Janggangjungryu in Itaewon is a place that was famous for a while thanks to Mo Dao Zu Shi (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). It still seems to be popular. If you want the details, searching for “Mo Dao Zu Shi Janggangjungryu” should do it, but the short version is that the hero of the wuxia novel loves lotus root and pork rib soup, and this was the only place in Korea serving it, which is how it got famous.
The place
I had no idea somewhere like this existed in Itaewon. Kind of surprising.
Inside
It turned out to be quite a big space.
Snow beer
A crisp, refreshing beer, though apparently it is going to get harder to find from now on. Not exactly cheap, but it tastes good. Chinese beers seem to be picking up a bit of a premium these days.
Tsingtao 1903
This is Tsingtao’s premium line, and apparently it had stopped coming in for various reasons but is now being imported again. The flavour is on the heavy side and the price is up there, but it was worth drinking.
Laziji
Sichuan-style spicy fried chicken. Well, they call it spicy, but unless you go and eat the chillies themselves it is not that hot. This level of heat feels about right to me.
Chaocai
A vegetable stir-fry, and it works nicely as a stand-in for a salad.
Hubei-style lotus root and pork rib soup
And here is the famous dish.
The ribs
Maybe because these ribs are pork rather than beef, eating them tasted like a mild version of gamjatang (pork-spine and potato stew). You really want mustard to go with picking the meat off the bone, but they do not give you any on the side. Anyway, I was happy just to find out, ah, so this is what it tastes like! Turns out it is a familiar flavour. If it is basically gamjatang, no wonder the hero loves it.
Cucumber
A little palate cleanser, and then…
Janggang mapo tofu
It came out properly spicy, Chinese style, so it was good.
Maopu Jinqiao liquor
They said it is brewed from buckwheat, and with its aroma and light finish it was a hit with everyone that day. China is a big place and there are so many good liquors.
The box
Very flashy.
Stir-fried bitter melon
I half wondered whether this was actually a Japanese dish, but in its own Chinese way it was good eating.
Mineo (croaker) chiri soup
They gave us this on the house, saying they had happened to get hold of a croaker that day.
Niuza huoguo
Hanwoo offal and beef, and offal can never taste bad, can it.
One more plate of mapo tofu
One plate was not enough so we ordered another. While we were at it we asked for extra huajiao (Sichuan pepper) and coriander, and that pushes it a good deal closer to the mainland version.
Yuxiang eggplant
Eggplant is always going to be delicious
Condensed milk huajuan (flower rolls)
Dessert and carbs arrived. Which means we are wrapping up.
Shine Muscat
They really do look after you here.
Excellent (a Korean vanilla ice cream bar)
It has been ages since I last had one, and it tasted great after so long. I like that touch too. Overall this is a high-quality Chinese-style Chinese restaurant, though they do not use all that much huajiao. I suspect that is for Korean palates, so next time it would probably be fine to ask them to be a bit more generous with the huajiao.
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