Korea: Somunnan Gamjatang
On our last full day in Korea, Abby and UK met up with us in Seoul. We started off the day with breakfast at Somunnan Gamjatang:
The place was packed...mostly with police officers:
There was a whole back room filled with even more police officers. Even if Jiejie hadn't told us Somunnan was recommended by a famous Korean celebrity chef, just the presence of the police officers clearly on their break was enough for me. I knew deep in my bones that this place was legit.
I waited impatiently as the server set up our table with chili peppers, cucumbers, and ssamjang:
As well as kimchi:
Finally, it arrived.
Somunnan only sells one dish and that's gamjatang:
The large, which we ordered, was ₩36,000 or $29.64. More than enough for the five of us.
Soon enough, this giant pot of pork bone soup was bubbling away on the hot plate built discreetly into the tabletop:
While the soup was certainly hearty with all its potatoes, I'm sorry to say that I just wasn't blown away. I felt like I'd tasted something similar at home with one of my mother's soups (probably because she uses a lot of pork bones for her soup bases), except a bit spicier.
I was much more impressed when we added in sujebi (₩1500 / $1.24 per portion). Sujebi is essentially hand-torn noodle sheets. A server came by with baggies of dough and proceeded to toss sujebi into the boiling pot as he ripped them. We then fished them out once they were done cooking:
Jiejie told us that she had better gamjatang in Taiwan. I'm not sure I believe her, but then again, I felt that Somunnan Gamjatang was just alright. But maybe that's the point of gamjatang. Maybe it's supposed to invoke that homey, comforting feel of a hot soup with rice. Maybe that's what all the police officers were seeking at Somunnan.
All I know is I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get gamjatang the next time I'm in Korea.
소문난성수감자탕
서울특별시 성동구 연무장길 45
02-465-6580
The place was packed...mostly with police officers:
There was a whole back room filled with even more police officers. Even if Jiejie hadn't told us Somunnan was recommended by a famous Korean celebrity chef, just the presence of the police officers clearly on their break was enough for me. I knew deep in my bones that this place was legit.
I waited impatiently as the server set up our table with chili peppers, cucumbers, and ssamjang:
As well as kimchi:
Finally, it arrived.
Somunnan only sells one dish and that's gamjatang:
The large, which we ordered, was ₩36,000 or $29.64. More than enough for the five of us.
Soon enough, this giant pot of pork bone soup was bubbling away on the hot plate built discreetly into the tabletop:
While the soup was certainly hearty with all its potatoes, I'm sorry to say that I just wasn't blown away. I felt like I'd tasted something similar at home with one of my mother's soups (probably because she uses a lot of pork bones for her soup bases), except a bit spicier.
I was much more impressed when we added in sujebi (₩1500 / $1.24 per portion). Sujebi is essentially hand-torn noodle sheets. A server came by with baggies of dough and proceeded to toss sujebi into the boiling pot as he ripped them. We then fished them out once they were done cooking:
Jiejie told us that she had better gamjatang in Taiwan. I'm not sure I believe her, but then again, I felt that Somunnan Gamjatang was just alright. But maybe that's the point of gamjatang. Maybe it's supposed to invoke that homey, comforting feel of a hot soup with rice. Maybe that's what all the police officers were seeking at Somunnan.
All I know is I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get gamjatang the next time I'm in Korea.
소문난성수감자탕
서울특별시 성동구 연무장길 45
02-465-6580
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