서울특별시 종로구 종로3가 167 (돈화문로4길 39)
167 Jongno 3(sam)-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
+82 2 2263 6658
Open MON- SAT from 11:30 ~ 22:00 (Closed on Sunday)
Chicken Stew (닭도리탕): 19,000 WON (+2,000 for noodles/ramen/rice etc.)
Drinks: Beer, Soju etc. (~3,000 WON)
Is
it weird that I actively search out restaurants that have been around for
longer than my parent’s lifespan never mind mine? I understand that age doesn’t
always correlate to quality, but there’s something about a restaurant that’s
been around for 50 plus years and stood the testament of time that promises a
good meal. Especially if it’s a nitty-gritty blue-collar restaurant tucked away
in the alleys of Jong-ro.
It’s
been a while since I blogged, and I think this one is a good one to re-immerse
myself in documenting the travels through the hidden dark alleys of Seoul
spooking all those that I’ve invited to partake in this mini adventure!
The
restaurant I’m writing about has been around for more than 50 years and the
authenticity of the food and the history proves that it’s not some ‘number’
made up for advertisement purposes (as well as the décor and the aged patrons
downing soju like it’s sprite).
The
place is a little tricky to find – the easiest way is to walk out of exit 12 of
Jonro-3ga (종로3가) walk straight until you see am
opening along the main road to the right in between buildings (see the map
below for reference!) Sneak inside the alleyway and you’ll soon find a long
narrow alley parallel to the main road. Continue walking past dodgy businesses
and restaurants and you’ll soon come across a bustling restaurant with a sign!
Although
many of you think Koreans are all about the endless numbers of banchan
(side-dishes), this place only gives you two – raddish kimchi (깍두기) and beansprouts. The menu doesn’t
really give you any choices either. There’s couple of lunch options but at
night there’s only one thing on the menu, the eponymous 닭도리탕 (Dak Doritang) for 19,000 WON. The portion should
be enough for 2-3 people, as you can add 사리
(sari) in forms of either fried rice (w/ the sauce) or addition of
hand-noodles. Just a little bit of history to note, 닭도리탕 is actually Japanese/Korean
stemming from the word Toriniku (chicken meat). As such nowadays people tend to
call it 닭볶음탕 rather
than the former name.
The
place gets filled up crazy fast after 7PM and queues begin to form (even on
weekdays) so make sure you come between 6-7PM if you want to be seated straight
away.
After
being seated and ordering the only thing on the menu, soon the ladies bring out
a beaten pot filled with horrifying (or awe-inspring) amount of garlic in a red
sea of chicken, potato and rice cakes. We did worry a little when we first went
that it’ll be numbingly spicy and overwhelming but surprisingly it’s hardly
spicy and the garlic flavour is well balanced by the stew! It’s really odd
actually knowing how much garlic went in!
After
waiting for a while – you’re ready to dig in! Actually the rice-cakes (떡) received the most compliment!
Unlike the generic store-bought ones you get everywhere, it had a really chewy
and soft texture. Also the stew has quite a lot of chicken. Also the CHICKEN is
so MOIST and TENDER! It’s often I find the chicken in seoul to be way to dry
and tough… but the chicken they use here is a perfect combination of lean meat
and fat that you end up sucking all the meat off each bone…
The
building spiciness usually calls for soju and beer – and although I am a
bonafide ‘wine-whale’, there’s something about spicy Korean food that matches
beautifully with soju and cold beer. Maybe it’s the old man inside me that
craves these releases of spicy no-bullshit 아저씨 food w/ soju… Personally I blame my
dad for raising his daughter to be his
drinking buddy.
Anyways
– this is my favourite find recently! And despite the copious bottles of
soju/beer all of us were really refereshed the next day. I think the supposed super
‘health benefits’ of garlic must’ve helped….
So
for those of you daring enough to venture into the back alleys of Seoul –this
is definitely the place for you!
And
on that note this is the end of my entry! I’m not sure who read these anymore..
but I think I’m on a roll with going to these grungy/off-the-beaten-path Korean
restaurants.. if you have any recommendations or would like suggestions just
let me know… (or if you also like hunting down sketchy but ridiculously yummy
korean food- let’s go together cause sometimes venturing out into dark alleys
alone can be a lil scary at night)
