Eondeokmaru Gapyeong Pine-Nut Tofu HouseMild Pine-Nut Sundubu, Gently Seasoned

The building is brick, and outside there's an open-air terrace with parasols and a small fountain. On a good day you could sit out here with the mountains in view.

Gapyeong's pine nuts, and what jat-sundubu is

Gapyeong has long been known for pine nuts. There are a lot of Korean pine trees, and the nuts themselves are sold as a local specialty. So pine-nut dishes come naturally here — pine-nut noodles, pine-nut porridge, and jat-sundubu.

It arrives as soft tofu simmered white in an earthenware pot. It looks like ordinary sundubu, but the broth is milkier and there's a nutty smell to it — presumably because of the pine nuts in the broth.

The seasoning sauce comes separately. Try it plain first, then stir in a little of the sauce if it needs more salt.

Gentle and clean — a taste that divides opinion

If you're into sundubu, you'll know Chodang sundubu from Gangneung — soft tofu set with seawater, clean and lightly seasoned. This is in that family.

The jat-sundubu is similar. It's gentle, and the pine nuts make it very clean and mild. It isn't a bold flavour, so at first you might think is this a bit plain? — but as you eat, the nuttiness comes up. Personally it suited my palate very well.

Because it's like this, opinions will divide. If you go expecting a fiery sundubu stew, treat it as a different dish. For me it was a bowl I still remember.

What it looks like

A pale, milky broth fills a black earthenware pot, with soft clumps of sundubu floating in it. A few pine nuts show in the broth. The pot is heated over a portable burner, and a ladle rests against one side. On the left are plates of leafy-green kimchi in red seasoning, a brown stir-fry with carrot and green onion, and a red seasoned side, and below is a soy-based dipping sauce with sesame and chopped chili floating in it.

What foreign visitors should know

• Sundubu is very soft, unpressed tofu. The jat-sundubu here comes plain in a white broth, with no chilli — it's a different dish from the spicy sundubu-jjigae stew.
• Pine nuts make it nutty and mild. Gapyeong is the region in Korea best known for them.
• How to eat it: spoon it as it is, then add the soy-based seasoning sauce that comes on the side, a little at a time, to bring up the salt. You can tip rice into it too.
• The taste is soft and understated. If you want a strong flavour, it may feel bland.
• Gapyeong is about an hour from Seoul by ITX train or car. It pairs well with Nami Island, the Garden of Morning Calm and Jaraseom.
• ✅ Good if you like clean, gentle tofu dishes, you like plain sundubu in the style of Gangneung's Chodang sundubu, or you want a quiet meal on a Gapyeong day
• ⚠️ Less good if you're expecting a fiery sundubu stew, or you like clearly seasoned food — you may need a generous hand with the sauce

Before you go

• Getting there — Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi. It's a drive out from central Gapyeong, so check the map before you set off.
• Ordering — jat-sundubu is the basic dish. As a tofu house it tends to have other tofu dishes (whole block tofu and so on) too.
• Hours · prices · closing day — Open 9:30 AM–8:00 PM (last order 7:15 PM), closed Wednesdays, jat-sundubu is 12,000 won. (as of Aug 2026) — worth confirming again before you go.
• Elsewhere around Seoul — out on Yeongjong Island in Incheon, I also visited Paradise City Cimer — same metropolitan area, though it's a real trip from Gapyeong.