Post-concert gopchang dinner in Garak-dong, Seoul: Jinseong Hanwoo

REVIEW Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship 27 Songpadae-ro 28-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul

It was Sunday evening, on my way home after watching a show at Seoul Arts Center. Going straight home just felt like something was missing, haha. I was a little hungry and wanted something delicious, so before heading home I stopped by a beef gopchang (grilled beef intestines) place I'd heard was good. The spot I visited was Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship, a well-known gopchang restaurant in Garak-dong. I found a proper beef gopchang gem. Here's my honest review.

Where is Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship, and how long is the Sunday night wait?

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship sits between Gyeongchal Byeongwon Station and Garak Market Station, so it's close no matter which one you get off at! Punch in the address and you can park in the building's parking lot. The space is really spacious and generous, so parking was easy.

I arrived around 7:30 PM on a Sunday and the wait was enormous. Wow... a real Garak-dong gem, haha. I quickly wrote my name down and waited.

I'd been to the Bangi-dong branch of Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang before. I had a good meal there too, but this time it was the flagship location... haha, this was my first visit to the original, so I was really excited.

The Jinseong Brothers brand story posted at the entrance

By the entrance there was a sign telling the Jinseong Brothers brand story, and it turns out it all started right here at this Garak location.

Usually places only write about their achievements, but they'd also written about their failures, which was fun, haha. It's a cute story that shows both the brand's sincerity and a distinct sense of humor at the same time, so my impression of the place shot up right away!

After about a 20-minute wait we got in, and the inside of the restaurant was bustling with people.

There was a sign about takeout green onion kimchi, and gat kimchi, green onion kimchi, and chonggak kimchi all made in-house — you could tell they put a lot of effort into even the basic kimchi side dishes.

Menu and order: three servings of hanwoo gopchang plus maneul yangbap

The main menu at Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship is solidly built around hanwoo gopchang, hanwoo daechang, and hanwoo makchang! For dessert there's anchovy noodles and garlic fried rice with intestines.

I seriously debated for a while... but since I'd recently had daechang and makchang, I wanted to properly taste only hanwoo gopchang, so I ordered 3 servings of hanwoo gopchang at ₩19,000 each and one garlic fried rice for ₩9,000.

Minari and pickled-garlic sauce with three house-made kimchis

As basic side dishes, we got three clean kinds of kimchi and a minari-pickled garlic sauce packed with minari (water dropwort) and garlic.

This soy-based sauce was really special! The garlic and fragrant minari blended together, and dipping the gopchang into it completely cut through any greasiness — it was seriously delicious. As a minari lover, this was one of the best sauces I've ever had, haha.

The three house-made kimchis were also incredibly tasty. Truly something Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang should be proud of — I wanted to buy some to take home, haha.

Maybe because so much care went into it, the flavor felt deep on a whole different level.

Staff grill the hanwoo gopchang with a timer in hand

With the cola all set up too... we're ready to welcome the gopchang.

The visual alone was a real shock, haha. A mountain of vegetables to grill alongside the gopchang was piled sky-high, looking generous just to look at. Chives, mung bean sprouts, potato, rice cakes, and kimchi were all on there.

And a staff member came and grilled the gopchang for us directly. They even carried a timer around and checked things precisely, so all we had to do was wait comfortably, haha.

As it sizzled and cooked deliciously, the savory smell made me want to eat it right away...

As the gopchang cooked, the color turned a beautiful golden brown. It had been white intestines, but the outside turned appetizingly colored.

Crispy on the outside and moist inside, packed full of savory fat — once it hit the perfect timing, I picked up my chopsticks and started a full-on eating frenzy, haha. They cut everything into bite-sized pieces for us.

Fat-filled gopchang with the garlic sauce and kimchi

One bite in, the gopchang itself was so delicious, a savory flavor lingered all through my mouth.

Then I dipped it deep into the minari-pickled garlic sauce, and wow... the pairing of this sauce with the gopchang was incredible. The fragrant minari aroma matched the gopchang so well!!!

I made sure to try all three kimchis alongside the gopchang too. The salty, crunchy kimchi went really well with the savory intestines.

Each of the three kimchis tasted a little different, so it was fun switching kimchi with each bite of gopchang. There's really, really a lot of fat inside too — it's hot, so you have to blow on it before eating.

The savory oil-soaked crunchy mung bean sprouts, the crispy-outside-chewy-inside golden rice cakes, and the richly-packed hanwoo gopchang all together made for a really great three-part combination.

My spoon and chopsticks never stopped moving, haha. This is a truly authentic gopchang gem.

Finishing with maneul yangbap, 9,000 won

I agonized hard over whether to have anchovy noodles or garlic fried rice for dessert... but in the end I chose the fried rice!

I broke the prettily placed fried egg and mixed it all up with the rice. The crunchy diced radish kimchi, the mild special intestine bits, and the pickled garlic blended together so well that even though I was full, I kept eating more, haha. It filled me up with carbs too!!!

Here's the inside of Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship as the crowd thinned out toward the end, haha. Thanks to its clean yet warm and inviting atmosphere, I had a really pleasant meal. Plenty of people were there sharing drinks too.

Is Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang worth it in Garak-dong?

Living up to its reputation as a true gopchang gem I'd only heard about, Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship delivered one moving bite after another, from the very first piece to the final garlic fried rice! As a restaurant specializing in hanwoo gopchang, it lived up to the title with properly plump, savory intestines. Thanks to the pairing of three carefully made house kimchis and their special minari soy sauce, I think I'll come back here whenever gopchang cravings hit. Fully certified as a gopchang gem in Garak-dong! If you want to enjoy chewy, savory, real hanwoo gopchang, definitely go check it out!!