Danyang market fried chicken and late-night chiban: Danyang Heukmaneul

Hey everyone~ it's Tom, hooked by Jerry haha. This post is about the fried chicken we took home during our trip to Danyang last weekend — it was seriously honey-sweet, gotta tell you about it. This is Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong (단양흑마늘누룽지닭강정)!

Where is Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong, and what are the hours?

• 📍 Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong
• Address: 31-1 Dojeon4-gil, Danyang-eup, Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea
• Hours: 10:00–20:00 / last order 19:30
• Parking: free public parking lot across from Danyang Gugyeong Market

A 25-minute number-ticket wait and one loop around Danyang Gugyeong Market

We waited about 25 minutes after ordering at Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong. You get a number ticket and can wander freely — they call you when it's your turn — so you don't have to stand in line the whole time~

Whenever there's a line somewhere, you can't help but be curious, right~ The order itself doesn't take long. Instead of just standing around waiting, we walked a full loop of the market, checking out what other stalls were selling and sampling along the way, so the time flew by. Way less boring.

Double-flavor black garlic dakgangjeong: the rice crust beat expectations

We picked the double flavor black garlic dakgangjeong at Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong. As the name suggests, it has double the black garlic sauce, and the aroma and taste were definitely noticeably richer.

This fried chicken shop seems to be the thing that comes to mind when you think of Danyang Gugyeong Market. Everyone was lined up waiting for the delicious dakgangjeong~ Looking at the menu, it's split into original and double flavor — if you want to really taste the black garlic, I'd recommend the double flavor.

On top of that, even the nurungji (rice crust) is coated in sauce — some places use tteok (rice cake) instead, but this nurungji completely exceeded expectations! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I basically just picked out the nurungji pieces. They were also selling makgeolli next to it, so we grabbed one — seemed like the perfect pairing for the dakgangjeong. 🧄 100% black garlic makgeolli 👍

How does it taste? Mildly spicy, and the kids kept eating

The double flavor at Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong is on the slightly spicy side. Still, our kids kept saying "spicy~" while happily eating it.

The basic original nurungji dakgangjeong is milder, and the double flavor leans slightly spicy. But it's less of a sharp spiciness and more like the black garlic's distinctive savory depth coming through alongside the heat, so our kids ate it happily even while saying "spicy~".

You can decide after tasting a sample, and since they don't put out old food for tasting, plenty of people were eating there. Our daughter basically made a whole meal out of the samples, haha 🤣 Crispy outside, moist inside, sauce coating it evenly — how could that not be delicious? Even cooled down, it stayed crispy instead of going soggy for quite a while. The batter wasn't thick, so it was less greasy too, and the chicken itself was tender, not dry at all.

Late-night chiban at home: dakgangjeong with rice soaked in water

We took the packed-up Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong home and ate it with rice soaked in water. Even though it was late at night, the four of us ate until we were stuffed.

Even though we'd already filled up (kind of) on samples at the market, we still brought it home and ate it with rice soaked in water. This is totally cheating, isn't it!? The salty-spicy sauce broth mixes into the rice and you just keep eating! In the end, the four of us stuffed ourselves late that night. There was so much we portioned some into containers for my husband's late-night snack the next day~

Visiting Danyang? Order this dakgangjeong to go

Walking around Danyang Gugyeong Market, the smell is no joke. The distinctive black garlic sauce aroma reaches you from far away, so it's hard to just walk past, and with all the sampling going on, you're bound to stop by.

There's also an original flavor besides the double flavor. If you can't handle spicy food, the original flavor is a good choice. It was packed sturdily too, so it didn't shift around during the car ride and arrived clean. The portion was generous enough that our family of four split it up over several meals at home.

Danyang Heukmaneul Nurungji Dakgangjeong in one line

Chiban is truth!

It tasted good enough that the wait didn't feel like a waste. If you want the full black garlic flavor, go double; if you can't handle spice or you're eating with kids, go original. If you're looking for something to eat at Danyang Gugyeong Market, definitely try the black garlic dakgangjeong~