Window-seat gopchang and honeycomb tripe with dad in Mokdong: Omokgyo

Location and hours of Omokgyo Gopchang Mokdong Main Branch

Omokgyo Gopchang Mokdong Main Branch is at 1F, 226-13 Mokdongdong-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, and you have to walk into the Omokgyo food alley to find it. It's open 16:00–22:40 on weekdays and 12:10–22:40 on weekends, with last order at 22:00 both days. Holiday hours should be checked separately with the restaurant.

• Groups welcome
• Private rental available
• Free corkage

Tucked away in the alley, Omokgyo Gopchang is inside the food alley where all the restaurants are clustered together.

Even from the outside you can feel the retro vibe, right? The weather was nice so the windows were wide open, and sitting by the window gave off a real outdoor-tent feel.

How do you order the ₩100 golbaengi bibim myeon at Omokgyo Gopchang?

At Omokgyo Gopchang, if you order gopchang together with a hot pot, you get golbaengi bibim myeon (spicy whelk noodles) for a mere ₩100!! There are so many menu items here, but don't miss this one — definitely order it.

It's a restaurant that's been on TV, and they even think about the customers who are waiting — ugh. Little touches like that from the owner really move customers. I was so touched. They're also fully prepared so you can leave without smelling like the grill!

How long is the weekday evening wait at Omokgyo Gopchang?

At Omokgyo Gopchang Mokdong Main Branch, there was no wait between 5:00 and 5:30pm on a weekday. But after that, as reserved seats filled up, the whole place was fully booked by 6pm even though it was a weekday!

The vibe at the window seats and inner seats at Omokgyo Gopchang

I went with just my dad and we sat at a window seat at Omokgyo Gopchang. The weather was nice and the air conditioning was running, so it wasn't hot at all — it felt just like sitting at an outdoor tent, the best.

No wonder it's a well-known restaurant — apparently a lot of celebrities have come through here too.

Besides the window seats, there are wider seats too — I'd recommend those for groups of 4 or more! The vibe there was great as well, and by around 5:30pm those seats were filling up with reservations too. If you're planning to come, it's probably best to book ahead.

Is Omokgyo Gopchang expensive?

I thought a famous restaurant like this would be really pricey, but compared to other places I actually found it cheaper. I ended up paying less here than at other gopchang spots I've been to.

You can put your bag inside the chair — and inside each chair there's a diffuser tucked in like this.

The basic table setting and side dishes at Omokgyo Gopchang

Omokgyo Gopchang uses individual spoon-and-chopstick cases so it feels hygienic, and there were tissues at every table, which was convenient.

The side dishes that come out as standard were varied like this, and every single one was well seasoned and tasty. Salt dip and chili dip come one per person!

• Scallion kimchi made fresh every week: not spicy, and packed with savory depth
• Chives tossed in chili sauce, also made fresh: not spicy, and the chives were super fresh
• Pickled onion: an essential side with gopchang and daechang, very crunchy and sweet-tangy
• Raw tripe and doenjang dip: the tripe was fresh and the dip was seriously delicious, ugh

This one was hard to call just 'potato salad' — it was so smooth yet had a real texture to it. This was genuinely delicious. My dad ate it nonstop without pausing.

The soup was cooked well, and mixing it in really cuts through any greasiness — it's that kind of flavor.

Ordering one serving each of mixed gopchang and garlic gopchang at Omokgyo Gopchang

The gopchang at Omokgyo Gopchang comes pre-seared, and they explain which part is which before telling you the best way to eat it! There's even a fun fire show that makes it more delicious — yahoo~

I ordered one serving of mixed gopchang and one of garlic gopchang. You can order just one serving of each like that too. The signature dish is the garlic gopchang, packed with garlic cloves,

which is made by hand, pressing garlic into the gopchang piece by piece — a menu item with a limited number of servings available per day.

Does the hive tripe at Omokgyo Gopchang smell gamey?

Omokgyo Gopchang has a dish called hive tripe, shaped like a honeycomb. I usually don't eat tripe at all, but here there was genuinely no gamey smell, and it got more delicious the more I chewed.

The garlic gopchang was about to burst, and the regular gopchang had its fatty insides about to burst too. Both were delicious, but with not a trace of bitterness — next time I come, I'm ordering a ton of the regular gopchang.

On top of that, the daechang (large intestine) here is genuinely savory and great. Grilled crisp on the outside and tender inside on the grill plate, the daechang felt way more savory than greasy!!

Should you add cheese to the fried rice at Omokgyo Gopchang?

The fried rice at Omokgyo Gopchang is different from other places, and adding cheese is a must. It becomes much more savory and salty, and the cheese brings the umami up a huge notch.

It's mozzarella cheese, so it melts into gooey strands laid between the grains of rice like this.

Hahahaha, once it comes out on the stone plate, you can't not press the rice down. Press it firmly, grill it well, then scoop it up — even a stomach that felt completely full somehow keeps taking in more rice.

Step into the alley where all the Omokgyo restaurants are clustered and you'll find a place full of retro atmosphere, with super friendly staff and even better food — Omokgyo Gopchang!! I really recommend visiting.