JJIMDAK: Steamed chicken cooked with veggies and spicy soy sauce
Although there are various foods in Myeongdong, it is not easy to come up with Myeongdong’s best restaurants. Well, Mydongdong Kalguksu (or Myeongdong Kyoja) can be the most famous one in Myeongdong. The problem is that menus and tastes of many restaurants in Myeongdong are not that special. However, many franchises in Myeongdong would give you various menu choices.
Ana and Debby, my best Hong Kong friends whom I met in Germany during the exchange program, visited Korea for Christmas. I naturally guide my international friends whenever they visit Korea.
Reputations on restaurants in a travel book are not that countable because not many Koreans actually eat there. Is that the power of marketing? Anyways I do not want to take my friends such places, so I take them to famous restaurants among foreigners as well as Koreans.
This time, I went to Bongchu Jjim DAk.
With the very clean, Korean style interior, it has enough seats on the first and second floor, so you don’t have to wait long. Moreover, foreigners enjoy its taste as it has a chain store in Japan and has been certified as an excellent franchise.
There are other Jjim Dak franchises in Korea but I love Bongchu’s most. Not very sweet, affordably spicy and above all, I love wide glass noodles (called Dang Myeon) in the Jjim Dak sauce..! OMG. No worries, it is not so spicy that foreigners can enjoy it. If your friend cannot eat even a little hot foods at all, ask a clerk to make the food not spicy beforehand.
My friends love Korea’s spicy foods so we ordered medium Jjim Dak.
A simple menu! You just need to choose between boneless and regular and the size of your dish.
This menu is best for such a people like me who cannot choose easily. Foreigners can also select a menu easily. The menu is written in Korean, though…^_^;;
Side dishes are Dong Chi Mi, neutralizing its hot taste, and Kimchi, a must-eat side dish when having greasy foods. Side dishes are free and can be refilled unlimitedly. This is “Jeong”, meaning “affection” in Korean, toward customers.
My eyes opened widely because of glossy, plentiful Jjim Dak and my mouth watered when seeing wide glass noodles.
That wide and flat noodle is a kind of glass noodles. It is different from thin glass noodles put in Jabchae (Pan-fried glass noodles with veggies and meats).
After having everything from soft chicken legs to the brittle chicken breast, a bowl of steamed rice mixed with Jjimdak sauce is the best finale!
Some branches give Nureungji (overcooked rice) as a side dish but in this Myeongdong branch only regular steamed rice is served. But, if you order half dish for lunch, you will get 2 servings of steamed rice for free and for one full dish, you’ll get free 3 servings of steamed rice. I can’t remember the dinner service. Mix rice with sweet and spicy sauce!
When we came back to the earth, the plate was completely empty. We were very satisfied with Bongchu Jjim dak. Agreeing that we were so full that we need to take a walk, we left the restaurant.
Parking at Bongchu at Myeongdong is not possible. There is Olive Young and Tout les Jours out of exit 8 of Myeongdong station. Walk down the street around 200M between them and then you can see the restaurant on the left side. On the way to the restaurant, there is a Forever 21. Walk down straightly while passing by Forever 21!
This is a full, satisfying meal only available in Korea! Don’t lose the chance to have sweet and spicy Bongchu Jjimdak! Have a good trip!
