Here’s another solid restaurant that I got to visit a few weeks ago during my trip to Seoul. It has over 30 years of experience but has recently gotten more love with its appearance on a popular food program promoting old-school restaurants in and around Seoul. Their signature dish is traditional Kimchi Jjigae (Spicy Kimchi Stew), one of my personal favorites that I make at least once a week at home. There are a handful of other regular dishes, but my girlfriend and I went with their signature plus a meaty dish of Jeyuk Bokkeum (Spicy Stir Fried Pork). Maybe the place was hyped a little too much or I’ve had one too many great kimchi jjiggaes (probably the latter), but both dishes were just okay and fell way short of I-gotta-come-back-for-this-tomorrow type of feeling. This is not saying they were bad in any way, but as someone who’s cooked his fair share of both dishes, they could have been a little better than the stuff I make at home. I didn’t leave totally disappointed though. There was one special aspect of the kimchi jjigae that really caught my attention: their golf ball sized pork chunks which were unbelievably tender and a pork lover’s dream. Both of the respective dishes were minimalist adaptations of what I’m used to these days, but it’s somewhat satisfying knowing that these types of places can exist in a super competitive and high-rent area such as Cheongdahm-dong. Btw, nearby tables showed a lot of love for the BBQ in the form of Samgyeopsal (Pork Belly) and Hangjeongsal (Pork Neck), the latter being one of my favorite yet lesser known cuts of pork. 🙂
Food: ★★★★ out of 5 stars
Service: ★★★½ out of 5 stars
Ambiance: ★★★½ out of 5 stars
Value: ★★★★ out of 5 stars
Hyundae Jungyuk Sikdang (현대정육식당)
1-25 Cheongdahm-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul
Phone: 02-540-7205
Hours: Open 24 hours daily
Directions via Naver map: http://me2.do/5TZdJap4
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