Lately, thanks to the bloggers active around Bongcheon-dong, the restaurants in that neighborhood seem to be getting a second look. Back when I lived near there I was far too busy to ever go to any of the good places, but these days dropping in on any spot that everyone says is great seems to have become a hobby of mine. So one day we picked a date, and I made the rounds of the supposedly famous places with some of my old university classmates. Turns out that day was the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday.
First stop was Shingiru Hwangso Gopchang in Bongcheon-dong, which is said to offer outstanding value for money.
The basic side dishes
Like most gopchang places, it is really cramped, with grease built up here and there, so not exactly clean. It is not the kind of place where you can eat in comfort… though I am not sure it is fair to expect that from a cheap gopchang joint. Oh, and the owner tends to go a bit overboard. He would suddenly stick his head right in while we were eating… it made me pretty uncomfortable. If you do not like that sort of thing, you may want to skip it..
Sulguk (hangover-style soup)
This one is actually pretty good. Funny how it always tastes better at places like this than at the places that specialize in sulguk.
Assorted gopchang
I think it was 22,000 won for two servings. Maybe because it was the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday, the quality was just not good. It had been a few days since the offal was cleaned, and right before the holiday they could not prep any fresh that day, I guess. My friend says if you time it right it is incredibly good, but for the same reason there are days when it is not, so you need to be careful. Well, since it is cheap you might forgive all that, but I have reached the age where I chase flavor over low prices..
All grilled.
Shrunk down nicely.
Heart on the house
Apparently they used to just bring it out, but that day we had to ask for it. The gopchang was not in great shape either, and with the stingy freebies I got a little miffed.
We ordered daechang (large intestine) too
The daechang was in somewhat better shape, but it is something I ate a lot of in Japan, so it did not excite me much.
All grilled up
It was edible enough, but nothing moving. I think we just picked the wrong day. Showing up at a place clearing out its stock right before the Lunar New Year holiday was the problem. I imagine you would be more satisfied going on an ordinary weekday, but whether I will ever have reason to go back..
Round two: Choi Hee-sung Goryeo Wang Jokbal
I hear it is a popular jokbal place in this neighborhood. It even has branches.. but the basic side dishes are just basic side dishes.
Front trotters, large, 25,000 won
They say the front trotters of pork jokbal taste better and have more meat. There seemed to be a faint whiff of herbal medicine, but it tasted good anyway, and thanks to that we got through four bottles of soju.
For round three we went to Seongmin Yangkkochi.
Lamb skewers
This is about my third time at Seongmin, and the food this day was the best yet. The worst thing about cheap-but-good places is that the quality is not stable, so some days are a miss and some days a hit. Places around Bongcheon-dong seem especially prone to that because they are so cheap. Living by the motto of a short but full life, I think it is better to save up and go somewhere expensive all at once, but if a place is as cheap as Seongmin and keeps its flavor that consistent, becoming a regular would not be bad at all.
Fried eggplant
There was meat inside. Besides skewers, this place seems good at fried dishes too. I have not been to many, but I would guess Seongmin Yangkkochi offers the best value of all the lamb skewer places in Seoul.
After wrapping up our short Bongcheon-dong food crawl on the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday, I never made it home and ended up sleeping at a friend’s place. I am not a college student anymore, yet here I was staying out all night and wearing myself down.. Still, every now and then something like this makes for a good experience. Not often, but once in a while..