Monday-night gopchang wait, 3 orders of only gopchang: Jinseong Hanwoo

Today's review is a true local favorite in Garak-dong — Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang!

I've lived in Garak-dong for 13 years now. I'm not sure exactly when Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang opened, but I've been going there countless times since I was a kid, haha. It's a real Garak-dong classic.

Parking and hours

• Parking | Seongwon Ste-ville mall parking lot (2 hours free)
• Hours | 12:00–23:00, closes 24:00 Fri & Sat

Waiting means writing your name on a chalkboard

Here's the entrance! The waiting system here is writing your name on a chalkboard and waiting your turn.

Basic side dishes — gat kimchi, green onion kimchi, chonggak kimchi

We got lucky and a table opened up right away, haha. Here's the basic table setting! Chives, the special sauce, and gat kimchi (mustard leaf kimchi), green onion kimchi, and chonggak kimchi (young radish kimchi) all come out, and everything is delicious. The green onion kimchi is especially good grilled.

Three servings of only gopchang

When I was a kid I loved daechang (large intestine), but these days I like gopchang (small intestine) more, so we ordered 3 servings of gopchang only, haha. The gat kimchi, green onion kimchi, and chonggak kimchi are apparently all made in-house, haha. And they say it's top-grade Korean beef.

5-minute timer, staff flip and cut it for you

The gopchang comes out lightly pre-grilled! Steamed egg comes as a default side too, and it's really good. First there's a 5-minute timer, and when the alarm goes off, staff come flip the gopchang. I'm pretty sensitive to smells. Maybe because it's beef gopchang butchered the same day, there was no smell at all, haha.

While waiting we cracked open a Coke... why does time go by so slowly, haha. Looking at this again makes my mouth water. I really wanted to eat while waiting, ugh.

After maybe 2 more minutes of waiting, the timer went off and staff came back! They cut everything into bite-size pieces so you can eat right away. The pieces were cut to just the right size, not burnt at all, perfectly cooked and so nice to eat, haha.

Absolutely insane, honestly.

One more shot because it's so pretty... this is seriously amazing. Doesn't it look tender and chewy, not tough at all? There are also lots of vegetables to go with it so it's not greasy and easy to eat, haha.

The 'mijeolma' sauce with minari

I think it used to be just a plain chili-soy sauce, but now it's a special sauce with minari (water celery) added too! They named it 'mijeolma' sauce, short for minari-jeolim-maneul (pickled minari garlic) sauce, haha. Dipping the gopchang deep into the sauce and eating it with the grilled green onion kimchi and various vegetables is pure heaven, honestly. Looking at these photos makes me want to eat it again, ugh.

Dessert: 1 serving of kkakdugi fried rice

For dessert there are two options: kkakdugi (radish kimchi) fried rice (₩9,000) and anchovy noodles (₩6,000). We added just 1 serving of the kkakdugi fried rice! Instead of frying the rice directly in the gopchang pan, it's fried separately first and it's so good. Once it cooled down a bit, we mixed it with the leftover vegetables in the gopchang pan, put it back on the pan, shaped it into a heart ourselves haha, and ate it warmer.

We scraped it all up, completely cleared the pan, hahaha. So good, ugh. We really ate until we were stuffed.

Waiting even on a Monday evening, gopchang at ₩19,000 a serving

Here's what the inside of the restaurant looks like. We went on a Monday evening and there was still a wait, wow. A truly popular beef gopchang restaurant in Garak-dong! Honestly, these days a serving of gopchang is often over ₩20,000, but here it's still ₩19,000.

I hadn't had much of an appetite lately, but it suddenly came back and I craved gopchang, so we came to eat, and we ate really well and got full. If you like gopchang, this is really a place you should visit at least once!

The gopchang itself is chewy and savory with no funky smell, and the combination with the kimchi, vegetables, and special sauce that come with it kept me reaching for more. I especially recommend the combo of grilled green onion kimchi and mijeolma sauce!! Finishing off with gopchang and then kkakdugi fried rice makes for a hearty meal, so it's great as a full meal too, haha.

This is a place that comes to mind every time I want gopchang, so I think I'll keep coming back here whenever I crave gopchang in Garak-dong, haha. Both the taste and the portions were satisfying, a true regular favorite of mine!! There can be a wait, so if you're planning to visit, I'd recommend going with some extra time to spare! If you're looking for a great beef gopchang restaurant in Garak-dong, I recommend Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang :)