Sogongdong Tofu House

This is one of the 5 restaurants at the food court inside the H Mart Asian supermarket. It's the only one detached from the rest at the far end next to the restrooms.

The way you go about ordering your food is a bit unusual. You would look around at each restaurant for the menu as well as mock samples and decide what you want. Then you have to go to a centralized ordering station, which is the second station from the back, to make your order and pay for your food. The number on your receipt would be announced via the loud speaker when your food is ready. But there's a twist - you have to pick up your food at the respective restaurant. If you order from multiple restaurants, you'd have no idea which one is ready when you hear your number announced. This could be confusing and frazzling, especially if you've never been here before, and/or you have a big party and your orders are all over the place!

We've tried Sogongdong twice so far. The soft tofu stew (soondubu) is very standard, using the standard soondubu serving vessels and ingredients. They come piping hot and with a raw egg and 2 banchan sides. I've always had the seafood variety and I would recommend you the same. Unless you can't take seafood, there's simply no comparison how much more tasty the seafood broth is. I've tried the beef/seafood combo but I would not recommend it. The beef is almost always tough.

Price is a bit cheaper than other soondubu joints, but you only get 2 banchan sides compared to 6-8. On the most recent visit, the sides were kimchi and pickled cucumbers. Tip: don't feel abashed to ask for banchan refill. They won't cringe. Also, make sure you crack the egg into the broth while it's still piping hot.

I think this is my favorite among the restaurants at this H Mart food court. Give it a try when you're in town.