Place: Hyeongje Bosintang (형제보신탕), near Gwangjang Market in Seoul.
Dish: Bosintang, a type of soup to strengthen the body. Dog meat is the primary ingredient.
Place ran by an older woman (ajumma), the place was mostly empty with one older man in the place other than me. The woman was chopping up meat at the restaurant's entrance when I entered.
Hospitality: Amazing. She seemed a bit confused at first that a foreigner entered the place, but after I said 'bosintang, juseyo' she was very friendly.
Food: 6/10 main dish, 7/10 banchans. Quite chewy meat, nothing extraordinary, slightly above-average fare. Great value-for-money.
Recommended? If you are in the area, why not? Bosintang will be officially banned in 2027. This year is your last chance to eat this classic Korean dish, in South Korea at least.
WARNING: Not for dog-lovers. Even though morally, eating dog is no different to eating pigs/cows/etc. I understand that some people may own a dog, and thus have special attachment to them. If so, I do not recommend for you to eat at this shop. You will, in all likelihood, see a dog in the process of being chopped up by the lady who owns the store, as I did.
For the rest of you, since this will disappear forever after this year, I can suggest you to try out this hearty guk before it disappears. It is an intangible cultural heritage. I actually talked to the owner using translation after my meal, and she told me that she will likely change the shop to a samgyetang place once the ban comes into effect. And in fact, some bosintang shops in Seoul have already undertaken this change. She sounded heartbroken, but at least her place is in a good area, and I'm sure she will continue to get business even after the ban.
by OId_boy
5 Comments
Honestly thank you for being open-minded and nonjudgmental about bosintang. You’re completely right in that there is fundamentally no difference between eating dogs and eating other animals—all of them are deserving of and capable of love, none are superior over others.
I’m always torn about how Koreans themselves have resorted to shitting on our own culture because westerners think dogs should be pets. We should have been enraged about the inhumane *treatment* of dogs that become meat, but not the act of having dog meat itself. Same way we should be enraged about the inhumane treatment of cattle, pigs, chickens, etc.
I don’t have a personal interest in trying bosintang (apart from it being hard to find I’m not great with new foods) but I’m glad there are people who still understand the value of its existence as a food despite foreign pressure to condemn it.
It’s so good and pairs great with soju. I’ll miss my trips to the local chinguk spot with my father in law. It was our guilty pleasure.
I prefer black goat soup. Essentially the same flavor and ingredients outside of the protein
I had the misfortune of entering the 2nd floor area of one of these restaurants a while ago while looking at real estate. Live dogs were kept in inhumane conditions to say the least. A truly disgusting scene. They were also not picky about breed of dog but most seemed to be med sized dogs.
Won’t be there long