A Century-Old “Seolleongtang” in Anseong City—A Clear Soup That Lets You Taste the True Flavor of Beef Without Any Seasoning

Text & Photos byLittle Paine

Ending up at this renowned seolleongtang restaurant, said to be the oldest in Gyeonggi Province, was actually a beautiful mistake. A friend from Hong Kong invited me to visit the Anseong Namsadang Jeontonggwan (the place name is incomplete), so I planned the route and traveled a long way to get there (the attraction will be added later as it’s a bit out of the way). At that location, we met two incredibly kind uncles (probably grandpa-aged), who were both qualified “cultural guides.” One of them even had a published poetry collection and could read Traditional Chinese. While waiting for our departure, they casually asked us where we were going. We said we were heading back to downtown Anseong for lunch (it was already past one or two in the afternoon). To our surprise, these kind-hearted gentlemen offered to drive us to a restaurant. The journey was quite far—we drove for over twenty minutes—and that really touched us.

The restaurant we went to was one I had found while searching for good eats in Anseong. It turned out to be a very famous old establishment. As soon as I mentioned the name, the uncles immediately knew it and drove us straight to the front door without even needing the address. (My friend and I, two young women, were so moved we almost cried). This place, Anil House, is well-known—even the Korea Tourism Organization has introduced it: Anil House is a long-standing restaurant specializing in various soups such as beef head soup (seolleongtang), beef shin soup, beef trotter soup, beef bone soup, spare rib soup, beef tail soup, and offal beef bone soup, as well as boiled beef cuts (like beef head, beef shin, beef tail, and beef trotters). The rich broth is made by simmering beef bones, brisket, and beef head in a large stone pot for a full day, ensuring a deep flavor. The restaurant strictly uses only Korean beef and has been passed down to the third generation, with a history of over 80 years.

My friend and I were practically starving by then...

We quickly stepped into the restaurant—wait, there’s Chinese writing!!! No wonder, it’s a century-old place.

Anil House has a somewhat Japanese vibe.

Inside the restaurant, I kept looking up at the ceiling—it’s made of translucent material. Eating here at the height of a summer noon would probably be sweltering, haha—but in winter, it would be absolutely perfect.

They also have private rooms.

There are quite a few private rooms, and what caught my eye were the many calligraphy pieces hanging around.

Here comes the menu.

In one of the private rooms, there’s even a Chinese menu written in brush calligraphy.

There’s salt on the table—it’s essential, and it’s not your ordinary salt.

The teacup has a pattern of the Namsadang Jeontonggwan performance on it.

First, they serve a big tableful of side dishes—nothing too unusual, so I won’t go into detail.

My friend ordered the seolleongtang—served in a steaming hot pot.

There were plenty of beef slices inside, and the portion was definitely larger than the “divine” seolleongtang I’ve had in Seoul.

The soup itself is not salty, so the salt on the table earlier becomes really important. Taking a sip of the broth in its original flavor is surprisingly rich and delicious.

I ordered the offal soup, which also had a huge portion—and the offal was super fresh. Compared to seolleongtang, I’d actually recommend the offal soup because there’s more variety in the ingredients.

You can choose rice or noodles. Anseong soup noodles are quite famous, so we went with the noodles.

We dropped them in to cook, but the noodles came out a bit soft—not particularly my favorite.

The most recommended way to eat is: if you find the original flavor a bit bland, just add some kimchi and spicy sauce into the soup—it tastes even better.

A little red, a little white—that’s the perfect combo. This is exactly how two people should enjoy it.

After eating our fill, we left the restaurant and headed toward the liveliest part of downtown, which was just a few minutes’ walk away. This is what the uncle called “Anseong Myeongdong,” haha.

Roadside shops even had signs for “Myeongdong cosmetics,” meaning this area is the bustling commercial district of Anseong.

There’s also a market here. Right at the entrance, we spotted a shop selling taiyaki (red bean fish-shaped pastries) for just 2,000 KRW for three—super cheap.

I love these—the Korean version of taiyaki always has super crispy skins.

So delicious.

Right across from the market, it looks like just strolling around the neighborhood.

We of course went in for a look too. This place is a bit like Namdaemun Market, where you can find all sorts of things. We browsed around a little, I bought a small handbag, and then we headed to the bus stop to take a bus to the Anseong Intercity Bus Terminal, where we transferred to a long-distance bus back to Seoul.

We managed to get tickets from Anseong back to Dong Seoul Bus Terminal—our one-day trip to Anseong is over!!
As for how to get to Anseong, well, you just go to Dong Seoul Bus Terminal and buy a ticket there～ As for the article about the Namsadang Performance Hall we visited, I’ll share that with you all next time～

Paechupae Ilwu
Business Hours: 08:00~21:30
Address: ?? District, Paechul-ro ??? 411?? 20
Coordinates: 37.007464, 127.272698
Transportation: From Anseong Intercity Bus Terminal, transfer to bus No. 1/50/70 (same stop) or No. 37/370 (same stop), get off at ?? ???.?? ?? (Kookmin Bank / Yongdong)
 

Paine the Little Explorer★Rolling Through Fun in Korea
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