Seomyeon chicken restaurant's ₩33,000 soy chicken and stew set: Yetnal

I tried Yetnal Tongdak & Tang (옛날통닭앤탕) at the Yeonsan main branch first and couldn't stop thinking about it, so I went back. This time I'd found out there's a Seomyeon branch too, and headed straight over.

I ordered the dakdoritang + boneless fried chicken set. I paid ₩1,000 extra to swap the default fried chicken for soy chicken. The fried is good too, but the sweet soy version is so tasty that the ₩1,000 felt well spent. And with a spread this generous at ₩33,000, the value was seriously good.

Especially recommended if you can't give up either chicken or dakdoritang! The Seomyeon branch is right on the main drag, so it's great for dinner after work or a drink. Below I'll show you the location, menu and atmosphere in detail.

Where is Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Seomyeon Branch, and what's the vibe?

The address is 73-1 Jungang-daero 680beon-gil, Busanjin-gu, Busan. It's on the Seomyeon main street, so it's easy to find. The yellow sign stands out too, so don't worry about missing it.

The moment you step in, it's exactly the old-fashioned chicken joint feeling the name promises! Rather than a clean, trendy look, it feels like the neighborhood chicken place you went to holding your dad's hand long ago.

What caught my eye most was the wall packed with customers' graffiti. Browsing it while waiting for the chicken made the time fly.

You can't just walk past something like that, right? I sneaked in a little doodle of my own!! See if you can find it.

Overall it's a relaxed place to tear into chicken and have a drink, good for a casual get-together with friends or an affordable first round.

Recommended menu and prices at Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Seomyeon

The top recommendation here is of course the set menu, which is great value. Dakdoritang + boneless fried chicken for ₩33,000, amazing value, right?! The fried chicken is Korean-grown thigh meat too.

I ordered the Sunsal & Tang (dakdoritang + boneless soy fried chicken). I'd had the soy flavor at the main branch and loved it so much that I switched to soy again. At Yetnal Tongdak & Tang, soy is the truth.

The side dishes that come when you order are pickled chicken radish, kewpie-mayo salad, and shrimp chips!!

How does the dakdoritang taste?

The first thing out at Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Seomyeon was the dakdoritang, and it passed on looks alone!!

Once it started bubbling, a properly spicy smell rose up! There are big pieces of Korean chicken inside, and maybe because it's Korean chicken, there was no gamey smell at all. It tasted clean.

Packed with quail eggs, glass noodles and wheat rice cakes

And the quail eggs just keep turning up!! The sauce is spicy like tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and eating a quail egg here and there was the real fun.

My favorite part was that it's really full of glass noodles!! They soak up the seasoning, so once you start slurping them you can't stop, dangerous food. Glass noodle lovers will be totally hooked.

These long wheat rice cakes look like noodles, but bite into one soaked in sauce and it tastes like really good tteokbokki! It's so good I wanted to add an order of tteokbokki.

The broth isn't just hot, it's sharp and rich, so a spoonful between bites of chicken cuts right through the greasiness. I see why they sell the two as a set, hats off to the owner. The complimentary shrimp chips, dipped in lightly, are strangely delicious too..

Is the soy boneless chicken swap worth it?

When you come to Yetnal Tongdak & Tang, always get the chicken in soy. Soy is the truth. I'm dead serious.

The default is boneless fried chicken, but I paid ₩1,000 extra to switch to soy. I loved this soy chicken at the Yeonsan main branch, so I paid a whole thousand won for it! When I ordered a whole chicken before, the portion was big, so half a chicken felt small and I worried it wouldn't be enough.. but eaten with the dakdoritang it was so much food that I left some...

The soy boneless here is crispy outside with the soy sauce evenly coated, salty and sweet, exactly the sweet-and-salty combo we all love! The sauce isn't too sweet or sticky, so I could eat several pieces in a row without getting tired of it.

Best of all, being boneless, it's easy to pick up bite by bite, and a bite of spicy dakdoritang followed by a piece of soy chicken pairs really well. And... dipping it in the stew is delicious again.

A Seomyeon spot for a meal and drinks in one go

If you're looking for a place in Seomyeon to eat well and have a drink for the first round, I strongly recommend Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Seomyeon Branch! You get dakdoritang and boneless chicken in generous portions. The price is friendly, and it's not just cheap, the taste is right too, so afterward "good value" comes out on its own. I kept thinking about the Yeonsan main branch and came all the way to Seomyeon, and once again I was satisfied.

The combo of fiery dakdoritang and sweet-salty soy chicken is a real recommendation!! If you want to fill up and have a drink in Seomyeon, or you're looking for a good Seomyeon chicken place, I recommend Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Seomyeon Branch.