Daegu Vietnamese eatery, no break time, couple's 2 PM lunch: Raichen

Now that the heat has really started, my appetite is already gone! On days like this I crave something tangy, sweet and cold, so today my husband and I came over to the Chilgok 3-jigu area of Daegu and had a late lunch at Raichen Chilgok Branch in Dongcheon-dong, our first Vietnamese food in a while!

I used to think another Vietnamese restaurant was the best, but Raichen feels more upscale overall, in both atmosphere and taste, and the quality is great! It became my top-tier Vietnamese place on the very first visit!! Even people trying Vietnamese food for the first time would enjoy it, so I recommend giving it a visit 😊

Raichen Chilgok Branch hours, location and break time

Raichen Chilgok Branch is open 11:00–21:30, with last order at 20:45. There is no break time, so even though we ended up arriving after 2 PM, we could come in without any worry!

It is close to Exit 3 of Palgeo Station and right across from A Twosome Place, so it's easy to find. The exterior has a real Vietnam feel, like a well-off neighborhood in Vietnam?? so it catches your eye even as you walk past, haha

June 3-item set discount

They put the menu outside so you can check it before going in~ There seem to be perks that change every month! In June, the 3-item set of banh xeo + cold rice noodles + condensed milk coffee was ₩31,000 instead of ₩34,000.

What the name Raichen means

The Chilgok 3-jigu Raichen is run by a Vietnamese-born owner and is part of a chain in the Daegu area! Raichen is Vietnamese for "eat again," a name that carries the wish to make food you want to eat again and a restaurant you want to come back to. And honestly, after one meal I wanted to eat again and come again, a real gem of Vietnamese food, so I wish one would open in Andong too ❤️

What are the interior and seating like?

Inside, rattan lighting and a wood-tone interior give you plenty of Vietnamese local vibes. The atmosphere is seriously my kind of place~❤️ The ceilings are high and the inside was kept cool, so it was comfortable!

The big windows let in lots of light, so you can feel the sunny weather outside, which I loved! The restaurant's mood was so good it lifted my spirits for the first time in a while 💕 The lamp decor was so pretty that I took photos, but I'm bad at photos^^

The tables are roomy with a decent gap between them~ We came when there were no other customers, so we had a cozy meal 😚 There is also a separate space at the back, which seems good for a quiet group gathering 😊

The self-serve bar has plates and scissors, and you can freely help yourself to more side dishes.

You order on the tablet on the table, and every table has water and paper cups.

How the Raichen menu is organized

The menu is neatly laid out with photos and descriptions, from set menus to special menu, best menu, pho, noodles, rice, sides, and drinks/alcohol. It's really clean and easy to take in at a glance! But everything looks good, so it was hard to decide what to eat, haha

They also have cold Tiger draft beer, and draft beer with pho sounds so good^^!!

Spoons, chopsticks and tissues are prettily organized in the drawer under the table, and the aprons are so cute~☺️

What the two of us ordered, and prices

• Cold rice noodles ₩14,000
• Trotter rice ₩12,500
• Banh xeo (Vietnamese crispy pancake) ₩15,500

Today's table was all popular menu items! The food comes out looking neat overall, so it seems like a good place for a date too 💕

How is the banh xeo eaten with dry rice paper?

The banh xeo (₩15,500) is a golden-brown Vietnamese-style savory pancake. It looks amazing~!!! The size is generous too, a good amount for 2–3 people to share as a side.

There's also a how-to-eat guide on every table, so have a look^^*

This banh xeo made me genuinely exclaim after one bite. The golden rice-flour batter is packed with meat and shrimp, and it was my first time with dry rice paper, which melted in my mouth when I bit into it? I didn't feel any strangeness, and it was actually cleaner to eat, which I liked!

Add bean sprouts and vegetables to taste, add meat, pile in the filling and take a big bite, and it's even better 😋 It feels like it won't even make you gain weight~~?>_<

Dipped in the tangy nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce), I kept eating it, haha. The banh xeo is Raichen's signature, so do try it!! Highly recommended♥

How do you eat Raichen's cold rice noodles?

The cold rice noodles (₩14,000) are a seasonal summer-only menu, served with charcoal-grilled meat and vegetables on the side. It was my first time having cold rice noodles!

Ice floating on top~ It looks cool just by looking, haha

And the portion is really generous 👍🏻 I didn't know how to eat it, so I poured everything into the noodles, haha. Wow~ it looked even more appetizing, hahaha. But it was so full that mixing was a bit hard! lol It might be fine to put the noodles, broth, meat and vegetables separately in small amounts on your own plate! Though dumping it all in and mixing it seems tastier^^

There were really, really a lot of rice noodles. I was curious about the taste, so I ate right after mixing, and even just the noodles soaked in broth are so good, right??!!

The broth is tangy and cool and so good, and slurping it together with the charcoal meat and vegetables, the four parts, broth, noodles, charcoal-grilled meat and vegetables, came together perfectly!!

The charcoal aroma of the meat is great, and the sweet-salty seasoning is great too. It's a perfect cool summer treat instead of naengmyeon (Korean cold noodles)! It tastes totally different from hot pho, so people who can't handle the usual pho aroma would probably enjoy it too. It was super delicious!

How spicy and tasty is the trotter rice?

The trotter rice (₩12,500) was my husband's number one pick! It's a Vietnamese home-style dish: fluffy rice, big chunks of pork trotter, plus soup and side dishes as one set, so it feels neat, almost like a Japanese set meal^^

The trotter rice has chopped chili in it, so the seasoning is a little spicy! If you're eating with kids, you'd need to ask them to leave it out!

But the trotter is so tender, the meat tore apart with just a light touch of the chopsticks. Braised softly in the seasoning, it's salty and sweet, a total rice thief! My husband said it beats the trotters at most trotter restaurants,,

After eating bit by bit, I tore all the trotter into bite-size pieces and mixed it over the rice like a rice bowl. The moist seasoning soaked into the rice, and the sweet-salty, sharp spiciness blended well with the meat and rice. There was no strong smell or gamey taste, and it wasn't overpowering, so I ate it happily.

Is Raichen Chilgok Branch worth going back to?

The Vietnamese local atmosphere, tasty and clean food, everything satisfied me, so when you're craving Vietnamese pho or looking for a meal near Palgeo Station or Chilgok 3-jigu, I recommend visiting Raichen Chilgok Branch 😊😆 We enjoyed everything we ordered, so we plan to come again next time we're in this area 😊