Jokbal (Pigs Feet) and Whisky in Gongdeok Jokbal Street!

 궁중족발  (Gungjung Jokbal)

서울특별시 마포구 만리재로 23

(서울특별시 마포구 공덕동 256-30)

Exit 5 - Gongdeok Station 

(walk straight until you see the street to the right)

02-718-7087

Naver Maps

www.mapo-gungjungjokbal.co.kr/

Ever since coming to Seoul, I repeatedly heard about the 'jokbal street' in Gongdeok. 

How awesome is it that they have a street dedicated to pigs feet. I admit, it doesn't look or sound very appetising, but hey sometimes the grittiest scariest looking food turns out to be the best food!

I've been wanting to go check it out for sometime but had been saving it up for a rainy day when all you could think about is a bottle of soju and 'meat'. So one evening after a long week at work, we decided to meet outside gongdeok station to head down to the street.

I swear my boyfriend and his friend must think I'm one sketchy individual after all the alleyways I've dragged them into in exchange for a good but slightly less hygienic meal. Hey, but I do always deliver excellent meals though!

So tonight I lead them to the narrow alleyway of Jokbal Street.  All the restaurants seen above in the tiny side-alleway sell Jokbal and Sundae. There are couple of more famous ones: 오향족발 (Ohhyangjokbal) being probably the most well known and 궁중족발 (gungjungjokbal) coming close. I don't think there's a big difference in quality and they all have the same price-level too.

궁중족발 actually have 4 restaurants next to each other all served from one massive kitchen half indoor and half outdoor. 

I mean look at that! (At least they wear gloves right?)

Anyways the menu is pretty straight forward. Order either the small ($26) or large ($30) and a bottle of soju and beer. The small one should be enough for 2 adults (or 3 if you're not a big eater) and large for a bigger group.  The menu comes with UNLIMITED sundae and sundae-soup. Now that's what I call a good deal. 

As it is with these soju-fuelled restaurants (look at the pile of them in the photo below), it can get pretty loud so don't expect any high-quality conversations in there. 

When you're done with dinner and stinking of pig's feet and soju, you should shamelessly walk out and head to this gem of a whiskey bar.

It's called Valinch (google/naver) and has excellent choice of single malt whiskeys and cocktails.

The place is pretty small, and run by the owner himself who actually is very helpful in picking out new whiskeys to try depending on your preferences! He certainly helped us pick ours, and we both loved the ones we got to try. The prices vary from 12 - 30+ per glass for the whiskey and 10 -15 for cocktails. Alternatively you can order a bottle and keep it behind the bar too.

He also serves a generous portion of chocolate and biscuits so if you still have any space left after dinner, you can have your whiskey-fuelled snacks here! 

My favourite whiskey of the night was Glendronach 12 years! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for a bottle at airports! 

Top 3 Kimchisoup in Seoul: 굴다리식당

굴다리식당

Kimchi always reminds me of my mother

Living in Amsterdam before the influx of exchange students and toursits, my mom and I made Kimchi from scratch with chilli peppers sent by my Grandma and chinese cabbage we sourced from a korean farmer in Germany.

Squatting on the kitchen floor making Kimchi from scratch was one of the strongest and most proudest link I carried throughout my childhood away from Korea.


I've eaten countless kimchi soups and kimchi (as side-dishes) around Seoul, but they never quite had the home-cooked taste that I craved. It was most of the times overly spicy or sometimes even sweet but always screaming with strong bold flavours that are not natural to home made kimchi.

That's why my friend, overhearing my numerous complaints on the matter, suggested I check out the 3 restaurants that were apparently thought of to be Seoul's 3 top restaurants for Kimchi Soup.

굴다리식당 was first on the list being closest to home.
It's located close to exit 8 on Gongduk line (Naver Map, Google Map), and has 2 locations fairly close to each other. The restaurant is a little tricky to find as it doesn't show the name of the restaurant but rather a big sign that says 김치찌개 (kimchi soup).

The menu is also straight foward with limited choices.
Most people usually go for the Kimchi Soup (7,000won) or the Spicy Stir-fried Pork/ 제육볶음 (10,000KRW). The portions are not too big but usually people fill themselves up with rice that goes perfectly with the soup and the spicy sauce.

I think whether you like the soup from this restaurant or not really depends on what Kimchi means to you. It's unlike the other kimchisoups in that it doesn't really have that crazy spiciness or that overwhelming instant flavour. Some might say it's a little bit bland, but to me at least it has that perfect blend of pork broth and properly aged kimchi. It reminds me of the huge pot of soups my mom used to make whenever our kimchi got too fermented. My brother and I always wanted her to add more pork as we loved to, with her admonishment, fish them out of the bowl.

It's a place for all to visit if you want to taste what Kimchi-soup is all about. It's a unpretentious dish made by mothers and grandmothers with overfermented sour kimchi that should never be wasted.