Daegu Korean restaurant origin labels, yolk yukhoe: Hyangtaek Daebong

A clean, satisfying Korean meal spot near Kim Kwang-seok Street

Today's story is about a visit to Hyangtaek Daebong Branch, a place for clean, tidy Korean food near Kim Kwang-seok Street. Hyangtaek serves a range of Korean dishes, with signature menu items like eggplant doenjang rice bowl and mackerel gondre rice (rice with mountain greens), among other options. This time I ordered two dishes — mackerel gondre rice and yukhoe bibimbap (raw beef rice bowl) — and tried them both.

Where is Hyangtaek Daebong Branch, and where do you park?

Parking at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch allows about 2 cars in front of the store before 2pm, but after 2pm, parking in front becomes difficult due to enforcement.

If you're driving, it's easier to use the public parking lot on Kim Kwang-seok-gil, about a 6-minute walk from the restaurant. If you mention it when paying after your meal, you can get around 1 hour 10 minutes of parking fee support.

Overall, Hyangtaek Daebong Branch had a clean, calm exterior atmosphere. It's fitted with full glass windows so you can see inside from the street, and in the evening the sign lights up, so it wasn't hard to find.

Was there a wait at 7pm on a Saturday?

If there's a wait at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch, you register on the Table-ing kiosk at the entrance. I visited around 7pm on a Saturday and was able to walk right in with no wait. If you use remote queuing, you'll need to enter the code shown at the kiosk once you arrive at the store for your entry to be finalized — worth keeping in mind.

Inside, there's an open kitchen, so you can watch the food being prepared.

The interior was bigger than I expected, and the tables weren't cramped together. There were quite a few diners already eating when I visited, and it looked like a comfortable spot for anything from a two-person meal to a family outing or a group gathering.

What the origin-labeling board at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch shows

On one side of Hyangtaek Daebong Branch, there was a separate board listing the origin of each menu item's ingredients. The mackerel in the mackerel gondre rice I ordered was labeled as domestic, and the rice and the beef in the yukhoe bibimbap were also labeled as domestic. It was nice to have everything laid out so clearly at a glance.

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch menu and prices

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch has everything from rice dishes to noodles to side dishes. Beyond the signature mackerel gondre rice and eggplant doenjang rice bowl, there's yukhoe bibimbap, chalnamul squid rice bowl, and herring roe bibim noodles, among other options. For sides, there's grilled deodeok and mushrooms, hanpan mushroom, hanpan galbi, and Cheongsong-style chicken bulgogi — great for a group to order and share an extra dish.

There was also a sign for a Naver receipt review event on one side of the store. Available on weekdays only, excluding weekends and holidays, writing a review gets you a free hanpan mushroom.

After ordering, the basic side dishes were served neatly — gim (seaweed), gungchae (a leafy side dish), and squid jeotgal (salted fermented squid), along with soy sauce for the mackerel gondre rice, sauce for the yukhoe bibimbap, and a separate egg yolk.

Mackerel gondre rice 14,000 won, yukhoe bibimbap 14,000 won

Shortly after, our mackerel gondre rice and yukhoe bibimbap arrived.

Mackerel gondre rice: grilled fish with mountain-greens rice

The mackerel gondre rice had a generous, grilled piece of mackerel sitting on top of rice mixed with gondre, mushrooms, green onion, and sesame seeds — it looked really appetizing.

On the table, there was even a guide on how to enjoy Hyangtaek's dishes. First, mix the ingredients on top of the rice evenly, then tear the mackerel into small pieces and mix it in, then wrap it in gim or add a bit of the special sauce. Rather than adding all the sauce at once, the idea is to taste the dish as it is first, then add sauce little by little to your taste — so we followed the instructions.

I tore the mackerel into small pieces, mixed it evenly with the gondre rice, and wrapped a bite-sized portion in gim. With a little of the sweet soy sauce added, the gondre and mackerel went really well together, and wrapping it in gim added a nutty flavor that made it delicious.

Yukhoe bibimbap mixed with an egg yolk

The yukhoe bibimbap looked appetizing from the start, with a generous round mound of raw beef piled on top of finely shredded lettuce. The color of the beef was vivid, and the portion was more generous than I expected, haha.

For the bibimbap, you add the egg yolk that comes with it and the bibim sauce, then mix everything together evenly. The sauce is fairly strong-flavored, so I'd recommend adding it little by little rather than all at once, adjusting to your taste. Mixing in the yolk made it much smoother and nuttier, and it all came together really well.

Final verdict on Hyangtaek Daebong Branch

Overall, the food at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch came out clean and tidy, and it was an easy, satisfying meal without any fuss. Both the mackerel gondre rice and the yukhoe bibimbap were filling, and the atmosphere in the store was comfortable. If you're looking for a good restaurant near Kim Kwang-seok Street, this is a solid spot for a tidy Korean meal.