Dish guide · Soups and stews
Gamjatang
감자탕
Spicy pork bone stew
A big, spicy pot of pork spine bones and potatoes, thickened with perilla seed. It's a filling, late-night dish for sharing.
What it is
- The meat is picked off long-simmered pork backbones, with potatoes, greens and green onions in the broth.
- Ppyeo-haejangguk is the one-person version of the same idea.
How to eat it
- 1Use your chopsticks and spoon, or your hands with the plastic gloves some places provide, to pull the meat from the bones. An empty bowl is for the bones.
- 2Many people finish by frying rice in the remaining broth.
History
- Most accounts link it to Jeolla province and to laborers building the Seoul to Incheon railway around 1900, who needed cheap, filling food.
- The name's origin is disputed. Gamja means potato, but some say it refers to a part of the pork spine.
Allergies and diet
Usually contains
- Perilla seeds are often used, which can matter if you have a seed allergy.
- Kimchi served with it usually contains fish sauce.
Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.
🗣️ Allergy card for the staff
Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.
📍 Where to try it
- 🍖
Halmaejip 할매집
Jokbal & bossam · Seochon & Bukchon, Seoul · Since 1975
"Grandma's place", a 1975 alley restaurant near Gyeongbokgung Palace that serves just two things: jokbal (braised pig's trotters) with a spicy chili-oil kick, and gamjatang, a hearty stew of pork backbones. A Michelin Bib Gourmand pick that still feels like an old neighborhood eatery.
Try: Jokbal (braised pig's trotters)
30-60 min wait - 🍲
Songga-ne Gamjatang 송가네감자탕
Soups & stews · Hongdae, Seoul · Since 1988
A second-generation pork-bone stew house in Yeonnam-dong, open since 1988. Families and night owls come for big pots of gamjatang, boiled pork bossam and stir-fried webfoot octopus; it's open around the clock, and solo diners can get a one-person bossam set.
Try: Gamjatang (pork-bone stew)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Bangadari Gamja-guk 방아다리감자국
Soups & stews · Jongno, Seoul
A daytime-only soup shop tucked in an alley between Jongno 5-ga and 6-ga, serving one dish for about half a century: gamja-guk, a spicy pork-bone and potato soup. The menu board has a single line, and locals line up before it sells out.
Try: Gamja-guk (pork-bone and potato soup)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Hwangto Gamjatang 황토감자탕
Soups & stews · Gangnam Station & COEX, Seoul
A 24-hour pork-bone stew house on the main street out of Gangnam Station exit 11. Gamjatang (pork backbone and potato stew) for sharing, and single bowls of bone hangover soup or sundae soup for one. Late-night drinkers and early office workers keep it busy.
Try: Pork-bone hangover soup
Locals' pick - 🍲
Idaejo Ppyeodagwi 이대조뼈다귀
Soups & stews · Hongdae, Seoul
A long-running gamjatang house a few steps from Hongik University Station: a bubbling pot of spicy pork-backbone stew with potatoes and cabbage leaves, finished with fried rice in the same pot. It is one of the places in Hongdae where you will see as many foreign diners as Koreans, and the menu comes in four languages.
Try: Gamjatang (pork-bone stew)
- 🍲
Ilmi-jip 일미집
Soups & stews · Namdaemun & Seoul Station, Seoul
A gamjatang (pork-backbone stew) house in Huam-dong that has been simmering for about half a century. The broth is cleaner and lighter than most, and it sells little else; office workers pile in for the one-person gamjatang set at lunch.
Try: Gamjatang (pork-backbone stew)
Locals' pick30-60 min wait - 🥓
Sinmi Sikdang 신미식당
Korean BBQ · Gangnam, Seoul
A thirty-year-old neighborhood eatery on the ground floor of an old shopping arcade opposite Hyundai Apartments. Locals come for thick fresh pork belly, a bubbling pot of pork-bone stew, and plates of spicy stir-fried pork; on warm evenings the tables spill outside.
Try: Fresh pork belly (200 g)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang 소문난성수감자탕
Soups & stews · Seongsu, Seoul
The 24-hour gamjatang house in the middle of trendy Seongsu, now as full of foreign visitors as of locals. A big pot of pork backbones, potatoes and dried cabbage leaves simmers at your table in a spicy, nutty broth topped with perilla seeds; add hand-torn noodles, then fry rice in what's left. Solo diners can get a single bowl.
Try: Gamjatang (pork-bone stew, small to large)
30-60 min wait - 🍲
Songpa Gamjaguk 송파감자국
Soups & stews · Jamsil, Seoul
A neighborhood gamjatang (pork bone stew) house that locals have backed for 30 years. The pot arrives heaped with perilla leaves, and the broth is cleaner than most. Finish with fried rice in the pot.
Try: Gamjatang (pork bone stew)
Locals' pickShort wait
Sources
We check every fact against at least two sources and write it in our own words. Last checked: 2026-10-31.