i. Biography
Ok Dongsik, founder and owner chef of Okdongsik, has followed a tight arc: culinary study, a Seoul restaurant built around one dish, recognition from MICHELIN, and a New York City dish singled out by The New York Times in 2023. The movement has been precise rather than sprawling, with Dweji Gomtang and clear-broth gomtang carrying his name across cities.
Beginnings
Before the restaurant, there was formal training: Ok Dongsik earned a Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Science from Kyung Hee University. That grounding matters in the way his food is presented now, not as a large menu of choices but as a focused argument for clarity, comfort and restraint. OKDONGSIK started in Seoul in 2017 as a single-item restaurant offering Dweji Gomtang. The dish is a Korean comfort food served at the Seoul restaurant, and the early idea was direct: build a place around a bowl rather than around variety. The restaurant also describes its specialization as one dish, dwaeji gukbap, a soup made with pork ribs and rice. In that definition, the work is stripped to broth, meat and grain, with the meal’s force coming from precision rather than excess.
The Rise
Recognition arrived quickly. In 2018, OKDONGSIK Seoul, South Korea, received a MICHELIN Guide Bib Gourmand, placing the single-item restaurant on an international dining map through a dish rooted in Korean comfort. The path also ran through PODA in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, a former venue in Ok Dongsik’s career. The restaurant received MICHELIN Bib Gourmand recognition, including Bib Gourmand recipient honors in 2024 and 2025. New York City brought another marker. In 2023, The New York Times named OKDONGSIK among its top 8 Best Dishes in NYC for Dweji-Gomtang, served there as the single entree, with Kimchi Mandu offered as a side dish. Across those stops, the dish stayed centered. Its language changed slightly by place and menu, but the attention remained on pork broth, rice, and the disciplined comfort of gomtang.
Today
The Honolulu expression of the restaurant’s clear-broth gomtang features pork meat broth and thin slices of pork shoulder topped with salt, pepper and seasonings. It is described as a modern, refined interpretation of traditional Korean gomtang using a clear broth. The philosophy behind the work is comfort, simplicity and purity in food. By using his full name as the restaurant name, Ok Dongsik emphasizes authenticity, responsibility and craftsmanship, binding the cook’s identity to the bowl placed in front of the guest. The name Okdongsik also represents the idea that everyone eats together. For a restaurant built on one main dish, that idea gives the meal its social shape: a shared table, a clear broth, and a chef’s name attached to the standard he has chosen to keep.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Ok
Where did Ok Dongsik begin their career?
His path includes a Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Science from Kyung Hee University before OKDONGSIK started in Seoul in 2017 as a single-item Dweji Gomtang restaurant.
