Mapo Yangji SeolleongtangA Long-Time Regular Spot, Green Onion Kimchi and Ox-Knee Soup

Still going, even after it moved

These days there's a proper shop at the current address, but it used to sit in a humbler spot just behind the Shilla Stay across the street. Much like Myeongdong Gyoja moved into a stylish new location near Myeongdong Station Exit 8, this place has, over the years, moved to where it is now. The address changed; the reason to keep coming didn't.

What it looks like

The black earthenware pot is filled with a clear, milky broth, thickly dotted with diagonally cut green onion. In the broth you can see two or three large pieces of meat that look tender, like brisket. There are traces of pepper on the surface, and the bowl is deep so the ingredients sit all the way down. At the upper left is a small bowl of onion pickled in soy sauce.

Menu words

• Seolleongtang is a milky soup made by simmering ox bones and meat for a long time, seasoned at the table with salt
• Doganitang is a soup with cartilage from the knee area of beef
• Onion pickled in soy sauce is a side dish of onions steeped in soy sauce

From the large seolleongtang to doganitang

When I first started coming here, I always ordered the large seolleongtang. Ordering large gets you a generous helping of meat too, enough to leave the bowl properly full. At a Korean gukbap place, the kimchi matters almost as much as the broth, and this place takes that seriously — the side dishes include green onion kimchi as well. The kimchi here is genuinely good, and the seolleongtang eaten alongside it barely needs explaining.

I don't get here as often as I used to — maybe it's age — but these days I mostly order the doganitang (ox-knee soup). It comes generous with cartilage, and the flavour is good. Unlike the seolleongtang, it's the one I reach for when I'm after the distinctive, chewy texture of the cartilage itself.

For visitors

• Seolleongtang is a milky-white broth from long-simmered ox bones and meat, in the same family as gomtang. As the name of this place suggests, it's built around brisket (yangji), and there's also doganitang (ox-knee cartilage soup).
• The broth is mild and plain by design — you season it yourself with salt or soy, plus scallion, to taste. Not spicy.
• The green onion kimchi served as a side is this place's hidden charm. The kimchi is good enough that it's worth eating alongside the broth on purpose.
• Add kkakdugi (radish kimchi) brine or salt to taste as you go.
• It's near Mapo and Gongdeok — close to Gongdeok Station, where subway lines 5 and 6, the airport railroad, and the Gyeongui-Jungang line all meet.

Who it's for

• ✅ Anyone who likes milky-broth seolleongtang or doganitang
• ✅ Anyone who cares about the kimchi as much as the soup at a gukbap place
• ✅ Anyone who enjoys the distinctive chewy texture of ox-knee cartilage
• ✅ Anyone who needs a solid, filling meal around Gongdeok
• ⚠️ Anyone after a punchy, spicy broth — this is the mild gomtang family, a different register
• ⚠️ Anyone wanting a light, meat-free bowl — the large size comes with a generous amount of meat

Before you go

• Location — near Gongdeok, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Go to the current, relocated address, not the old spot behind the Shilla Stay.
• Ordering — if it's your first time, go large on the seolleongtang for a filling bowl with meat; go doganitang if you want that plainer, chewier texture.
• Side dishes — don't skip the green onion kimchi. Half of this place's appeal is the kimchi.
• Dessert — after a filling bowl, if you're in the mood for coffee, Fritz Coffee Dohwa, a converted-house cafe in the same Gongdeok/Mapo area, makes a good finish.
• Prices · hours · closing day — open daily 7am-8:50pm, no closing day. Seolleongtang runs 14,000 KRW, doganitang 25,000 KRW (as of Sep 2026).