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.

Authentic (and asian-ghetto) Chicken Stew (닭도리탕/Dak Doritang) in the back alleyways of Seoul

계림닭도리탕 - Gaerim Chicken Stew

 

서울특별시 종로구 종로3가 167 (돈화문로4길 39)

167 Jongno 3(sam)-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

google map// naver map

+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)