Danyang restaurant with homemade ssamjang: Danyang Heukmaneul Ssambap

While traveling around Danyang and Jecheon in Chungbuk, I got a recommendation for Danyang Heukmaneul Ssambap (단양흑마늘쌈밥), a place locals swear by. I went to check out the boiled pork made with the region's specialty black garlic and the spicy squid stir-fry — plus parking tips!

How to reach Danyang Heukmaneul Ssambap, and where to park

The restaurant is close to Dodam Sambong and Seokmun, both part of the famous Eight Scenic Views of Danyang, and near the paragliding spots tourists flock to, so it's a great stop before or after those activities. It's also a quick trip from Danyang Station or the intercity bus terminal, so it's convenient for travelers without a car.

There's no parking right in front, so you'll want to use the free riverside lot or the Gyeonggyeong Market public lot. The riverside lot is about a 5-minute walk while the market lot is just 1 minute away, so pick whichever suits your situation haha.

What the dining room looks like and what the menu costs

I went around 11am on a Sunday, and by noon the place was completely full. The interior is a decent size, but if you come during peak meal times you might wait a bit. The main dish is the black garlic boiled pork ssambap, orderable from 2 people and up, priced at ₩19,000 per person — we also added squid for ₩11,000❤️

The basic side dishes all felt neat and healthy, so this would be a great spot to bring parents. If you're worried the black garlic rice might not suit your taste, you can swap it for multigrain rice — just keep that in mind.

How do the black garlic pork and the squid stir-fry taste?

Finally, the star of the show — the boiled pork! It came piled generously with black garlic sauce. This place makes its own black garlic, cooking it in a rice cooker for 15 days and then drying it for a few more days, and maybe that's why the sweetness hits so strongly — it felt different from other places.

And the pork itself had zero gamey smell, boiled so tender it practically melted in my mouth~

It's best dipped in generously!

The squid stir-fry we added smelled spicy the moment it arrived, really waking up the appetite — I briefly worried whether my boyfriend, who can't handle spice, would be okay with it... but then I took a bite

Huh?! The sauce color looked so deep I expected it to be really spicy, but it was a pleasantly spicy level, just right❤️

The squid pieces were plump, with a nice chewy bite still alive in every piece,

and when you mix the spicy sauce into your rice and top it with a piece of squid, it's absolutely rice-thief material❤️

The pork is sweet thanks to the sauce while the squid is spicy, so the combination of the two was really quite good!

The cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) served alongside had a wonderful nutty flavor too, so scooping a spoonful in between bites let you enjoy a different taste~

The wrap greens were fresh too, so piling a bunch in for one big wrap gave a great combination of freshness, nuttiness, and sweetness~

The homemade ssamjang here is really this place's signature kick — being made in-house gives it a deep flavor~

"I kind of want to buy just this ssamjang separately" — that's how good the savory depth was haha

Would I eat at Danyang Heukmaneul Ssambap again?

Trying the full set at Danyang Heukmaneul Ssambap myself, the flavor of the loving black garlic sauce, tender pork, and squid managed to bring out real savory depth even using healthy ingredients — I think it'd appeal to all ages, and it would make a hearty, tonic-food kind of Korean meal to enjoy with elders or kids alike~