Guro jokbal restaurant: weekend half-and-half for two, Sambaekga

A review of Sindorim Sambaekga (신도림삼백가), which I tried while looking for a jokbal place near Sindorim Station.

• 📍661 Gyeongin-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Unit 118, 1st floor)
• ⏰Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–21:40 (break 15:00–16:00) / Sat, Sun 11:00–21:40 (no break on weekends and holidays)
• Dining-in hours: 11:00–15:00 meal menu only; 16:00–21:30 all meals, à la carte dishes and sets
• ✔️Groups, reservations and takeout available
• 🅿️Sindorim Prugio commercial parking lot, basement 3 (free for 2 hours)

Location and access from Sindorim Station

Sambaekga is near Sindorim Station in Guro, so public transport access is pretty good. There are plenty of shops and restaurants around, which makes it an easy stop for dinner after work or as a second round.

Menu and ordering the half-and-half set

The lunch and dinner meal menu lists kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) and a bossam (boiled pork wraps) set meal. There's also a summer-only kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles), so it seems like a decent lunch spot in Sindorim too.

You browse the menu and order on a tablet on the table. There's a good range of dishes to eat with drinks, like cold jokbal (naengchae jokbal), a makguksu (buckwheat noodle) set and mung bean pancakes. Two Naver receipt review events are running as well.

• 🍶Meal menu receipt review: 1 bottle of alcohol
• 🍜Jokbal/bossam receipt review: free kalguksu

The kalguksu is made with 100% fresh noodles, and maybe that's why it has a reputation, since I saw lots of people eating it. The eternal jokbal dilemma is mild classic jokbal or spicy fire jokbal (bul-jokbal), but Sambaekga has a half-and-half set that gives you both, so I ordered it right away without agonizing.

Atmosphere and the weekend evening crowd

The interior looks perfectly good for a group dinner or company outing in Sindorim. The décor is neat and tidy overall. The tables aren't packed too tightly, so it didn't feel cramped, and the hall gave the impression of being kept clean. It was a weekend evening, so both delivery orders and the dining hall were busy and bustling.

Barley rice self-bar and solo-diner table

Barley rice is provided only to customers who order kalguksu. The self-bar has seasonings and kimchi, so you just take as much gochujang (chili paste), yeolmu (young radish kimchi) and sesame oil as you like.

There are drinks you can help yourself to as well, and a table for solo diners near the entrance.

Side dishes: a taste of cold jokbal and wrap vegetables

The basics come with cold jokbal bossam(?), seasoned chives, dried radish strips (mumallaeng), geotjeori (fresh kimchi), wrap vegetables and three dips (garlic, ssamjang, salted shrimp). The sides aren't excessive, just the essentials, so it's easy to focus on the main jokbal, and the lettuce and perilla leaves were fresh with no wilting.

That sample cold jokbal is bossam meat topped with a sauce, and the sharp kick of the mustard was stronger than I expected. It comes with a sweet garlic sauce, ssamjang and salted shrimp that go well with jokbal. The seasoned chives and geotjeori were crunchy and got my appetite going.

How big is the half-and-half jokbal?

The half-and-half jokbal is finally here! It doesn't come in small, medium and large, so I wondered how much food it would be, and it's a fitting amount for two adults.

The mild Sambaekga jokbal

The jokbal looks tender just from looking at it. Chewy skin and lean meat came out evenly mixed.

Sambaekga's jokbal still has that springy bounce. It's the style that highlights the clean, mild flavor of the meat itself rather than strong herbal medicine notes, too much sweetness or a heavy soy-sauce taste. I heard they use only domestic first-grade fresh trotters; the skin has a crunchy, chewy bite, and the lean meat isn't greasy, so you taste the mildness.

The jokbal itself isn't strongly seasoned, so you can dip it lightly in the salted shrimp or garlic sauce that comes with it,

or wrap it in lettuce with crunchy seasoned dried radish, which was the combination that suited it best.

How spicy is the fire jokbal?

The fire jokbal comes coated in red sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Its seasoning is clearly noticeable. The heat builds the more you eat, but it's not so spicy that your tongue goes numb. It's a pleasantly sharp spiciness blended with sweet seasoning, so anyone could like it without much division.

The sauce coats the jokbal evenly, and the balance of fat and lean meat is about right.

When it got too spicy I dipped it in the sweet garlic sauce, and also poked it into the salted shrimp. Thanks to the spicy sauce, it also suits people who enjoy it as a drinking snack. When you want mild and spicy at the same time, the half-and-half set seems like the choice least likely to disappoint.

Parking is free for 2 hours, so be sure to ask at the counter after your meal!

If you're looking for a clean restaurant for a gathering or company dinner near Sindorim in Guro, give Sindorim Sambaekga a visit 🍖