Dongwon Market chicken shop in Seoul for ₩20,000: Gimssi Chicken

Markets have a strange charm. You go in thinking you'll just take a look around, and somehow you always leave with both hands full haha. No wonder, when takeout original fried chicken is ₩9,900 and old-style whole fried chicken takeout is ₩7,000! In this era of sky-high prices, you just can't walk past that.

What is Dongwon Market in front of Myeongmok Station like?

Dongwon Market sits right in front of Myeongmok Station, packed with things to see and eat. I'm the type of person who finds browsing marts and markets the most fun, and this place is always buzzing with energy whenever I visit. The market stretches on and on, so it feels fresh every single time.

The place where people stop in their tracks, always with customers whenever you go — Gimssi Chicken's flagship store, said to be one of Seoul's three best dakgangjeong spots, is right there in Dongwon Market!

Gimssi Chicken: location, hours and menu

• Gimssi Chicken flagship store
• 32 Sangbong-ro 11-gil, 1st floor, Jungnang-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: daily 11:00 - 22:00

First glance catches you with the low prices, second glance with the mouthwatering chicken. Before you know it, you've joined the line at Gimssi Chicken, the dakgangjeong spot everyone in Dongwon Market talks about.

From old-style whole fried chicken bursting with market vibes to dakgangjeong, original fried chicken, wingbong, drumsticks, and gizzards — basically everything chicken, all in one place.

Both the dakgangjeong and the old-style chicken were priced so nicely that I agonized over what to get — and ended up ordering both.

The dakgangjeong pieces weren't tiny at all — they were nice and chunky, which I loved. I actually prefer eating dakgangjeong cold the next morning rather than piping hot, and sure enough, it wasn't dry at all — moist even after cooling down.

There are three sizes total, and you can tell them apart by the box size, which makes deciding pretty easy.

Can you eat in at Gimssi Chicken?

Fun fact: this Dongwon Market favorite also has dine-in seating! It was a weekday afternoon, and several people were already enjoying crispy chicken with a cold beer.

After much deliberation, I finally ordered the spicy dakgangjeong! Just looking at it you could tell it was going to be spicy — here's my honest review.

If you need extra sauce, you can buy it separately.

Spicy dakgangjeong special and old-style whole chicken: how much food for ₩20,000?

Spicy dakgangjeong special ₩13,000 plus old-style whole fried chicken ₩9,000 (₩7,000 takeout price) — I got a generous haul, and the whole thing came to ₩20,000.

The takeout price for the old-style whole chicken is just ₩7,000. In an era when you're scared to even open your wallet, finding a place with value like this is genuinely amazing, right?

How spicy is the spicy dakgangjeong?

My verdict on the spicy dakgangjeong: about as spicy as cheongyang chili peppers! The first bite is spicy, and it builds toward the end until your mouth goes tingly — exactly that cheongyang pepper level of heat. As someone who's not a fan of sweet food, this spice level was right up my alley.

Any true chicken lover knows the real test of dakgangjeong is how it tastes once it's cooled down. Living up to its reputation as one of Seoul's three best dakgangjeong spots, Gimssi Chicken stays moist and delicious even cold.

'jamachu' (자마추, my personal shorthand for 'chicken then mala tang')

Naturally, I ended up adding mala tang (spicy Sichuan-style soup) on the side lol

The old-style whole fried chicken has that appealing thin batter coating — exactly that flavor. Franchise fried chicken is delicious too, but every once in a while I find myself craving this market-style whole chicken instead. That vibe of dad bringing one home on his way back from work~

Thanks to the great value and generous portions that kept me satisfied even the next day, I want to revisit this Dongwon Market favorite, Gimssi Chicken, and try some of the other menu items too.