is an ultimate enjoyment. (Call me crazy!)

The 24-hour restaurant is designed and furnished in traditional style, which requires customers to take off their shoes and sit on the floor at a low table.

Each wooden table is equipped with a build-in gas stove to keep the pot of soup warm. At Idaejo Bbyeodagui, they only serves 3 dishes:

Deungppyeo Jjim (등뼈찜), pork backbone braised in soy sauce. Comes in small (27,000 won) , medium (32,000 won) or large (36,000 won).
Gamjatang (감자탕), spicy pork bone soup with potatoes. Comes in small (23,000 won) , medium (28,000 won) or large (33,000 won).
Haejangguk (해장국), boiled pork bone soup that is eaten as a hangover cure. Only comes in single servings (7,000 won).

I’d done some research beforehand and knew that their gamjatang is the top seller. Ordering a small pot would be more than enough for 2 people. A great deal for budget travelers!!

The staff first filled our table with hot pepper paste, green chili peppers, pickled daikon, vinegar, kimchi soup, and ramen noodles.

All the sides (hot pepper paste, green chili peppers, pickled daikon, vinegar, kimchi soup, and ramen noodles)

Typically, Koreans dip the green chili pepper in the hot pepper paste to whet the appetite. The green chili peppers were very crisp and crunchy, with a sweet-spicy taste.

Without much of a wait, a gigantic pot of deeply red, spicy soup stacked with pork spine, vegetables, green onion, potatoes, hot peppers and ground wild sesame seeds was delivered to our table. We turn on the gas stove and let all the ingredients mingle. Oh… the tantalizing aromas made my stomach growl.

The bones had bits of meat clinging to them. When you’re eating a pork bone soup, stop worrying about table manners. Just pick the bones up with your fingers and suck the meat off the bones!!

The soup was well-salted and full of flavors – went well with a bowl of rice or noodles 🙂