Mazesoba-style eggplant doenjang rice near Keimyung, Daegu: Hyangtaek

A Korean restaurant near Keimyung University in Daegu Hyangtaek Seongseo Keimyung University Branch

Location and hours of Hyangtaek Seongseo Keimyung University Branch

• Hours 11:00 - 20:00
• 71 Hosandong-ro 35bukgil, Dalseo-gu, Daegu
• 332m from Exit 5, Gangchang Station, Line 2

I've been thinking about Hyangtaek ever since I visited the Dongseongno branch — it was so good. I had somewhere to be near Keimyung University recently, so I looked up Korean restaurants near Keimyung in Daegu, and turns out the Seongseo Keimyung University branch had just opened. Hehehe ^.^ So I went back again.

You can check the menu and prices right at the entrance.

Packed with students at lunch, wood-tone interior

Hyangtaek is a Korean restaurant known for its neat, clean one-bowl dishes that are both healthy and delicious. It seems to already be well known as a Korean restaurant near Keimyung, because when I went at lunch it was completely full of students, hehe. The interior is all wood-tone and totally clean-cut!!

Hyangtaek menu and prices

Hyangtaek's rice bowl menu includes mackerel gondre rice, eggplant doenjang rice, yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef mixed rice), chamnamul squid rice, and herring roe bibim noodles, plus side dishes like grilled deodeok mushrooms, a galbi platter, Cheongsong-style chicken bulgogi, and a mushroom platter.

If you leave a Naver receipt review on a weekday, they give you a free mushroom platter worth ₩6,000 — so write a review and enjoy the delicious mushrooms!

Yukhoe bibimbap 14.0 Eggplant doenjang rice 13.0

There's a card on the table explaining how to eat Hyangtaek's dishes for the best experience — read it while you wait, and follow it for a tastier meal. Definitely give it a try!!

The basic side dishes — gophangnori-gim (seasoned laver), miso soup, jeotgal (salted seafood), and gungchae — come out neat and tidy.

Yukhoe bibimbap with domestic eye-of-round yukhoe

Last time I tried the signature mackerel gondre rice, so this time I was curious and ordered the yukhoe bibimbap. Just look at that visual — isn't it gorgeous?

It's piled high with domestic eye-of-round beef yukhoe, crunchy bean sprouts, lettuce on top, and sweet pear tucked inside — take a good look, then shake it all together and mix.

By the way, isn't the color of the yukhoe just gorgeous? Amazing~~ I tried a bite of the yukhoe by itself first, and it was delicious even on its own, hahaha. They mix in an egg yolk and special sauce with this tasty yukhoe for a really satisfying bibim. As soon as they started mixing it, the aroma was so good and it looked so appetizing that I wanted to dig in right away. It's been a while since I had such clean, mild yukhoe — I think I really enjoyed this one!!

A nutty, delicious aroma drifted up~~ and the texture of the yukhoe was so nice and fresh, with zero funky smell — a truly excellent yukhoe bibimbap.

Honestly it's delicious even plain, but wrapping it in the seasoned laver makes it even better, haha.

Eggplant doenjang rice — how to eat it mazesoba-style

And my husband wanted the eggplant doenjang rice again, which he'd had last time, so we ordered it once more. Is it just me, or is the eggplant even bigger here? Haha.

Eggplant doenjang rice is one of Hyangtaek's signature dishes, with grilled eggplant and rich ganjang-doenjang paste topped with fragrant chives for a savory, nutty flavor. If you look underneath, all the ingredients are there — just tear the eggplant into pieces and shake everything together.

If you like mazesoba, mix the rice bowl as usual and then add this sauce — it turns into a mazesoba-style rice bowl, and the savory umami goes absolutely wild, haha.

Is it okay even if you're not into eggplant?

If you're the type who thinks 'eh, eggplant's not for me,' I'd still recommend this eggplant doenjang rice — it doesn't have strong love-it-or-hate-it flavors. Hyangtaek Seongseo Keimyung University Branch doesn't disappoint, as usual. Every branch is delicious, so if you're a Keimyung student or looking for good food in Seongseo, Hyangtaek is a healthy, tasty restaurant worth putting on your lunch or dinner list. You can pick whatever you like and it'll be good, but for a first visit, I'd recommend the signature dishes!