Sinnonhyeon rice tteokbokki shop, Basic Set at 4 p.m.: Deokjane

Chewiness on another level! The holy ground for rice tteokbokki lovers, and the Sinnonhyeon Station tteokbokki spot is, of course, Deokjane Bangatgan.

Why rice cake fans should visit Deokjane Bangatgan

Deokjane Bangatgan (덕자네방앗간) near Sinnonhyeon Station is a snack bar whose star is tteokbokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes) made with thick garaetteok (long rice cake sticks). If you love rice cake tteokbokki, this is a place you have to try at least once.

I'm a rice cake person to the bone. I really love that chewy, hearty bite, though it turns out a lot of people prefer wheat cakes. To those of you who say the sauce just slides off rice cakes: if you haven't discovered the real charm of rice tteokbokki yet, go eat at Deokjane Bangatgan, the tteokbokki specialist near Sinnonhyeon Station.

Where is Deokjane Bangatgan, and what are the hours?

Deokjane Bangatgan is on the L1 floor of Gangnam Station i-Park 1st, close to Exit 7 of Sinnonhyeon Station, and it's open daily from 11:00 to 20:30. Break time is 14:30 to 16:00, and last order is at 20:00.

Come out of Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 7 and you'll see Kyobo Tower. Stroll toward its back door and you'll spot the white sign of [Deokjane Bangatgan] on the L1 floor of Gangnam Station i-Park 1st.

• Hours: daily 11:00–20:30
• Break time: 14:30–16:00
• Last order: 20:00

What if you arrive during break time?

If you get there at 3:30 p.m., it's break time and you'll have to wait until 4. We arrived at 3:30 and found exactly that. There's a café right next door, so we had coffee first, rested a bit, and walked in the moment 4 o'clock hit.

Isn't the inside nice and clean? My friend who came with me had only ever had Deokjane Bangatgan by delivery. The rice cakes were so good that she really wanted to come in and eat here in person. Today we're going to do it properly.

We ordered at the kiosk, then got pickled radish and water from the self-serve bar and got ready to dig in.

What's on the Deokjane Bangatgan menu?

The menu runs from Deokjane tteokbokki to gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), bibim mandu (spicy-sour mixed dumplings), jjolmyeon (chewy spicy cold noodles), pork cutlet, ramyeon, fried snacks and more! The variety of Korean snack food is huge. The bibim mandu, tangy and spicy, and the rice cake sticks dipped in jocheong (grain syrup) are the special treats.

They also have boiled eggs and hot dogs, and dipping them in the tteokbokki sauce is pure heaven. If it's your first visit, just try a set menu. You get to enjoy a bit of everything, Deokjane Bangatgan's signature dishes.

The color of the tteokbokki alone ramps up your appetite. One look at those big rice cakes and my mouth was watering. There's a reason this place is called Deokjane Bangatgan (a rice mill) and not just Deokjane Tteokbokki. That garaetteok chew makes mozzarella cheese look like nothing.

What's in the Basic Set, and how much food is it?

The Deokjane Bangatgan Basic Set comes with 3 fish cake skewers, burdock gimbap, fried snacks, tteokbokki and a drink. We ordered the Basic Set. With three fish cakes I guess it's designed for 3 people, but no way! It's just right for 2. Haha.

Fish cake skewers and fish cake broth

I started by gulping down the fish cake broth. The broth is simply fantastic. The skewers are a quiet highlight too, and these aren't the kind that just taste of flour. They're springy and full of savory depth, and I'm happy just eating the skewers alone. Good plain, and good dipped in the tteokbokki sauce too! Two skewers vanish as an appetizer in a blink.

Whole rice cake tteokbokki topped with potato salad

Deokjane Bangatgan's tteokbokki has thick garaetteok, topped with fish cake and the signature potato salad. I braved the heat and came to this Sinnonhyeon Station tteokbokki specialist for this chewy tteokbokki.

The rice cakes are thick, and you can snip them into bite-size pieces with scissors if you like. I love the chew so much that I didn't cut mine and just picked them up and ate them whole.

At first you wonder why there's potato salad on top, but the more you eat, the more addictive it gets. It's tasty on its own and nutty, but try mixing it gently into the sauce! I wondered where this flavor had been all my life. The fish cake isn't the thin kind either. It's thick, and scooping up a big spoonful with the broth is really good.

Freshly fried fried snacks

The fried snacks in the Basic Set were sweet potato, fish cake, dumplings and so on, fried to order. Piping hot and freshly fried is good! Fresh from the fryer, they can't help but be tasty. Dipped in the sweet-spicy tteokbokki, they're the best.

We'd actually both had lunch before coming. Haha. We were about to burst but couldn't stop.

Should you eat the gimbap at Deokjane Bangatgan too?

If you come to Deokjane Bangatgan, definitely get the gimbap too. The life of gimbap really is the seasoning and sesame oil. The filling is generous, but what was truly the best was the nutty aroma the moment it hits your mouth, the fluffy rice and just the right seasoning.

Full but still taking some home, and syrup rice cake next time

Even after stuffing ourselves at Deokjane Bangatgan, it was so good that we ended up packing tteokbokki and gimbap to go.

If you like rice tteokbokki, definitely try it. You get the full charm of spicy-sweet, chewy rice cakes. I was too full this time to try the syrup rice cake sticks, so next time I'll make sure to finish with those too.