Anjirang Gopchang Alley, Daegu: snow cheese torch show at Gopchang119

Back in August I visited Gopchang119, a vegetable gopchang (grilled intestine with vegetables) spot in Daegu. It's one of the countless restaurants packed into Anjirang Gopchang Alley, but it had a different charm from the style I'd tried before, so I wanted to share it.

Where is Gopchang119 Anjirang Branch, and what are its hours?

Gopchang119 Anjirang Branch sits right at the entrance of the main street of Anjirang Gopchang Alley, a 4-minute walk from Exit 3 of Anjirang Station on Line 1. If you're driving, there's a public parking lot right next door.

• 16:00–23:30
• Last order 23:00
• Takeout and delivery available

Black-toned interior: does the gopchang smell cling to your clothes?

The interior of Gopchang119 has a sleek black-toned look — modern enough that it barely feels like a typical restaurant.

We went on the spur of the moment on a weekday, late at night, so we got to enjoy a quiet, relaxed stay.

I liked that the interior had plenty of tables with generous spacing between them, making it comfortable and pleasant — great for a relaxed drink, and surprisingly, no smell clung to our clothes afterward.

The self-serve bar had fresh vegetables like pickled radish and garlic, chili peppers, and sauces neatly laid out.

Gopchang119 menu and the 2-person Vegetable Gopchang A Set

Gopchang119 has a varied menu befitting a top vegetable gopchang restaurant in Daegu, including its main dishes as well as salt-grilled makchang, salt-grilled chicken neck meat, and beef gopchang hot pot.

I usually prefer algopchang (organ meat gopchang), but looking at the menu here, it seemed like most people order the sets, so this time I went with the 2-person A set too.

First, pickled radish, ssamjang (dipping sauce), and green chili peppers were served quickly.

Then mayonnaise to tone down the spice, and a soy-based sauce with a salty-sweet edge, were set out.

The perilla leaves were fresh and vibrant too — I cleared a whole plate of them.

Add snow cheese and the owner melts it with a torch

We added snow cheese on top of the Vegetable Gopchang A Set separately, and the owner melted it himself with a torch.

He piled the cheese on so generously you couldn't see the food underneath, and watching the torch show up close was genuinely fun.

After the brief, dazzling torch show ended, the dish that came out had that mouthwatering look unique to Anjirang Gopchang Alley — I doubt anyone could look at it without craving a bite.

When I scooped up a generous chopstick-full, the endless stretch of melted snow cheese made me smile without even trying.

Steam kept rising as the cheese stretched without breaking — you could really tell they weren't skimping on ingredients.

How spicy is the seasoning, and does the gopchang have any off-smell?

Underneath the vegetable gopchang at Gopchang119 was a generous bed of cabbage and glass noodles, and the sauce wasn't overly sweet — just the right amount of spicy with a sweet-and-salty pull that hooked me. If it's too sweet, it's hard to keep reaching for it whether as a meal or as a drinking snack, but the spice level here was just right, with plenty of savory depth, making it easy to keep eating without feeling weighed down.

Pork gopchang often has a distinct smell, but here there was none at all — you could tell it had been cleaned really well. The texture wasn't chewy either; it was tender and moist, almost melting in the mouth, which made this one of the best vegetable gopchang restaurants I've tried in Daegu.

Dipping it deep into the mayonnaise sauce added a nutty richness, making the flavor even fuller, and with that extra creaminess I polished off every last piece. I originally planned to order fried rice as a side too, but I was already so full that I decided to save it for next time.

With its generous portions and distinctive flavor on the streets of Anjirang Gopchang Alley, Gopchang119 won me over enough that I'd love to come back — one of the best vegetable gopchang restaurants in Daegu.