Daegu Vietnamese restaurant for a mild pre-pregnancy lunch: Raichen

A gentle lunch in Dongcheon-dong, Daegu: Raichen Chilgok Branch

Raichen Chilgok Branch is a Vietnamese restaurant in Dongcheon-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu, and I went there for a pho lunch with my husband (I call him "oppa"). We're trying for a baby, so I was looking for something that isn't spicy or heavy and is easy to digest, and rice noodles fit the bill.

Raichen Chilgok Branch: location, parking and hours

Raichen Chilgok Branch is at 30-23 Dongcheon-ro 23-gil, Buk-gu, Daegu, South Korea, on the first floor, across from the Homeplus Chilgok parking lot. For parking, use the building's tower car park or the nearby street parking.

• Hours: Tue–Fri 11:00–21:30, Sat–Sun 11:00–21:30
• Last order: 20:45
• Closed: Mondays

What is the atmosphere inside Raichen Chilgok Branch?

It feels like an upgraded version of Vietnam, with Vietnamese music playing. The moment you open the door you're greeted by rattan and tropical trees, and I felt like I'd just landed in Vietnam, haha.

There's a spacious hall plus a separate room for groups, so it would work well for get-togethers with friends. The floor-to-ceiling windows make the space feel bigger and prettier. Looking out at the green street trees through those open windows made my Dongcheon-dong lunch even more enjoyable.

Even inside the room, pretty paintings add an accent, and the interior sense really stood out at Raichen Chilgok Branch 💗

At the self-serve bar you can freely help yourself to jalapeños and pickled onions, plus extra tongs and scissors.

Menu and prices at Raichen Chilgok Branch

They say every dish is made by the owner, who is Vietnamese. There are familiar Vietnamese rice noodles, bun cha (grilled pork with noodles), banh xeo and banh mi, plus rice dishes that suit Korean tastes and budget-friendly set menus. I loved how wide the choice is.

They even have condensed milk coffee, a drink you'd have in Vietnam! I want to go to Vietnam again,, 🤍 Raichen Chilgok Branch makes you miss Vietnam, haha.

Each dish is around ₩10,000–14,000, a really kind price, right? But the portions are huge. If you order a lot because it's cheap, you may not be able to finish it all, ugh. Am I talking about myself? Y-yes..

Look at the spoon, it feels like a genuine local Vietnamese restaurant!

How were the cold pho, trotter rice and banh xeo together?

At Raichen Chilgok Branch we ordered cold rice noodles (cold pho), trotter rice and banh xeo. I absolutely love banh xeo 💗 It was hot out, so I tried cold pho for the first time, and the savory depth was amazing,,

Sweet yet deeply savory cold pho, spicy but mild trotter rice, and banh xeo wrapped in rice paper. This combo is insane.

Banh xeo ₩15,500: rice paper you eat without water

The banh xeo at Raichen Chilgok Branch is ₩15,500. It's an egg crepe packed with bean sprouts and shrimp, served with rice paper you can eat without dipping it in water. The kind you dip needs a bowl of water, and then you need another small plate to wrap on too,

Rice paper you eat straight, without water, softens from the moisture of the food itself, and where it doesn't soften it adds a crispy texture, so wrapping the banh xeo in it was so, so good ❤️

Trotter rice ₩12,500: heaps of tender meat

The trotter rice at Raichen Chilgok Branch is ₩12,500 and comes loaded with super tender pork trotter. Press it lightly with chopsticks or a spoon and the meat falls apart, that's how soft it is. The rice comes separately! All of that is meat, I'm telling you,, the owner is so generous ❤️

I moved the separate rice over onto the meat and mixed it. It's less spicy than Shin Ramyun, so the trotter rice wasn't greasy and tasted great. There are soft collagen bits, and the lean inner meat is mild and protein-rich, a trotter rice with perfect carbs, protein and fat. They said it was a best-seller, and yes, it really is the best!!

Cold pho: a summer dish with floating ice slush

Not cold noodles, but cold pho! The cold pho at Raichen Chilgok Branch has a broth sweeter and more savory than regular pho, with ice slush floating in it, which was perfect for this weather.

The noodles are slightly thinner than regular pho noodles, which made them easy to eat, and because they're thin the seasoning soaks in well. The broth is seriously amazing!!

If you eat the bulgogi and seasoned lettuce that come with the cold pho together, it turns into something like bun cha. Order the pho and eat both cold pho and bun cha!

Is it worth returning to for a couple's lunch date?

The restaurant is so pretty it put me in a good mood, and the food was good, which made me even happier. It was a lovely date with oppa after a long time ❤️ A place we pho-loving spouses want to visit again! I recommend Raichen Chilgok Branch, a great find in Dongcheon-dong, Daegu ❤️