Imun Seolnongtang
Imun Seolnongtang is a historic restaurant in Seoul specializing in seolleongtang, a soup made from ox bone broth. It is the oldest restaurant still operating in South Korea and one of the few to survive both the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War.
History
It was founded around 1904, during the Korean Empire. Seoul's municipal government set that year in 2011 after an investigation, although former customers remembered dates between 1902 and 1907. Its founder is not known for certain, but is believed to have had the surname Hong. The restaurant changed hands several times, including under Yu Won-seok, who acquired it in 1960, and her son Jeon Seong-geun, who ran it from 1981. It kept its recipes and cooking methods almost unchanged and occupied the same colonial-era building until 2011, when the area was redeveloped.
Culture
During the colonial period it was regarded as a leading place for seolleongtang, a dish then seen as representative of Seoul, known at the time as Keijō. Its early opening hours made it popular with people working night shifts, and its regulars included figures such as Olympic champion Sohn Kee-chung. Today it is a tourist destination, appears in the Michelin Guide, and its owner chose not to expand the premises in order to preserve the quality of the food.
Legend and fact
The founding date and the identity of the first owner remain uncertain, since different witnesses remembered different years and the surname Hong appears without a full name. What is documented is the 2011 municipal investigation that established 1904 as the founding year.