Low-salt samgyetang and bench seats in Dongtan: Dream Samgyetang

On a weekend when my kid suddenly said her stomach hurt, I was a bit thrown, but we headed to Dream Samgyetang near Dongtan Station hoping to both soothe her tummy and get some solid nourishment. The food was great, but there were also some points that made it really comfortable to visit with a kid — I have to share them!

How to find Dream Samgyetang near Dongtan Station, and what the room looks like

Dream Samgyetang is on the 2nd floor of the building at Dongtan-yeok-ro 128. Right when you step off the elevator, there are a lot of offices and other shops around, so the sign might not be visible right away. Don't panic — turn and walk all the way to the far right, and you'll find the entrance to Dream Samgyetang!

We visited a bit earlier than mealtime, so luckily there were no other customers and we could settle in at a relaxed pace. My kid happened to be whining about a stomachache right then, and since one wall was lined with wide, cushioned bench-style seats, I was able to lay her down comfortably. Seating is always something I worry about when eating out with a kid, so as a parent, having such comfortable seats here was such a relief.

Dream Samgyetang menu, prices and kiosk ordering

After taking our seats, we ordered from the table kiosk. We got the most basic, best-selling menu item, Dream Samgyetang (₩18,000), plus the mung bean samgyetang (₩19,000), which looked like it would have an amazing nutty flavor. Take a look at the rest of the menu too~~

Korean-sourcing sign and the self-serve side dish bar

One of the things I liked most about this restaurant was this sourcing sign! A lot of restaurants these days use Chinese kimchi or chili flakes, but here, every ingredient (chicken, abalone, glutinous rice, chili flakes, napa cabbage, etc.) except the shrimp and squid in the seafood pancake is sourced from Korea.

With good ingredients, I could enjoy the side dishes with real peace of mind too. If you run out, you can freely refill at the self-serve corner set up on one side.

The neatly arranged side dishes after ordering! The kimchi flavor is essential when eating samgyetang, and the diced radish kimchi (kkakdugi) here wasn't spicy at all — perfectly sweet-and-sour and well-fermented. Really delicious.

💡 One visit tip! The green pepper served as a side dish looks like a mild cucumber pepper, but it's actually an extremely spicy cheongyang pepper! If you bite into it without thinking, you might end up in tears — so if you can't handle spicy food, please take note! 🤣

Dream Samgyetang vs the restorative mung bean samgyetang

At last, the samgyetang arrived bubbling in its earthenware pot!

The one piled high with scallions is the basic Dream Samgyetang~~!

The one covered in mung beans is the mung bean samgyetang. It came out about 10 minutes after ordering!

The pot was so hot that broth was splattering, and the staff member brought us two neatly folded aprons right away! Thanks to their thoughtfulness, our precious clothes survived the bubbling, splattering broth unscathed. Haha.

Low-salt broth kids can eat, adjustable with salt at the table

I took a first sip of the broth, and to my taste it felt a bit bland. But the staff member kindly explained that it used to be seasoned more strongly, and the owner intentionally lowered the sodium!

Hearing that, it immediately made sense — a lot of restaurant food these days is way too intensely seasoned, so having a mild base seasoning like this seemed really good for people watching their health or feeding young children. We sprinkled in some of the salt provided at the table to our taste, and the broth became completely satisfying and much tastier!

Tender chicken and chicken porridge made with the glutinous rice

For my kid who'd been complaining of a stomachache earlier, I first pulled out the breast meat. Maybe because it had been slow-cooked thoroughly in the pot, even the breast meat had zero dryness — it was really tender and soft.

I mixed the tender meat with the chewy glutinous rice stuffed inside the chicken and some of the thick broth to make chicken porridge, and my kid, who'd said she was sick, finished the whole bowl like nothing had happened!

Thanks to the earthenware pot, I could also keep scooping up hot broth until the very end, and by the time we finished I'd worked up a light sweat and felt like I'd properly nourished my body. Most of all, the staff member was so friendly and attentive from start to finish that I felt taken care of the entire meal, and left feeling happy.

An empty bowl, plus a tip about the underground parking elevator

It was so good we cleaned the pot without leaving a single drop of broth — here's proof! Haha.

Lastly, an important parking/elevator tip for anyone planning to visit Dream Samgyetang! After we finished eating and went to take the elevator back to our car, we were sure we'd parked on B2 — but the elevator only had buttons down to B1! I thought maybe I'd misremembered, got off at B1, and panicked when there was no car there. 😅

It turns out the building is large enough to have two different elevators. One only goes down to B1, while the other goes all the way to B4. If you're driving, don't get confused — make sure the elevator you take actually connects to the level of the underground parking lot where you parked!