Daegu gopchang restaurant with cheesy stir-fry: With Gopchang & Makchang

As the weather suddenly turned crisp and cool, I started craving a bottle of soju with a friend after work. We happened to make plans near Samdeok-dong for the first time in a while, and I spent ages wondering what would make people say we had really found delicious drinking food. It is surprisingly hard to find a truly good vegetable gopchang place, so I scrolled through search results for ages. After much deliberation, we picked a menu that was absolutely perfect with drinks and happily made our way over.

A Dongseong-ro hot-plate gopchang spot with a cool breeze

Head into Samdeoksait-gil and follow the map, and you will find it in no time. Once I went up to the second floor, the restaurant was so stylish and tidy that I felt great from the very first impression.

The gopchang (beef or pork intestines) is stir-fried over direct heat on a hot plate, in a Seoul-style pojangmacha (street-tent bar) fashion, so my anticipation naturally grew. I thought this would be just right for anyone looking for a gopchang restaurant in Dongseong-ro with a great atmosphere.

They had opened the huge windows all the way, and eating while the gentle breeze blew in on a cool day like this made the drinks taste especially good, haha.

We placed our order for two portions of cheesy vegetable gopchang. We were too full to join in, but they said you get refreshing, sweet patbingsu (shaved ice with sweet red beans) if you take part in the receipt-review event, so make sure to check it out.

Oh, and in one corner of the restaurant lives Timo, the mascot rabbit who immediately steals your attention. I wanted to give him a blade of grass, but he was sleeping so peacefully that I decided not to wake him.

Tender, generously portioned vegetable gopchang with no unpleasant smell

Once we had ordered, the side dishes were set out neatly first.

They gave us plenty of fresh lettuce for wrapping, along with nostalgic beondegi (seasoned silkworm pupae), a drinking snack I had not seen in ages, and sweet fruit cocktail.

Then there was fluffy steamed egg with seasoning that was somehow just perfect, plus savory corn mayo—both completely up my alley.

Especially good was the shredded onion, a perfect match for the main dish. It was not salty and freshened up the palate, so we even got one refill. The main dish appeared shortly afterward, already perfectly stir-fried in the kitchen, which was so convenient because we could dig in right away without waiting.

They put it over a burner so it would not cool down, and the portion was so generous that I honestly thought it had to be more than three portions! Among the Dongseong-ro gopchang spots I have visited, this was easily one of the most generous. It was loaded with cheese too, so just looking at it made my mouth water~

For the first bite, I picked up the stretchy cheese, spicy vegetables, and glass noodles all at once. The gopchang was amazingly soft to chew, without any unpleasant smell.

It was not tough at all, just wonderfully tender, and wrapping it in fresh lettuce with a whole garlic clove made me think, is happiness really anything more than this? With its nicely spicy, deeply savory flavor that clung to every bite, this was the kind of Dongseong-ro vegetable gopchang specialist where you end up eating endlessly without realizing it.

Fried rice, the essential finish to a hot-plate meal

No matter how close you are to bursting, you cannot leave out fried rice at the end of a hot-plate meal, right? So we added an order of fried rice without hesitation.

They took the hot plate to the kitchen and stir-fried everything deliciously there before bringing it back, so I was completely satisfied that we did not have to worry about oil or food smells getting on our clothes while eating.

The fried rice, with savory seaweed flakes and special seasoning, is not optional—it is an absolute must-order. So delicious!

As we were paying and about to leave, Timo the rabbit seemed to know we were going—he was standing leaned against something, looking our way! He was chubby like a puppy and overflowing with charm, so we left smiling happily to the very end.

The owner even thoughtfully gave us candies to freshen our mouths, making this a gopchang restaurant where every moment felt perfect.

With Gopchang & Makchang offers Naver reservations and is fully equipped with group seating, so I hope you will consider it for your next get-together.