Sindang Station bar with no 5:30pm wait: oak-fired chicken, Gyeryugwan

My husband and I had dinner in Sindang together for the first time in a while. I heard there was a great wood-fired grill spot among the Sindang bars, so we went — and it was so, so good!! Seriously, highly recommend it⭐⭐

Where Gyeryugwan is near Sindang Station, and its hours

Gyeryugwan is a chicken restaurant in an alley next to Sindang Central Market in Jung-gu, Seoul. It's open 16:00–23:00 with last order at 22:00, there's no parking, and the restroom is inside, separated by gender.

It sits among a row of old-school restaurants.

Out front, you can watch the main dish — the wood-fired chicken — turning over the flames.

There's a big pile of firewood stacked outside — I never noticed a place like this before. Seeing all that wood stacked up somehow made it feel like it was going to be delicious haha

Is there a wait at Gyeryugwan on a weekday at 5:30pm?

We arrived at Gyeryugwan around 5:30pm on a weekday, and luckily got seated right away with no wait! But by the time we finished eating and left, there were people waiting outside.

As we walked out after our meal, we saw customers waiting outside. If you're visiting around mealtime, it might be smart to put your name down and walk around the area while you wait!

Inside Gyeryugwan: open kitchen and clean, simple side dishes

Gyeryugwan's kitchen is an open layout visible straight from the dining hall, so you can watch the cooking happen — and the kitchen itself was kept spotless, which made me trust the food even more.

Staff bring out all the side dishes themselves, and everything was served without a single spill or mess. Overall it felt like a place that puts a lot of care into how it's run.

Even at 5:30pm, before most people finish work, there were quite a few tables already deep into their meal. This being a well-known Sindang spot, the crowd spanned a wide range of ages too!

Gyeryugwan's menu and how the QR ordering works

Gyeryugwan's menu is heavy on chicken dishes, and the oak-fired mushroom chicken seems to be the signature item. Another distinct feature: they make their own noodles in-house for the makguksu (buckwheat noodles)! There were so many tempting options that we agonized over what to order.

You order by scanning the QR code at your table and ordering via mobile. Everyone in your group can order at the same time!

After some serious deliberation, here's what we ordered...

• Oak-fired mushroom chicken with sticky rice (참나무능이장작구이)
• Assorted chicken jeon (닭모듬전)
• Soju
• Draft beer

The soju and beer came out right after we ordered. How can you eat chicken without a beer, right?

And here are the basic side dishes: radish pickle, yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), napa cabbage kimchi, ssamjang, seasoned fish roe, and a white sauce(?). Of all of these, the yeolmu kimchi was seriously insane...

Oak-fired neungi mushroom chicken with sticky rice and seed jeotgal

Gyeryugwan's signature dish, the oak-fired mushroom chicken, is a whole chicken smoked and grilled for over an hour, stuffed with mushroom sticky rice. A dish that just can't taste bad with a look like that!!!

The chicken itself isn't huge, so it's good for two people, but the sticky rice stuffed inside adds up to quite a lot — the portion ends up being pretty generous!

Fresh off the fire, it was still steaming...

One bite in, and the meat was unbelievably tender — even the breast meat was soft. It looks pinkish like it might not be cooked through, but it's fully done! All the excess fat is rendered out, so it's light but the meat is still so tender and juicy... would be great as a diet-friendly dish too!

It's well-seasoned enough to eat without any sauce, but dipping it in the white sauce made it even better haha. Seriously, highly recommend this dish.

Piling the seasoned fish roe onto the sticky rice was also so good — a real standout bite!!! It goes really well with the yeolmu kimchi too.

Assorted chicken jeon: a different texture in every piece

Next up was the assorted chicken jeon (fritters). I debated between the chicken breast-cartilage meatballs and the assorted jeon, but since the assorted jeon seemed to include similar meatballs, I went with that.

This dish is made with chicken thigh, neck meat, heart, and spicy meatballs of minced breast meat and cartilage. The portion was pretty generous too!

Each jeon had a different texture and flavor, which made it fun to eat. This was my first time having chicken prepared in so many different jeon forms — it was a fresh experience and delicious. Another genuine hit.

I was curious about the house-made makguksu since they make their own noodles, but we were too full to try it. A really satisfying dinner!

Tips before you visit Gyeryugwan

Gyeryugwan turned out even more delicious than we expected, and we left really satisfied. It was clear that a lot of thought went into every single dish. From ingredient pairings and flavor balance to the accompanying sauces and overall composition, everything felt carefully considered! Next time we're planning to come back for the makguksu and sweet and sour pork.

• Expect a wait during peak hours
• The oak-fired mushroom chicken is the signature dish you must order (the assorted chicken jeon is also a safe bet)
• Since the fat is rendered out, it's a good option for diet-conscious eating too