Best Korean Soups in Seoul: Gomtang, Seolleongtang, Samgyetang
Soup houses are where Seoul eats every day, many of them for generations. Beef bone soups, ginseng chicken soup, hangover soup and whole chicken hot pot, with what to order and how to season it.
23 places in our guide
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Baekje Samgyetang 백제삼계탕
Soups & stews · Myeongdong · Since 1971
A Myeongdong samgyetang house open since 1971. A whole young chicken stuffed with sticky rice and ginseng comes bubbling in a clear, gentle broth, with a small shot of ginseng liquor on the side. Upgrade to the version with cultivated wild ginseng root, or try the black-skinned silkie chicken.
Try: Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup)
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Cheongjinok 청진옥
Soups & stews · Jongno · Since 1937
Seoul's most famous hangover soup house, serving since 1937. Its yang-seonji haejangguk is a clear, savory beef broth with soft cubes of congealed ox blood, tripe and cabbage, eaten with rice and radish kimchi. It opens at 6 in the morning, near Gwanghwamun and Jonggak.
Try: Yang-seonji haejangguk (regular or large)
No wait - 🍲
Daehwajeong Jinjja Haejangguk 대화정 진짜해장국
Soups & stews · Dongdaemun · Since 1981
A hangover soup house in an alley behind the DDP, feeding Dongdaemun's wholesale traders since 1981. There is basically one dish: a nutty soybean-paste broth with dried cabbage, beef and seonji (congealed ox blood). It opens at 5 in the morning.
Try: Jinjja haejangguk (regular)
Short wait - 🍲
Dakjinmi Gangwon-jip 닭진미 강원집
Soups & stews · Namdaemun & Seoul Station · Since 1962
A chicken soup shop from 1962 in Namdaemun Market's braised-fish alley. Dak-gomtang here is a plain, restorative bowl of clear broth, chicken and rice, and a meat set meal is the other favorite. It suits a quick solo market lunch.
Try: Dak-gomtang (chicken soup with rice)
Short wait - 🍲
Darak-tu 다락투
Soups & stews · Hongdae · Since 1967
A chicken soup shop across from Hongik University's main gate, open since 1967 and still serving only two things: dak-gomtang, a clean chicken and rice soup, and dak-kalguksu, chicken noodle soup. Generations of Hongik students, professors and neighbors have eaten here.
Try: Dak-gomtang (chicken and rice soup)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Eunho Sikdang 은호식당 본점
Soups & stews · Namdaemun & Seoul Station · Since 1932
Open since 1932, one of Seoul's oldest restaurants for kkori-gomtang (oxtail soup), tucked into the lanes of Namdaemun Market. Beyond the oxtail soup there's seolleongtang and a beef-head soup, making it an easy stop between market stalls.
Try: Kkori-gomtang (oxtail soup)
Short wait - 🍲
Hadongkwan 하동관
Soups & stews · Myeongdong · Since 1939
Seoul's benchmark gomtang since 1939: Korean beef and tripe in a clear, savory broth, poured over rice in a heavy brass bowl. It opens at 7 a.m., serves only breakfast and lunch, and the menu is just soup and boiled beef.
Try: Gomtang
Short wait - 🍖
Halmaejip 할매집
Jokbal & bossam · Seochon & Bukchon · 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 - 🍲
Imun Seolnongtang 이문설농탕
Soups & stews · Jongno · Since 1904
Often called Korea's oldest restaurant, serving seolleongtang (ox bone soup) since 1904. The broth is mild and milky, and you season it yourself at the table with salt and green onion. Breakfast is served from 8 a.m.
Try: Seolleongtang
Short wait - 🍲
Jinokhwa Halmae Wonjo Dakhanmari 진옥화할매원조닭한마리
Soups & stews · Jongno · Since 1978
The original shop of Dongdaemun's dakhanmari alley, open since 1978. A whole young chicken simmers in a big pot at your table; you dip the meat in a sauce you mix yourself, then cook rice cakes and noodles in the broth. It has grown to fill a three-story building plus an annex.
