Yeonsu-dong, Incheon restaurant for spicy sundae gopchang stir-fry: Yeonsu Gopchang

Spicy sundae gopchang found in Yeonsu-dong

Yeonsu Gopchang (연수곱창)

Lately I've suddenly been craving gopchang (grilled or stir-fried intestines) so badly, so I went to the Yeonsu Gopchang main branch with a friend!! We were picking a dinner spot around Yeonsu-dong, and on a day like this, spicy stir-fried gopchang is always the first thing that comes to mind. After going back and forth on the menu, we ordered 2 servings of sundae gopchang (blood sausage and intestines stir-fry)~

The set comes generously portioned, so I'd recommend it as a place for a meal plus a drink!!

Just from the food photos on the banner, there's no way this could taste bad, right?!

A relaxed vibe for chatting with a friend over food

When we arrived, the exterior had that familiar look, like a place you've probably walked past at some point. There are lots of sleek, stylish restaurants these days, but places like this feel more like a neighborhood favorite that's been easy to drop into for ages, and I like that~ We visited at dinnertime, so there were customers in for a meal, and it had a comfortable atmosphere for friends or acquaintances eating together! Inside there were tables set up, so it looked fine for a group too! That savory gopchang-house smell drifts through the air subtly, and the moment you sit down you feel even hungrier~ It's not a super quiet place, more the kind where it's easy to talk while you eat, so it was great for dinner and chatting about this and that with my friend!

From banchan to kettle fish cake skewers

After ordering, the banchan (side dishes) were laid out. When you're eating gopchang, you inevitably want something to nibble on in between, so having side dishes come with it was nice for mixing things up. Especially since the main dish is a stir-fry, taking bites of the sides in between makes the flavor feel different again~

And the thing that quietly stuck with me that day was the kettle of eomuk (fish cake) skewers — would you believe this is a complimentary bar snack? When you want some warm broth mid-gopchang, the fish cake skewers pair really well!! There's the fun of eating them one skewer at a time, plus the warm broth to go with it, so it seemed like a great drinking snack too~ A sip of fish cake broth in between bites of spicy sundae gopchang kind of resets your palate, so I kept reaching for it

On top of that, sundae and liver are also served as complimentary bar snacks — with free snacks like these, the drinks are bound to flow, right??

Sundae gopchang: blood sausage and intestines together

Finally, the sundae gopchang we'd been waiting for, 2 servings! My mouth was watering just from the generously piled-up look of it. With sundae mixed in with the gopchang, we ordered one dish but it felt like eating several things, which I loved!! The gopchang has a chewy bite and the sundae is soft, so the two textures go together really well. The sauce was soaked in evenly, so picking up gopchang and sundae together gave you spicy and savory in one bite~

Personally I think stir-fries like this are best eaten piping hot from start to finish, but as we ate slowly and talked, it just kept tasting better! Eating it with the sundae instead of gopchang alone meant it never got monotonous, and I kept reaching for more~ There's even sesame sprinkled over the top, so the visual alone is overwhelming — there's no way something that looks like this could taste bad

Finishing it wrapped in perilla leaf and pickled radish

That day I wasn't hunting for anything special, I just suddenly wanted gopchang, but I ended up enjoying a more comfortable meal than I expected!! Getting sundae and gopchang together made it a good menu choice, and with the banchan and the kettle fish cake skewers on the side, the meal felt even more generous~ More than anything, I loved sitting with my friend, eating something delicious and chatting at ease. If you're in Yeonsu-dong on a day you're craving a spicy stir-fry, or looking for somewhere to have dinner with a drink with a friend, I recommend the Yeonsu Gopchang main branch!!

I'd recommend it as a place I want to come back to. The thick glass noodles, the sundae and the pork intestines are all properly soaked in the sauce so it can't not be tasty, and wrapping it up with a perilla leaf and ssammu (pickled radish wrap) makes it even more delicious!!!