Gyodong, Daegu kalguksu reunion with a high school friend: Donggok
In short
Donggok Jemyeon Daegu Dongseong-ro Main Branch is a Korean restaurant serving house-made kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) on Gukchaebosang-ro in Jung-gu, Daegu. Over a meal there, the writer and a high school friend, met again by chance on the morning commute bus, shared a seafood chive pancake, yukgaejang kalguksu, ultra-rich samgye kalguksu and chicken muchim; the plump-shrimp pancake, the rich chicken broth with no gamey smell and the chewy noodles stood out. Donggok Jemyeon made for a meal that satisfied both a long-overdue catch-up and a craving for Korean food.
Good to know
- Getting there
- Jungangno Station Exit 3 · 9-min walk (store listing, Oct 7, 2026)
- Location
- 1st floor, 629 Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu
- Hours
- Daily 11:30–21:00 (last order 20:30)
- Ordering
- Tablet ordering; the menu can be previewed on the standing sign outside
- Event
- Free chicken muchim (seasoned chicken salad) for a receipt review
- Dishes ordered
- Seafood chive pancake, chicken muchim, yukgaejang kalguksu, ultra-rich samgye kalguksu
as written by the visitor on Jul 17, 2026
Meeting a high school friend again at Donggok Jemyeon Daegu Dongseong-ro Main Branch
Donggok Jemyeon Daegu Dongseong-ro Main Branch (동곡제면 대구동성로본점) is a house-made-noodle kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) restaurant on Gukchaebosang-ro in Gyodong, Daegu. Today's special: meeting a familiar face! By chance I ride the same commute bus as Hwang, a high school friend I hadn't seen in ages. I didn't want to leave it at a bus hello. I wanted a proper meal to catch up, and this restaurant is where we went.
What are Donggok Jemyeon's hours and how do you order?
Donggok Jemyeon Daegu Dongseong-ro Main Branch is open daily 11:30–21:00, with last order at 20:30.
You order on a tablet, but as above, you can check the menu beforehand on the standing sign outside the shop.
The inside, with its neat table layout.
* Receipt review event: chicken muchim (seasoned chicken salad) provided
What did the two of us order?
The two of us ordered these four dishes.
- Seafood chive pancake
- Chicken muchim
- Yukgaejang kalguksu (spicy beef soup noodles)
- Ultra-rich samgye kalguksu (chicken noodle soup)
That's what we ordered, and this is the scene that sums up our grand feast of the day. I'm a Korean-food person, so I really love this classic setup: a pancake in the middle, and each of us neatly enjoying our own Korean dish 🙂
Donggok Jemyeon's seafood chive pancake, with plump shrimp
The seafood chive pancake here is studded with shrimp and isn't thick, so you don't taste much flour. I pushed hard to order it first 🫢 and the look of it, with plump shrimp packed in grain by grain, was quite impressive.
This is a seafood chive pancake at a Daegu Gyodong restaurant, and I loved that it wasn't very thick, so the flour taste didn't come through. It cut softly with scissors, and I enjoyed the golden, freshly fried pancake like never before 👍
What does the yukgaejang kalguksu taste like?
The yukgaejang kalguksu looks like a spicy jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup), and my friend Hwang cleaned out the bowl. This is the one Hwang ordered. He said he has a big appetite, and watching him enjoy it so much that he finished every bit made me proud.
It looks just like a really spicy jjamppong, and Hwang was so considerate that he let me shoot as much as I wanted, even lifting the noodles with his chopsticks for the photo. I was touched 👨🦳
Ultra-rich samgye kalguksu, with one big drumstick
The ultra-rich samgye kalguksu is a chicken noodle soup with one big drumstick in it. (I'm a chicken lover.) This was my order. I'd seen how it looked on the standing sign earlier and was so impressed that I'd already vowed to order it.
The broth and the house-made noodles
I set the chicken aside for a moment and tried just the noodles. The very rich chicken broth was clean, with no gamey smell, just mild and nutty. And the noodles had a springy, chewy texture, worthy of a Daegu house-made kalguksu place 🙂
Lifted with chopsticks, it looked as if a whole chicken had gone into it 👏👏
How I ate the chicken
I dipped the tender meat in salt, and I also pulled the chicken apart with chopsticks and put it back into the kalguksu, which was a treat too 👍
What is the chicken muchim we added to finish?
The chicken muchim (seasoned chicken salad) is chicken, squid and vegetables tossed in a tangy chogochujang (sweet-sour chili sauce) like Bangogae muchimhoe (seasoned raw-fish salad). As we were finishing our own dishes, I didn't want the Donggok Jemyeon experience to end there, so we ordered more.
It was my first time trying it. How would I describe it? Chicken, squid and other vegetables tossed in a tangy chili sauce like Bangogae muchimhoe. My mouth waters even now as I write this. The tanginess felt clearly different from the earlier dishes, so the combination worked really well.
A long-awaited reunion, wrapped up at Donggok Jemyeon
It's a Gyodong restaurant in Daegu, so every time I pass by I realize how popular Donggok Jemyeon is. Visiting a place I'd always had in mind, together with Hwang, whom I hadn't seen in so long, felt special and was good in many ways 🙂 The meeting was short but intense, and it also satisfied my strong craving for Korean food. Two birds with one stone, a perfect occasion. Nice 👍
Where it is
1st floor, 629 Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea대구광역시 중구 국채보상로 629 1층
Donggok Noodle Dongseongno: hours, menu and prices →