Try: Dakhanmari (whole chicken hot pot)
30-60 min wait - 🍲
Jungnimjang 중림장
Soups & stews · Namdaemun & Seoul Station · Since 1972
A 1972 seolleongtang house in the back lanes behind Seoul Station. Locals order the milky beef soup in the larger 'teuk' size, or the doganitang (ox knee soup), with kimchi and radish kimchi on the side.
Try: Seolleongtang (ox bone soup)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍲
Mapo-ok 마포옥
Soups & stews · Yeouido & Mapo · Since 1949
A Seoul beef soup institution from 1949. Rather than relying on bones alone, it simmers beef flank and brisket into a rich, meaty broth, served as yangji-tang. It has been in the Michelin Guide for nine years running.
Try: Yangji-tang (beef flank soup)
Short wait - 🍲
Miseongok 미성옥
Soups & stews · Myeongdong · Since 1966
A seolleongtang house hidden at the end of an alley in the middle of Myeongdong's shopping streets, serving since 1966. The menu is just ox bone soup made with Korean beef and sliced boiled beef (suyuk), with excellent radish kimchi. It opens at 6 in the morning.
Try: Seolleongtang (regular or large)
Short wait - 🍲
Mugyodong Bugeokukjip 무교동북어국집
Home-style meals · Myeongdong · Since 1968
Since 1968 this alley restaurant near City Hall has served exactly one dish: a milky dried-pollack soup that Seoul office workers swear by for breakfast and hangovers. Sit down and the soup arrives almost at once.
Try: Dried pollack soup (bugeo haejangguk)
Short wait - 🍲
Munhwaok 문화옥
Soups & stews · Euljiro · Since 1952
A third-generation seolleongtang house by Euljiro 4-ga, serving since 1952. The beef soup comes with soft sliced meat, and regulars also order the assorted suyuk, or the jok-tang (ox foot soup).
Try: Seolleongtang (ox bone soup)
Short wait - 🍲
Oegojip Seolleongtang 외고집설렁탕
Soups & stews · Gangnam Station & COEX · Since 2005
A Michelin-listed seolleongtang house in Samseong-dong, not far from COEX. The ox bone soup is clean and gentle, and the sliced beef suyuk is a favorite too. The dining room is large and comfortable, including for solo diners.
Try: Seolleongtang (ox bone soup)
Short wait - 🍲
Tosokchon Samgyetang 토속촌삼계탕
Soups & stews · Seochon & Bukchon · Since 1983
A Seoul institution for samgyetang, a whole young chicken stuffed with rice and simmered with ginseng. It sits in a rambling hanok a few minutes from Gyeongbokgung Palace, which makes it an easy lunch before or after a palace visit.
Try: Tosokchon samgyetang
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Idaejo Ppyeodagwi 이대조뼈다귀
Soups & stews · Hongdae
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)
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Okdongsik 옥동식
Soups & stews · Hongdae
A tiny bar-counter restaurant near Hapjeong Station that serves one thing: dwaeji-gomtang, a clear, delicate pork soup over rice, plus kimchi dumplings. It is a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick, and its chef appeared on Netflix's Culinary Class Wars, so expect a long wait.
Try: Dwaeji-gomtang (clear pork soup)
1 hr+ wait - 🥩
Onmigwan (Anguk) 온미관 안국점
Korean BBQ · Seochon & Bukchon
A Korean restaurant by Bukchon, popular for Seoul-style beef bulgogi set meals, clear beef soup and eobok-jaengban. The food is mild rather than spicy and the menu has photos, so it's an easy choice for visitors after walking the hanok lanes.
Try: Seoul-style beef bulgogi
Short wait - 🍲
Samgyeok 삼계옥
Soups & stews · Gangnam Station & COEX
A modern samgyetang restaurant near COEX that puts new twists on chicken ginseng soup: basil, black garlic and perilla versions sit alongside the classic. It's a popular choice for taking foreign guests.
Try: Basil samgyetang
Short wait - 🍲
Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang 소문난성수감자탕
Soups & stews · Seongsu
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
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