Goseong duck baeksuk near Sokcho: neungi pot at Gajo Ori Sutbulgui

I went to Sokcho today to get some proper nourishment! Off we go to eat duck baeksuk ~~ Yay ❥

Gajo Ori Sutbulgui hours, closing day and parking

Gajo Ori Sutbulgui is a duck and native chicken specialty restaurant at 650-20 Yongwon-ro, Toseong-myeon, Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do, close to Sokcho. It's open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, closed every Wednesday, and there's parking right in front.

The exterior has these big glass windows and looks super clean and modern! I expected something a bit rundown, but it's totally contemporary lol. Way more stylish than I imagined >_<

It's been designated a model restaurant, and there's even a handwashing area at the entrance. The owner has also completed service consulting training, which I think is why they were especially kind — that left a strong impression on me!

You take your shoes off to go in! They have slippers ready for anyone who's not comfortable barefoot — that kind of attention to detail was really nice >_< ~ !

Inside Gajo Ori Sutbulgui: floor seating and private rooms

The interior is so clean and pleasant. Combined with the weather, the floor-to-ceiling window view was gorgeous!

What is on the menu at Gajo Ori Sutbulgui?

Gajo Ori Sutbulgui's menu is split into duck and chicken!

• Grilled duck, whole plate 550g / half plate 300g
• Duck neungi baeksuk (duck soup with pine mushrooms) / duck eomnamu baeksuk
• Native chicken neungi baeksuk / native chicken eomnamu baeksuk
• Dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken)
• Soup + rice / bibim guksu (dessert noodles) / extra plain noodles

For baeksuk, if you call ahead, they'll have it ready the moment you arrive, so we phoned in advance and sure enough, it was all set up by our arrival time! They also gave us a private room, which made it feel extra cozy and personal.

Duck neungi baeksuk: how much neungi mushroom is really in the pot?

This is the neungi duck baeksuk I ordered >_< Piled high with chives on top, and underneath is a whole duck. And on top of that, a generous heap of the expensive, prized neungi (pine) mushrooms — the visual alone was hearty~~ This was my first time seeing a duck baeksuk with this much pine mushroom in it, so I definitely had to try it, right? lol

Country-of-origin board at Gajo Ori Sutbulgui

They don't skimp on side dishes, and there's a note about serving only what's needed to avoid waste — I liked that. And you can see the origin labels all say domestic, haha.

Here's the full spread! >_< The side dishes were eggplant, garlic scapes, pickled acorn jelly, kimchi, and peppers with garlic~

This acorn jelly is handmade, and that's probably why it tasted even better — bouncy and soft >_<

Just from the jelly alone, you could tell how skilled the owner is in the kitchen lol

The owner's recommended order: start with the chives

The owner told us to put the chives into the broth first and cook them a bit before eating >_<!

So I dipped some chives into the broth to cook them lightly! They were surprisingly delicious.. once they soaked up the broth, seriously so good

The duck was simmered so long the bones just slid right off, and there's a whole potato sitting in there — rustic but so cute, right? lol

Since a whole duck goes in, the legs are completely substantial too, right? lol Meaty and thick, looks so appetizing!

I put one leg on my small plate and it was so big it actually stuck out over the edge lol

The side dishes were so good too, I kept picking at them.. the eggplant namul was insane.. (Mom, if you're reading my blog, please make me eggplant namul, ㅠㅠ)

Then I tried a bite of the tender breast meat. You usually worry breast meat will be dry, but it was surprisingly soft! One bite was moist and clean-tasting — perfection

Dipping it in salt, or in ssamjang with a chili on top, was also amazing. The green chilies were seriously spicy lol, so they went really well together >_< Duck meat piled high plus spicy chili ssamjang — this combo is a total must-try!!!!

A bite of duck, a bite of chives, a taste of pine mushroom — I just kept eating lol. My personal favorite was.. the pine mushrooms lol I already love mushrooms, and regular readers of mine probably already know that about me..

They're chewy with almost a meat-like texture, and when you bite in, the broth they've soaked up just bursts out ㅠㅠ If you love pine mushrooms, you'll love this even more for the texture and aroma!

I picked all the duck meat off the bone and poured some broth over it! Eating the meat and broth together with a spoon like that.. the depth of that broth.. every single spoonful felt like real nourishment, like my body and soul were both getting richer lol

Porridge and bibim guksu to finish the baeksuk

While you're enjoying the duck baeksuk, the owner brings out a bowl of porridge for each person!

Topping the porridge with garlic scapes made it taste amazing~~ >_<

Bibim guksu (cold spicy noodles) as dessert

There was bibim guksu on the dessert menu too, so that caught my eye,,, order it even if you're about to burst!!

It's piled high with kimchi and has that nutty perilla oil aroma coming through, and even after filling up on porridge, this was a whole different flavor so I kept eating it, issue,,

At the end, the owner served us a cold, homemade omija tea (schisandra berry tea)! The owner was so kind and attentive throughout the meal, and then finishing with such a healthy dessert like this ㅠ_ㅠ It was such a happy meal.

Who should eat at Gajo Ori Sutbulgui?

• Anyone in Gangwon looking for a proper boyangsik (health food) meal
• Anyone who loves duck baeksuk loaded with pine mushrooms
• Anyone hunting for the best duck or native chicken restaurant near Sokcho