Gwangju duck BBQ lunch with mom, free leftover takeout: Hyangchon Duck

After the day of the spotted squid graduation, I caught one squid, took it to my mother's house in Gwangju and had a little spotted-squid party. Then came the next day. Mom and I were wondering what to have for lunch, and we ended up at Hyangchon Duck, a Gwangju Cheomdan favorite! My mother saw on TV that duck is good for you, so even living alone she treats herself to duck soup or half a smoked duck every now and then ^^

Where is Hyangchon Duck, and what about parking?

Hyangchon Duck is at 235-1 Wolgye-ro, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, on the first floor, and it is open daily 11:00–23:00. You can park in the underground garage or in the private lot right next to the building.

• Address: 235-1 Wolgye-ro, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, 1st floor
• Hours: daily 11:00–23:00
• Parking: underground garage and private lot right next to the building

Best of all, the parking lot is huge! And in the lot, there's Hyangchon Duck's signature, I guess? A blueberry tree! Haha.

Inside Hyangchon Duck: are there rooms for family gatherings?

Inside Hyangchon Duck there is a long straight hall with high-partitioned tables, and rooms on both sides. The rooms can be opened up from the inside, so you can use them privately or for a big group.

You walk in and the hall stretches out in a straight line! But the partitions are high, so it still feels private. The rooms are on both sides, and they open up from the inside, so they work for private meals or big groups, totally fine! Ah... can't we have our December family gathering over duck?

We're three people who don't eat that much, so I hesitated a bit between half and a whole duck, then went with a whole one! The vegetables and side dishes at the self-bar are unlimited too!

Charcoal-grilled duck and vegetable shabu-shabu broth

Hyangchon Duck starts with a starter porridge, then a whole duck comes out along with shabu-shabu broth. You grill the meat over charcoal and put vegetables and kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) into the broth.

Every table had neat, clean tableware,

and a starter porridge comes out too~! My mother had already had breakfast, but my husband and I had slept in and skipped it, and the porridge gently woke up our stomachs~

Then came the whole duck. Quite a hefty amount. And the shabu-shabu broth came out too~ I asked if the meat goes in there as well, and they said no: grill the meat, and put vegetables and kalguksu into the broth!

Duck cured in blueberry extract

Wow... the owner has farmed blueberries for a long time, and Hyangchon Duck's duck is cured in that blueberry extract!

So even the water is blueberry leaf tea! In the brass-colored cup you couldn't tell, but in a paper cup it was clearly leaf tea~~

Wow.... is this half a duck? Anyway, let's grill! Duck on charcoal... My mother and I kept poking at it with our chopsticks, while my husband said "not yet~" and defended it hard with the tongs as he grilled haha.

Unlimited wrap vegetables, onion jeoraegi and green onion kimchi

Ahh~~ finally the first bite! The onion jeoraegi (lightly pickled onion) and green onion kimchi are seriously good, and unlimited too~

The vegetables especially were amazing! They were so fresh that even though I'm normally a meat person over wraps, the wrap vegetables were so refreshing and tasty that I kept reaching for them~! The chili was a seriously spicy Cheongyang pepper, too! My mother said it was good (she's a Buldak eater), so I fearlessly ate half, thought "oh! good spicy!!", and went to get more chili, then burst into coughing and suffered~ haha After that I snipped it small with scissors and put one piece in each wrap hahaha.

The meatless shabu-shabu broth is a smart move

Wow, and this one! Huh? It's shabu-shabu but no meat? I was a little disappointed, but that was actually the clever part! There are clams in it so it's cool and refreshing, and with only vegetables it's clean, so you sip the warm broth while eating the meat~ If meat went into the broth, the fat would float on top and it would be meat plus meat, but this vegetable shabu-shabu is nice for sipping cleanly between bites of duck!

A lunch crowd full of older guests at Hyangchon Duck

My mother kept saying it's delicious! delicious! and ate heartily, hehe. I thought charcoal-grilled meat wouldn't be popular this early for lunch, but wow... from the rooms to the hall, completely full!! And it's not a cheap, quick meal price either, yet so many older people came!

I've noticed this before: when the price range goes past the high ₩10,000s and there are still lots of older customers? That's proof of a place that wins on quality. Older people usually like cheap things, so if it isn't cheap, it's because they feel it's worth paying for! (My theory is that young people go for atmosphere or interior, while older people mostly look at food quality.)

Can you take leftover meat home from Hyangchon Duck?

At Hyangchon Duck, packing up leftover meat is free, and the order screen says meat takeout is ₩2,000 cheaper per order than dining in. So you can order generously and, if there's some left, take it home and grill it there.

The three of us were comfortably full after eating about half, but it was tasty and what were we going to do, so we decided to grill the rest even if we were taking it home! The staff were really good at their jobs: the second time, when I couldn't control the heat and it looked like it would burn, they quietly put a mesh rack on for the meat. Haha.

But we were so full yet it was so good that we ate it all, feeling it would be a waste otherwise, and only later saw on the order screen that there's meat takeout too! It said that meat takeout is ₩2,000 cheaper than dining in, and leftover meat packing is free! So order generously, and if there's extra, pack it up and grill it at home!

Finishing with homemade kalguksu and blueberry sikhye

Hyangchon Duck's homemade kalguksu is unlimited at the self-bar too. I wanted to eat plenty of meat, so I only brought one serving!

Eaten with the green onion kimchi~ it doesn't feel like floury, mushy noodles. Other reviews say they're buckwheat noodles, but to me the noodles were springier than flour noodles, didn't get soggy, and had a slightly acorn-like feel? Anyway, it's a real treat, so definitely try it~ A really good way to finish!

For dessert, blueberry sikhye (sweet rice drink) ♡

One whole duck at Hyangchon Duck: how many people, and how much each?

A whole duck at Hyangchon Duck is about ₩60,000, and by the writer's calculation, if four people share one duck and eat the noodles, you don't need to add any other meal. That works out to ₩15,000 per person.

Honestly, hmm.. I figured half a duck would feel lacking, a whole duck is ₩60,000, and adding rice, doenjang stew or buckwheat noodles as a meal would be about ₩70,000. But if four people eat one whole duck plus noodles, there's no need to add another meal, it's enough food! Come to think of it, three of us shared one duck so it was about ₩20,000 each, but with four people at ₩60,000... wait! It's not the high ₩10,000s per person, it's ₩15,000! Gasp.... I thought "expensive, but that's why there are so many older guests", but it's not expensive! That's a regular lunch special price! Argh, why isn't there one in Daegu...

A healthy meal where the blueberry cure kept even the duck skin from being tough and made it nicely savory. A great Gwangju duck restaurant for taking parents out, and for a family gathering where you can eat healthily too. Found another Gwangju Cheomdan favorite! When I visit my mother's house, I want to come here again~~