Day 3 in Seoul (I): Yoogane Dak Galbi 유가네 닭갈비

This post features Yoogane Dak Galbi 유가네 닭갈비 (pronounced yoo-ga-nae dak-gal-bi) and we visited the branch at Hongdae. Korean stores don't have a habit of sharing their specific addresses (and even if you have the written address, it's pretty difficult to find small streets through maps) so I will try my best to describe how to locate this store in Seoul.

Yoogane Dak Galbi is a definite must-try when you're in Seoul! Dak Galbi is a stir-fried chicken dish that is really popular! The chicken is marinated and diced prior to cooking, and is stir-fried with gochujang (a chilli pepper paste that gives many Korean dishes their dark orange and reddish colour), assorted vegetables, onions, and rice cakes (known as 떡 'tteok').

Be sure to ask for the 'foreigner' menu here if you have limited to no Korean proficiency. Haha. We had a funny moment at Yoogane because we somewhat got mistaken as Koreans again, were given the Korean menu (we didn't know that there was an English version), the staff explained a few lines of Korean and then we ordered after some reading and double-checking the meanings via our mobile phones. There were many different types of Korean pancakes on the menu that we got confused too, so for your convenience, just get the English menu!

After our little struggle with ordering (note: waiters/waitresses did not speak any kind of English, they couldn't understand numbers like one or two), two Japanese tourists - a middle-aged couple - entered, looking like hard-core tourists. Armed with a map in one hand, the couple were both decked out in hats and carrying big backpacks with their cameras and transit-card-lanyards around their necks. Basically, they were carrying an invisible sign on their forehead that said "I'm a tourist!". So what do you know? The waiter automatically gave them an English and Chinese menu... We were really speechless at that point. Haha. I suppose it was our fault for not asking for a foreigner menu. It just didn't cross our minds.

I really like the interior brick wall design. Most of the popular dishes are stated on the posters around the store, so just take a peek and point about if you're clueless. If you generally like Korean food and chilli pepper paste, you won't dislike any dish here. Haha.

A cover they use to prevent the oil and food from splattering all over. The environment feels quite oily due to the nature of the dish. We went in the morning and did have a little bit of remnant fried chicken smell on us for the rest of the day. So if you're particular about smelling off your usual scent, bring a portable perfume spray or eat it later in the day such as dinner/supper!

A specific waiter follows through your order, meaning that the one who takes your order, cooks and gets everything ready for you. It felt pretty good, and even though they can't speak any English, they are pretty hospitable and attentive to your needs (i.e. asking for extra rice/sauce).

Didn't know how yummy stir-fried rice cakes were until we ate here (looks like long white strips).

Total damage was about S$10-S$15 per pax. The standard procedure is buying the chicken galbi dish, and adding on toppings such as rice, kimchi, rice cakes, ramen, more vegetables. Everything will be cooked by the staff member, so you don't have to worry. In this picture, we added rice!

There, the completed dish!

No budget to fly to Korea? It so happens there's a branch in Singapore. Hurray! I haven't been there but it's located at Bugis Junction. Very accessible via MRT.

Definitely somewhere I'd return to.

A snippet of our dining experience. Listen to all that sizzling!

Yoogane Dak Galbi
200 Victoria Street
Bugis Junction
#02-47/48
Singapore

***

Yoogane Dak Galbi in Seoul:
There are many branches in Seoul but I'll just highlight two branches in the tourist areas Myeongdong and Hongdae.

Address of the Hongdae Branch:
163-11, Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea
서울시 마포구 동교동 163-11
Closest to Hongik University Station Exit 9
Directions from Hongik University Station: 
Take Exit 9, turn left into first intersection called Yanghwa-ro, walk straight and past a Coffeebean then turn right (you should see a street with many trees) then walk down (past a few clothing/bag shops) until near the end of this street and you should see Yoogane on your right.

Address of the Myeongdong Branch:
66-6 Chungmuro 2-ga, Junggu, Seoul, Korea
서울특별시 중구 충무로2가 66-6
Directions from Myeongdong Station:
Take Exit 8, walk straight and turn left on first intersection into Myeongdong 10-gil. Walk straight for about 1 street length and Yoogane Galbi will be on your left, next to Shinhan Bank.

(Information accurate as at 30 Jun 2014)