Yeonsan-dong fried chicken spot with graffiti walls: Yetnal Tongdak

Where is Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Yeonsan Main Branch, and what are the hours?

Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Yeonsan Main Branch is a fried chicken pub at 41 Gobun-ro 31beon-gil, Yeonje-gu, Busan, about 474m from Exit 12 of Yeonsan Station. It's open Mon–Sat from 17:30 to 06:00 the next day, and Sundays from 17:30 to 05:00 the next day.

I usually just order chicken for delivery at home, so I wanted to try freshly fried chicken straight from the shop for once.

I went in planning on crispy old-style fried chicken and a cold beer, but once inside I noticed a lot more people were eating the stew than I expected. Watching the stew bubbling away made me want some too, haha.

Ordering the aentang set: dakdoritang and whole fried chicken together

Since I wanted both the fried chicken and the stew, I looked over the menu and saw aentang among the recommended dishes, so I ordered one whole dakdoritang (spicy chicken stew) plus a half order of old-style fried chicken. The moment we walked into Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Yeonsan Main Branch, the walls packed edge to edge with customer doodles caught my eye — traces left behind one by one by past diners, and it was actually pretty fun to look around at them, haha.

Graffiti-covered walls and the old neighborhood chicken shop mood

From names to messages to drawings, the walls were packed so tightly there was barely a gap left, and it didn't feel like a deliberately styled retro interior — more like the current mood built up naturally from years of customers leaving their mark one by one. It was fun spotting the dates on some of the doodles, and browsing through them kept us entertained while we waited. It had that comfortable, nostalgic feel unique to an old neighborhood chicken pub, pretty different from the sleek, polished places you see these days.

They were also running a Naver receipt review event — writing a review gets you fries, fried shrimp, a canned drink, or similar, so it's worth keeping in mind if you visit.

Cabbage salad, pickled radish, and shrimp chips came out as the basic side dishes, and since I already love crunchy shrimp chips, I kept snacking on them while we waited, haha.

What's in the dakdoritang: wheat rice cakes, glass noodles, quail eggs

After a short wait the stew arrived first, and the dakdoritang at Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Yeonsan Main Branch was loaded with chicken along with milk-flour rice cakes, glass noodles, and quail eggs — more generous than I expected.

It's the style you keep simmering at the table, so as it cooked a bit longer the broth got richer and every ingredient soaked up the seasoning properly.

I personally love the rice cakes in dakdoritang, and here they use milk-flour rice cakes, which had a great chewy texture and soaked up the spicy sauce nicely — really good. The glass noodles also held plenty of broth and were easy to slurp down, and fishing out the quail eggs along the way meant there was surprisingly a lot to eat.

The chicken was cooked tender and matched the sauce well, and the hot, spicy broth made a great drinking companion too.

How was the half order of old-style whole fried chicken?

The chicken came out golden brown and looked crispy just to see it, and it really was — crispy on the outside, soft and juicy inside.

Ahh — crispy chicken with a cold beer, a combo that never fails, haha.

We came for chicken and beer from the start, and the fried chicken lived up to expectations with how crispy it came out. Pairing the spicy, hot dakdoritang with the crispy chicken worked really well together, and I was glad we went with the recommended combo.

A new Seomyeon branch has opened too

Yetnal Tongdak & Tang, which has been loved in Yeonsan-dong for years, apparently opened a new branch in Seomyeon this past May. The photo below is from the Seomyeon branch.

Since I enjoyed the Yeonsan-dong branch so much, I'd like to check out the Seomyeon branch next time.

Is Yetnal Tongdak & Tang good for late-night chicken and beer in Yeonsan-dong?

From the walls full of customer doodles to the cozy, nostalgic atmosphere, this place has real charm, and since it's open late, it works well not just for dinner but for a casual drink or late-night bite in Yeonsan-dong. If it's a day when you want both chicken and beer and can't skip a hot bowl of soup, I'd recommend the aentang combo so you can enjoy dakdoritang and fried chicken together.

I'd recommend this place to anyone looking for good chicken or dakdoritang in Yeonsan-dong. Generous portions plus a comfortable atmosphere made for a satisfying meal, and it works well as a dinner or late-night spot in Yeonsan-dong whenever you're craving good chicken or dakdoritang. :)