Peter had the afternoon off of work so we headed over to try out Seoul Soulongtang in Allston. Half of their menu is variations of beef soup with the other items making up the combination plates. What is Soulongtang? It’s white ox bone broth with brisket, marrow and thin flour noodles with salt and scallions.

As the weather gets colder, the desire to have a hearty hot bowl of soup begins to build up in a matter of seconds every single hour I’m awake. It’s a fiend that has to be constantly fed and/or suppressed less it unleashes wrathful hell on everything around it. That’s how this establishment made it to one of my lists of must-visits during the colder months. They serve a rather unique broth for those new to this particular style of Korean soups - really hearty but really clean, seemingly flavorless but also bold once enough salt is introduced. My introduction to the dish Seolleongtang took place almost two decades ago. I was sick - very sick - and had absolutely no appetite (an obvious recipe for further disaster). A close friend’s grandmother found out and made a large pot’s worth of this broth and “demanded” that she force me to consume a lot of it. I still laugh when I think about it especially my friend’s facial expressions when she showed up with it. Long story short, she didn’t need much effort to convince me. The clean scent was enough for me to be willing try it; the gentle but hearty contrast was enough for me to keep going until most of the pot was gone. It sure got me up and well again overnight and made me a permanent fan of this potent broth. Seolleongtang is pretty much the same almost everywhere except for the spice condiments that they offer with it. As I prefer mine just with sea salt, I’m just happy whenever there is a place that serves a decent portion of it whenever the weather is cold. If you’ve never had this soup before, I’d definitely recommend it to nourish your soul. My only tip is…don’t hesitate to keep adding salt until the flavor pops for you.