Cheongwaok Bonjeom 청와옥 본점

Cheongwaok Bonjeom is a Korean restaurant at 48 Wiryeseong-daero in Songpa-gu, Seoul, built around sundae gukbap and steamed pork dishes. The sundae soup broth is simmered for several hours with eight herbal ingredients and pork components. Sundae and boiled pork are placed directly in the hot broth, and the bowl can be ordered with only meat or only blood sausage instead of the standard mixture. A separate spicy version introduces red dadegi to the soup while keeping the same pork base. The pyeonbaek set uses a rectangular hinoki cypress steamer lined with bean sprouts. Sundae, sliced boiled pork, head meat, mushrooms, and vegetables sit above the sprouts and cook in steam rather than remaining submerged in broth. The steamer arrives beside a bowl of sundae gukbap, so the same table has moist soup meat and firmer steamed pieces in separate vessels. East Sea squid is coated in red seasoning and grilled over charcoal until dark marks appear across its thick body, then spread across a flat plate. Yukhoe is cut into unusually small pieces and served cold with sesame oil, distinct from both the charcoal squid and the hot pork dishes. Nutritious pot rice is cooked in an individual lidded pot and can replace the plain rice bowl beside the soup. Small dishes of eoriguljeot, kkakdugi, shredded radish, chives, and salted shrimp surround the earthenware soup bowl. The salted oysters carry a fermented chili seasoning, while the radish kimchi and chives remain crisp. The exterior uses deep blue roof tiles and timber lines, and the interior continues the hanok motif with wooden latticework, dark beams, and square dining tables. Earthenware soup bowls, pale cypress steamers, black rice pots, and flat plates for squid and raw beef occupy clearly separate places on those tables.