Danyang chicken restaurant near Gugyeong Market: lotus root and potato

Food is a must when you're traveling in Danyang. This time I went to Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong, a great spot for a takeout snack in Danyang. It's not just a plain box of fried chicken — as the name suggests, its whole thing is nurungji (crispy scorched rice crust) mixed in between the chicken pieces.

• 📍 31-1 Dojeon4-gil, Danyang-eup, Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea
• ⏰ Daily 10:00–20:00 (last order 19:30)
• 🅿️ Use the Hasang free public parking lot

How to find Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong from Gugyeong Market

Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong is on Dojeon4-gil, near Gugyeong Market. Gugyeong Market is basically unmissable on a Danyang trip. I come here so often I never leave without stopping by, and by now I can find the famous spots without even checking the map :)

If it's your first time here, you can try the sample out front and pick your flavor before ordering :)

Original or double black garlic: which flavor to order

Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong comes in two flavors: original rice-crust dakgangjeong and double black garlic. I fell for the double black garlic last time, so this time I ordered it again without even sampling it first :) Original is delicious too, but the extra black garlic makes it feel even more, more, more delicious :) My personal recommendation is the double black garlic 🤗

Black garlic makgeolli on the shelf while the order is packed

While waiting for my order to be packed, I noticed some black garlic makgeolli (rice wine). Every region has its own local drinks, and since Danyang is famous for garlic, of course there's black garlic makgeolli :) The packaging looks like a great travel gift.

Easy to carry too

The packaging is nice enough to give as a gift as-is — how about black garlic makgeolli for a friend who likes to drink :)

Watching the nurungji rice crust toasted in the shop

While the fried chicken was being prepared, I watched them make the nurungji. The rice crust machine :)

Batter placed and pressed, then toasted into rice crust. This nurungji is the real kicker of this place's dakgangjeong :)

A Danyang specialty! The original black garlic rice-crust dakgangjeong shop

Opening the takeout box in the car

Last time I came here with friends, we packed it to go and started eating piece by piece in the car on the way to our lodging, and by the time we arrived half the box was already gone. This time, I couldn't resist and opened the box in the car again.

The moment you get in the car, the smell is so good it's hard not to open it right away haha

🍗 What the box looks like the moment it opens

Open the takeout box and it's packed with glossy, shiny fried chicken! Between the pieces are flat, crispy fried rice crust bites. Eating one piece of chicken, then one piece of nurungji, alternating back and forth, keeps the texture from ever getting boring — that's the highlight.

🧄 Black garlic, fried chicken and rice crust together

The sauce coats the whole batch of chicken thickly, so you can tell from photos alone it's a pretty bold, intense style :) The crispy nurungji soaks up a bit of that sauce too, so you get to enjoy the chewy chicken and crunchy rice crust textures in one box. Personally, I found it much more fun to pick at a piece of nurungji between bites of chicken than to just eat chicken nonstop.

There's potato and lotus root mixed in too, so eating those in between gave it a whole different feel :)

🚗 Why it works as a Danyang travel snack to go

Fried chicken is naturally an easy takeout food to eat while moving around, so it's great as a snack during a Danyang trip or a late-night bite at your lodging. It's also a good menu to pack after wandering the market or sightseeing spots and share with a few people.

✔️ Overall verdict

If you're looking for something a little different from the usual Danyang fried chicken, this place is worth remembering. Its clearest signature is putting crispy nurungji together with a black-garlic-forward fried chicken. Alternating between the chewy chicken and the crunchy rice crust made it a combination worth trying at least once as a Danyang travel food :)