Daegu rice restaurant, eggplant doenjang rice bowl for two: Hyangtaek

When you go looking for good restaurants, there are always a few that keep catching your eye but somehow the timing never lines up. Hyangtaek Daebong Branch was exactly that place for us.

Honestly, my wife had been singing this song for ages: "I really want to try Hyangtaek Daebong Branch." "If we go to Kim Kwang-seok Street, let's go to Hyangtaek!!!!" So this time we finally decided to grant her long-standing wish (haha) and headed to Hyangtaek Daebong Branch, a Kim Kwang-seok Street favorite.

What Hyangtaek Daebong Branch looks like: an open kitchen by the door

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch looked clean from the exterior, and that same clean feel carried through as soon as we stepped inside. The first thing that caught my eye was the open kitchen.

Personally, whenever a restaurant has a visible kitchen, I can't help but glance at it twice,

and Hyangtaek Daebong Branch's kitchen was kept remarkably clean. My trust in the place went up before the food even arrived. We sat down happily and looked over the menu.

What to order at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch: mackerel gondre rice or eggplant doenjang bowl

True to a good restaurant's style, the menu at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch was concise. We didn't hesitate and ordered the signature mackerel gondre rice and eggplant doenjang rice bowl. Before the main dishes arrived, the side dishes came out.

The side dishes were kept simple so you could really focus on the main dish: gopchang gim (seaweed), jeotgal (salted seafood), gungchae, and soup.

How to eat the set at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch

Finally, the main dishes arrived. The staff kindly explained the best way to eat them: shred the mackerel and eggplant finely and mix them thoroughly into the rice. For the mackerel gondre rice, add the special soy sauce; for the eggplant doenjang rice bowl, add a bit of kelp vinegar.

There was also a note on the table saying to mix the rice and ingredients well, then eat with gopchang gim and the special mixed jeotgal.

Samchi gondre bap: add the house soy sauce a little at a time

We started with the mackerel gondre rice. At first glance, a big chunk of mackerel sitting on top of the rice looked really generous. The mackerel wasn't overly oily — it was grilled to be savory and light, so good enough to eat on its own.

But since we'd been told the right way to eat it, we broke the mackerel apart and mixed it thoroughly with the gondre and rice. It's a completely different experience from just eating the mackerel plain. The fragrant gondre mixes with the savory mackerel and the nutty rice, and before you know it your spoon keeps going back for more.

But that wasn't the end of it. We added the special soy sauce that came with it, and the umami really came alive. It didn't taste salty so much as it sharpened the flavors of the mackerel and gondre even further, so I'd personally recommend adding the special soy sauce little by little to adjust the seasoning to taste.

Gopchang gim with seasoned jeotgal, the best bite of the meal

The gopchang gim + special jeotgal combo mentioned on the note was also excellent. What was interesting about Hyangtaek was the way of eating gopchang gim with the special jeotgal on top. It's delicious just spooned over rice, but if you put a little rice on the gim and add a touch of the jeotgal, it tastes completely different again.

The nuttiness of the gim combined with the salty umami of the jeotgal makes a combination that'll empty a bowl of rice fast. Wrapping bites like this in between eating the mackerel gondre rice kept the flavor changing even though it was the same rice, so it never got repetitive.

Eggplant doenjang rice bowl: start with just a drop of kelp vinegar

The second dish was the eggplant doenjang rice bowl. I'm not really an eggplant person, but I ate this one with real enjoyment. The doenjang seasoning had soaked into the eggplant well, so the first bite gave off a nutty doenjang aroma right away, and the soft eggplant blended naturally with the rice. Mix it all together with the rice and the earthy doenjang flavor keeps your spoon coming back. And if you add a little of the kelp vinegar that came with it,

the tangy kelp vinegar cuts through the heavy, earthy doenjang and resets your palate, sharpening the flavor. I'd recommend adding kelp vinegar in very small amounts and tasting as you go, rather than pouring in a lot at once. (The combination worked so well that I ended up using a lot of it, but tastes can vary from person to person.)

Why the cauldron rice finished the meal so well

Being a true Korean restaurant, Hyangtaek Daebong Branch cooks its rice in a cauldron, and the rice itself was so nutty... Hyangtaek really nails the rice too.

Coming here, I completely understood why my wife had wanted to eat here so badly. Rather than bold, in-your-face flavors, it felt like a proper meal that let the rice and ingredients taste like themselves. The staff were all friendly too, and the overall clean atmosphere made for an enjoyable meal, both for the food and the mood.

If you're near Kim Kwang-seok Street craving a good Korean restaurant with a hearty, nutty bowl of rice, you absolutely have to visit Hyangtaek Daebong Branch. We'll probably keep coming back to Kim Kwang-seok Street just for this place. It felt like we'd finally found a proper Korean restaurant again, and we left happily full. Hyangtaek Daebong Branch, thumbs up 👍

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch hours, break time and parking

• Hours: Daily 11:00 - 20:00
• Break time: 15:30 - 17:00
• Parking: Kim Kwang-seok-gil public parking lot (1 hour 10 minutes free with dine-in)