house of flowing gold) is a historic Korean restaurant chain in Seoul, South Korea.
[1] It is the third oldest operating restaurant in Seoul, having first opened in 1932,[2] and specializes in the pond loach soup dish chueo-tang.
It is commonly believed that the restaurant was initially nameless and then given this name by a patron, possibly the poet Byeon Yeong-ro.
[7][8][9] Other restaurants typically serve chueo-tang that has been grounded into a paste; the Seoul-style allegedly began because historical customers wanted to be sure that the fish were authentic, and the practice stuck.
[8]The restaurant's location in downtown Seoul meant that it served a number of prominent people in Korean history.
[5][1][8] In 1953, during ceasefire negotiations in the Korean War, an interpreter for Kim Il Sung reportedly asked if the restaurant was still around.
[8] In 1973, during a North–South Korea conference, North Korean representative Pak Song-chol reportedly asked if Yonggeumok was still in business.
[5][6] Former Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea Lee Man-seop [ko] reportedly was a fan of the restaurant; a photo of him is in the store.
[8] President Moon Jae-in symbolically had Yonggeumok chueo-tang served at the presidential residence the Blue House in 2017; the dish has long been seen as one of the working class.
[5] One owner acknowledged that the business was not rich and had a moderate customer base, and that their goal was to keep it running in the family for as long as possible.