Kim Kwang-seok Street Korean restaurant, sunny late lunch: Hyangtaek

It was a great meal. If you want tidy Korean food near Gyeongdae Hospital Station, try Hyangtaek Daebong Branch (향택 대봉점).

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch hours and parking

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch is at 17 Dalgubeol-daero 440-gil, Jung-gu, Daegu. It is open daily 11:00 to 20:00, with a break from 15:30 to 17:00. For parking, use the Kim Kwang-seok-gil public parking lot (34-20 Dongdeok-ro 8-gil, Jung-gu, Daegu), which gives you 70 minutes free.

A Kim Kwang-seok Street lunch worth the trip to Daegu

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch is very close on foot from Gyeongdae Hospital Station, so it is a handy spot for a clean Korean meal before or after visiting Kim Kwang-seok Street. Yes, I'm now the person who travels all the way to Daegu just to hunt down a restaurant. I had business in Daegu anyway, and the look of the neat mackerel gondre rice (gondre is a Korean mountain thistle herb) stole my heart, so off I went.

From what I found, there is none in Seoul 🚰·̫🚰. The closest is in Cheonan, and there are branches in Daegu, Busan and elsewhere. I hear the Hyangtaek brand started in Daegu!

I really like that the menu uses real photos. 😘

What is the atmosphere like at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch?

The restaurant is clean and spacious. I went on a late weekday lunch, so it was quiet and warm sunlight was coming in, which made it even nicer.

The interior feels clean and warm. Not really a typical Korean-restaurant vibe~~~

Do they actually use that cauldron? I wonder. 🤔

Hyangtaek Daebong Branch menu and prices

You order from a printed menu rather than a tablet, and the rice bowls, noodles and side dishes are shown in real photos. We ordered mackerel gondre rice for ₩14,000, herring roe noodles for ₩13,000 and grilled deodeok (bellflower root) and mushrooms for ₩9,000.

A printed menu instead of the usual tablet felt nostalgic. ෆ̇ The photos are real (and the food honestly comes out looking just like them), so choosing from the pictures was easy. There aren't many rice bowls, noodles or sides, so it feels like they picked a focus. Personally I like places like this, they seem confident!!

The prices are good for a one-bowl meal, so I'd also recommend it if you want tidy, clean Korean food, or as an unusual spot for a wedding invitation meetup in Daegu when you're tired of pizza and pasta!

• Mackerel gondre rice ₩14,000
• Herring roe noodles ₩13,000
• Grilled deodeok and mushrooms ₩9,000

We planned to share, so we ordered one rice bowl, one noodle dish, and grilled deodeok and mushrooms to go with them. There's also a Naver receipt review event, FYI. ✅

Side dishes and omija tea at Hyangtaek

At Hyangtaek Daebong Branch, a few simple side dishes, doenjang soup and dolgim (rough seaweed) come out first. The ceramic tableware was lovely, every piece. I guess they make the omija (five-flavor berry) tea themselves?,,

Here's the guide to eating it well. ✔️

How thick is the mackerel in Hyangtaek's mackerel gondre rice?

The mackerel gondre rice at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch has thick scored mackerel grilled and placed on top, with gondre greens, chives, sesame seeds and mushrooms mixed in. All the food was served before long. Look at the thickness of that mackerel,, 🐟

A sight that delights your eyes before you even eat .. 🧡🖤🩶

The thick mackerel was scored and nicely grilled, so it already looked appetizing. Gondre greens, chives, sesame seeds and mushrooms are in there too.

Herring roe bibim noodles and grilled deodeok and mushrooms

The herring roe noodles at Hyangtaek Daebong Branch are spicy-sauce-free mixed noodles (bibim noodles) piled with herring roe. Savory grilled beef brisket sits on top, and finely sliced perilla leaves balance the flavor.

The grilled deodeok and mushrooms were neat. The sweet-spicy seasoning was tasty, and the long strips of deodeok and mushrooms laid to fit the plate looked tidy and pretty.

How to eat Hyangtaek's mackerel gondre rice and herring roe noodles

Just mix the herring roe noodles as they are. For the mackerel gondre rice, add the special seasoning sauce at the lower right and mix. What a happy table .. 💚🧡

The mackerel was so thick that even torn apart, each chunk was huge. In the herring roe noodles, the perilla leaves and beef brisket worked together beautifully, and the nutty flavor of perilla oil was the kicker. 🫶🏻

Following the eating guide, I put mackerel gondre rice and seed jeotgal (salted seafood) on a piece of dolgim and ate it as a wrap. The special sauce is somewhat sweet, so it paired well with the rough texture of the seaweed.

Is Hyangtaek Daebong Branch worth recommending?

This Kim Kwang-seok Street restaurant is very close to Gyeongdae Hospital Station, so the location is good. If you want quiet, clean Korean pot rice in Daegu, it's a nice place to taste each Korean ingredient one by one. Every side dish and every ingredient was so tidy, clean and good that I recommend it if you're nearby. ෆ There are branches elsewhere in Daegu too, so drop by whichever is closest. 😘