Namyangju Korean barbecue for tender galbisal: Chodaechang

I visited Chodaechang, a recently opened daechang and gopchang restaurant in Byeollae! Along with daechang, you can try a range of special cuts such as teukyang, makchang, and gopchang, so it is becoming quite the hot spot these days~

Location and atmosphere at Chodaechang Byeollae Branch

Chodaechang Byeollae Branch is in Itaekji near Byeollae High School.

Once inside, I found a very clean atmosphere unlike a typical gopchang restaurant. As you would expect from a newly opened restaurant, it is neat yet designed for a comfortable meal, so it feels well suited to family dinners or an evening drinking gathering!

From grilled offal to meal dishes

Chodaechang's signature is, of course, grilled yang and daechang~!! You can order cuts individually, including daechang, teukyang, makchang, and gopchang, and choose your favorites. Daechang has a rich, nutty flavor; teukyang is lighter; and makchang has a slightly chewier texture, so every cut has its own appeal. If you want to focus on one item, order it à la carte; if you want to sample several cuts, the set menus seem like good value..

There is also a good variety of meal dishes, including daechang hot pot, Korean beef yukhoe (seasoned raw beef), and noodles.

With a gopchang or daechang restaurant, soju or beer usually comes to mind first, but Chodaechang also offers wine at fairly reasonable prices, so you can choose according to your taste.

Charcoal and tidy side dishes

First, the charcoal arrived~ The basic side dishes at this Byeollae yang and daechang restaurant were nicely arranged too, which I loved^^ There were seasoned lettuce, pickled garlic scapes, potato salad, white kimchi, and three sauces.

Ordering par-grilled gopchang and galbisal

After staring at the menu for a while, I ordered grilled gopchang and galbisal (beef rib finger meat), which are relatively light choices~!! Chodaechang's Korean beef gopchang is not cooked from raw at the table; it is served par-grilled. The menu says 250 g before par-grilling and 130 g after. Since it arrives partly cooked, it is convenient not to have to wait from the start for the gopchang to cook. The neatly par-grilled gopchang came with vegetable skewers. Rather than simply placing gopchang on the grill alone, they include vegetables to grill and eat together, making the plate look appetizing too.

Quite a few reviews said the galbisal was delicious, and its quality really lived up to expectations! You can choose between fresh galbisal seasoned only with salt and a soy-marinated version.

Sauces paired with each cut

The sauces are prepared so you can choose one to suit each cut, too. The house soy sauce is a salty, spicy soy-based sauce with Cheongyang chili peppers, and it pairs well with fatty cuts such as daechang and gopchang. It preserves gopchang's savory richness while clearing away the lingering greasiness. The makchang sauce further brings out makchang's signature chewy texture and flavor.

Charcoal-grilled gopchang cooked by the staff

As expected of a popular restaurant, a staff member put everything on the grill and cooked it until it was ready to eat!

Because gopchang's texture can vary with the degree of cooking, it was great that the staff member turned it to keep it from burning and cooked it just right.

On one side, they grilled the vegetable skewers that came with it as well. Gopchang works so well with scallions and assorted vegetables. The well-cooked gopchang was golden on the outside and filled with rich gop inside~!!! Ahh, one bite gives you that chewy texture and deep savory richness.

Galbisal that was better than expected

I naturally thought gopchang and daechang would be the stars, but once I tried it, the galbisal was much more delicious than I expected.

I cannot say for sure whether it was because of the scoring in the meat or an aging process, but it definitely felt more tender than the galbisal I normally picture.

Galbisal is especially good dipped in sauce, but I recommend first dipping it lightly in salt to taste the meat itself~! Its tender texture and nutty beefy aroma made it delicious even without much seasoning.

Dipping the golden-grilled meat and well-cooked scallions into the house soy sauce really lifted the flavor.

It was so delicious that we ended up adding two more servings~haha I think galbisal would be especially popular in households with children.

It was good with pickled garlic scapes too~!! This time, I tried the makchang sauce! Since each cut has a different sauce that suits it, it is fun to alternate between them and try a little of everything.

I have heard so many people say the kimchi noodle soup is delicious too, but I filled up on meat and could not try it...ㅠㅠ I decided I have to come back and eat it next time...

After the meal, I finished with nostalgic Excellent ice cream~haha