Cheonan family restaurant with baby chairs: dumpling soup, Yukdaejang

Today I want to write up my visit to Yukdaejang, a Baekseok-dong, Cheonan restaurant I went to a few days ago with my husband and baby. The staff were so kind and the food was all delicious — I left in a great mood.

Where is Yukdaejang Cheonan Baekseok Branch, and is there parking?

Yukdaejang apparently has several franchise locations around parts of Chungnam and Gyeonggi. Just from the name — 'Yukdaejang' — I could guess this place would be all about yukgaejang haha.

Only part of the parking lot made it into the photo, but it actually stretched way back — really spacious. Since there's a cluster of restaurants here, I think that's why the shared private lot is so big. Being a weekend, there were plenty of cars overall, but the lot was big enough that we parked right away without waiting~!

Inside Yukdaejang: self-serve bar and baby chair with a belt

I took photos both from the entrance and from the opposite side. There were quite a few customers. The restaurant also looked like it hadn't been open long — everything was clean and well kept.

There's a self-serve bar corner on one side where you can grab extra side dishes if you run out. Right next to it was a baby chair — the owner saw us bringing our baby in and brought it over herself. I was about to go get it myself, but she rushed over and handed it to us haha, so kind! The baby chair wasn't just clean, it also had a safety belt, which made me even happier to seat our baby in it.

The side dishes came out neatly — kkakdugi (radish kimchi), stir-fried eomuk (fish cake), and jeonggu-ji (chives). The tangy chives were tasty, but the kkakdugi was especially good. When a restaurant has good kkakdugi or kimchi, I feel like I always end up coming back haha.

Gopchangwang yukkalmyeon: fatty tripe over kalguksu noodles

This is the gopchangwang yukkalmyeon my husband ordered. Think of it as the kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) version of yukgaejang, with a heap of large gopchang (beef tripe) thrown in on top. It reminded me of gopchang jeongol (tripe hot pot) haha.

The tripe was the 'wang' (king-size) variety, packed full of gop (the fatty intestine lining). Gopchang plus yukgaejang plus kalguksu together...! It felt impossible for this not to be delicious haha.

Even at a glance, the kalguksu noodles looked chewy and delicious, and there was so much of it packed in.

The gopchang was cut into bite-sized pieces and came out in a big pile. Since this dish comes with kalguksu noodles, rice isn't included by default — but after my husband tasted the broth, he said this one needed rice too haha, so we ordered an extra bowl. Fair enough — I tried it myself and the broth was so hot-and-spicy with that fiery kick that it practically called for rice~! Even I, who can't handle spicy food well, thought it was really delicious.

Sagol tteok-manduguk: clean bone broth with rice included

The dish I chose was sagol tteok-manduguk (bone-broth rice cake and dumpling soup)! Since my husband was getting the fiery yukkalmyeon, I went for the milder, cleaner-tasting tteok-manduguk. When you both want two different dishes, there's something nice about sharing, right? Haha.

It was generously loaded with rice cakes, plus plenty of dumplings tucked in, along with egg, carrot, meat, and a heap of gim-jaban (seasoned seaweed flakes) on top. I tried the broth first — it had real depth and was delicious. That sense of a well-brewed bone broth!!

Rice is included with the tteok-manduguk. After eating some of the rice cakes, I dumped in the rice, mixed it well, scooped up dumplings, ate the rice too — and honestly ended up polishing off everything in no time while eating this and that.

And with perfectly ripened, crunchy kkakdugi on the side, it was pure bliss...!! I also dipped in for a few spoonfuls of my husband's yukkalmyeon broth here and there, and somehow the combination worked even better together haha. It wasn't a dish where you just pick out the rice cakes and dumplings — it had that kind of deep flavor that made you slurp up the broth to the last drop too. Writing this post is making me crave it again haha. I think I need to go back soon~!