Daekwanwon is famous as one of the very few genuinely Chinese-run Chinese restaurants in Seoul, and I had wanted to go for ages, but getting a group together was not easy, so I am only making it there now.

You can see it up on the second floor.

Everyone says times are hard with the economy these days, but a place like this was packed to the rafters.

Starting off with wine..

It had been a while since I last had Two Hands, and the Spanish red on the right, DOS DEDOS DE FRENTE, was very high quality too. Corkage used to be free here, but I hear it has gone up to 5,000 won these days.

Banchan

Very much a Korean-style Chinese restaurant.

Kinmen kaoliang liquor

So much booze came out that day..

Ohyang jangyuk

On the menu it was listed as ohyang jang-uyuk, five-spice braised beef. It had a firm texture and went really well with the coriander. And I do not think many places pile the coriander on like this. Much appreciated.

Crab meat samseul

The look is spectacular, like staring at a slab of meringue, and this seems to be the house signature. It is so pretty that if you are on Instagram there is no way you can skip it, but the taste itself was proper, classic yusanseul.

Nanjawanseu

This one was a bit ordinary.

Hobuchu japchae

They said there was no good hobuchu to be had, so we bought some Chinese chives at the market and asked them to cook with it. They told us the chives were not in great shape that day, but I would say this is plenty tasty as it is. I cannot imagine how good it must get when they are in season..

Yangjangpi

Delicious.

Yuringi

It looks incredibly spicy, but it is not that hot at all, and it worked nicely as a protein-heavy drinking snack.

Xifengjiu

A kaoliang liquor with a stunning fruity aroma; so this is what they mean by nongxiang, I thought. The world is wide and there are a lot of good drinks in it.

Tangsuyuk

They do this well too.

Jean Fillioux Reserve Familiale

I will explain this one in the next post.

Fried rice

They do it well.

Jjajangmyeon

This one is good too

Jjamppong

They do the rice and noodle dishes nicely too. We ate and drank until we were fit to burst and it came to a little over 30,000 won, which is ridiculous value. That is because the small size here comes out at about the medium size of anywhere else. Places that do well are doing well for a reason.

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