Incheon gopchang spot with a self-serve ssam bar: Yeonsu Gopchang

I was craving gopchang for a weekend dinner and drinks, so I stopped by Yeonsu Gopchang, a favorite near Yeonsu Station I'd enjoyed before. It had been a while since my last visit, and it turns out the restaurant had moved to a bigger space — cleaner and roomier than before.

Today I'm bringing you the story of the Yeonsu Assorted Set at Yeonsu Gopchang, a gopchang spot near Yeonsu Station that's still as busy as ever and just as good with chewy gopchang and a drink.

Where is Yeonsu Gopchang, and what are its hours and parking?

• Location: 13-5, Saemmal-ro 21beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea
• Hours: 16:00–01:00 (last order 1 hour before closing)
• Closed the last Sunday of every month (store cleaning day)
• Parking: 2 hours supported at the public parking lot on Matgol-gil right next to the restaurant (ground floor)

Walking from Yeonsu Station to the new, larger dining room

Yeonsu Gopchang is about 650m into the food alley from Exit 1 of Yeonsu Station. Since I planned to drink today, I left the car and took public transit.

Walking along, you'll pass Donga Kumho Apartments — and right across from it, there's Yeonsu Gopchang!

It's a Yeonsu-dong gopchang restaurant that opened in 2017. It used to be called Miro Gopchang Yeonsu Branch before changing its name to Yeonsu Gopchang last June.

The dining room was bigger than I expected, with tables set all the way to the back. Around 6:30pm when we arrived, it was already busy, but the tables were spaced generously enough that it didn't feel cramped even with the crowd. The interior is simple rather than flashy, giving it a comfortable pub feel — the kind of place you could easily bring friends or coworkers for a group dinner.

Yeonsu Gopchang menu and prices, and how kiosk ordering works

Orders at Yeonsu Gopchang are placed through a tabletop kiosk. You can even request an apron, hair tie, deodorizer, dental floss, or phone charging right from this screen — impressive.

Just my personal take, but it seems most customers go for the foolproof all-in-one set menus. The Yeonsu Assorted Set (2+ people) is ₩39,900, and the Yeonsu Special Assorted Set (4+ people) is ₩74,900.

You can also order à la carte. Vegetable gopchang stir-fry is ₩13,000, sundae (Korean blood sausage) gopchang stir-fry ₩13,000, salt-grilled makchang ₩14,000, and teriyaki makchang ₩15,000.

Side dishes include hot pot gopchang stew ₩10,000, steamed egg ₩3,000, self-serve rice ball ₩3,000, sesame oil fried rice ₩3,500, and extra fish cake soup ₩4,000.

What comes with the meal: basic side dishes and free extras

Onion, pickled radish, and diced radish kimchi arrive on the table first, along with soybean powder, mayonnaise, and spicy sauce for dipping.

Sundae (Korean blood sausage), liver, and a kettle of fish cake soup came out as complimentary sides, which was great for nibbling and sipping while waiting for the gopchang.

Refilling garlic, chili and ssam wraps at the self-serve bar

There's a separate self-serve bar where you can help yourself to as much garlic, chili, perilla leaves, and pickled radish as you like, plus extra sauce. If you run low on wrap ingredients while eating, you just refill it yourself, so the flow of the meal never gets interrupted — I liked that.

Eating the 39,900 won Yeonsu Assorted Set: honest verdict

We ordered the Yeonsu Assorted Set for ₩39,900, plus soju x2 and beer x3 for ₩25,000.

Our Yeonsu Assorted Set came with makchang, gopchang, hot pot gopchang stew, and fried rice all included, so there wasn't much left to choose separately. Everything arrived already trimmed and pre-cooked, so it just needed a quick reheat rather than long grilling — we could eat right away. We started with makchang and gopchang, soothed our stomachs with the spicy stew broth, and finished up with the fried rice.

The gopchang got chewier the more you chewed it, and thanks to the 24-hour low-temperature aging, there was no off-putting smell — it paired really well with the drinks.

The makchang was salt-grilled, so it was savory and delicious even eaten plain,

and mild enough that it was great topped with a bit of garlic or chili, one piece at a time.

Since it's an assorted set that carries all the way through to fried rice, we ended up stuffed full just from this one dinner —

if you're looking for a gopchang restaurant near Yeonsu Station to handle both dinner and drinks in one place, I recommend Yeonsu Gopchang.

That's the end of my review of Yeonsu Gopchang, a great spot near Yeonsu Station for chewy gopchang and a drink!!!