This week, to welcome spring, I went hiking to the top of Bukhansan with my friends.
The weather has gotten so warm that even with a thin hiking jacket, we were quickly drenched in sweat. Before reaching the summit, we faced the greatest challenge: "What should we eat after descending?" Everyone started searching!
We found a great restaurant, Sanggye-dong Original Dakgalbi, which was also featured on Heo Young-man's Baekban Journey.
It's a quiet neighborhood gem, simply named Original Dakgalbi.
However, this place has quite a reputation. It was featured on the show Heo Young-man's Baekban Journey, which I enjoy watching.
The guest on that episode was athlete Lee Sang-hwa, and there's even a scroll painting by artist Heo Young-man hanging in the restaurant.
Uniquely, this place offers both young and old chicken options. Even more unusual, they serve chicken giblets. Only very fresh places offer chicken giblets, and the menu itself exudes confidence.
Since there were four of us who had just finished hiking, we didn't hesitate to order the four-person set.
Starting with acorn pancakes, we had three servings of young chicken dakgalbi, one serving of chicken giblets, one serving of ramen noodles, one serving of jjolmyeon noodles, and fried rice!
The first dish, acorn pancakes, was served! I had only ever tried acorn jelly, so this was a first. We ate it with the accompanying pickled onions.
Unlike other pancakes, and distinct from acorn jelly, it had a unique and nutty aftertaste. The chewy texture and balanced flavor made it a perfect appetizer before the main course.
After two rounds of soju and beer with the acorn pancakes, the main dish, dakgalbi, arrived.
We were instructed to dip the perilla leaves and cut the dakgalbi to taste.
The visual was more like a chicken stew, with a clear broth. It wasn't extremely spicy but rather clean-tasting, and there was no gaminess thanks to the fresh chicken.
The flavors from the perilla leaves and onions, combined with the nutty taste from the chicken giblets, were just phenomenal. The chicken breast was tender and moist, likely because of the broth.
The deep flavor seemed to come more from the ingredients than from seasoning, making it light yet satisfying. The chicken intestines were a pleasant surprise, not greasy but rich in flavor. The round, pre-egg parts were a unique experience, different from boiled eggs.
Next came the carb time! We added jjolmyeon and ramen noodles to the broth and let it boil for a bit.
I was so envious of people eating cup noodles at the summit, so we ordered the noodles, and they were fantastic.
Normally, I'm a ramen fan, but today, the chewy jjolmyeon noodles soaked in chicken broth were so perfect that I couldn't stop eating.
Lastly, it was time for the fried rice. Since we had eaten so much dakgalbi, there wasn't much meat left to stir-fry with the rice, so it was almost like kimchi fried rice. We added plenty of seaweed.
Skipping this would be a crime. The set menu was perfectly portioned and well-balanced.
It felt like we consumed more calories than we burned hiking, but this dakgalbi was on a whole different level compared to franchise versions—healthy and never overwhelming. This place is the real deal!
