Ilsan duck restaurant for a date with crispy pajeon: Seokgi Sidae

Why Seokgi Sidae for an Ilsan duck date

Seokgi Sidae (석기시대) is a duck restaurant on Songsan-ro in Gusan-dong, Ilsan, and we went for a date after a long while, as a summer stamina meal too. The weather was nice and I wanted some summer health food, so I searched for a duck place and found this one. Even the name inspires trust! It's quite famous for duck, so we went.

What are parking and the atmosphere like at Seokgi Sidae?

Seokgi Sidae is a large restaurant with a roomy parking lot, and it looked good for families. When we went in, there were indeed families eating. It's perfect for a family get-together in Ilsan or Paju! And there are plenty of cafés nearby, so it's easy to go for dessert afterwards.

This is a pretty fountain sculpture, so why doesn't it come across in the photo... There's also a terrace that's nice for stepping out and chatting after a meal. The café is on the floor right above, so it's easy to head straight there.

Is half a duck of Seokgi Sidae's jumulleok enough for two?

The best-seller and main dish at Seokgi Sidae seems to be duck jumulleok (spicy marinated stir-fried duck). A whole duck (₩65,000) is reportedly a lot of food, so we ordered half (₩45,000). Half a duck is what I'd recommend for two people! It was generous enough for up to 3. We also ordered the seafood pajeon (savory pancake) I'd been wanting, and of course we had to have fried rice after finishing the duck, haha.

Seokgi Sidae's side dishes, served on a tray

The side dishes at Seokgi Sidae come on a tray, and how can there be so many tasty things... I thought this is a great place to bring older relatives. No wonder it's a well-known Ilsan duck spot.

Did they make each one by hand? The side dishes looked really healthy and delicious.

Cabbage wraps, let's goooo~~~ And the pickled onions were so good too.

What goes into the duck jumulleok

This is the medium size of duck jumulleok! Duck, onion, garlic chives, enoki mushrooms, green onion and rice cakes. All sorts of ingredients go in.

You can tell it's a great place just from how the seasoning looks. The owner cooks so well that people could probably come from all over the country to taste it.

At Seokgi Sidae a staff member grills the duck jumulleok for you, so all we had to do was eat the finished meat! How convenient... ㅜ

Seokgi Sidae's museum-like interior

The interior of Seokgi Sidae isn't that of an ordinary duck restaurant. It's decorated with real charm, like a museum. Is it the owner's taste? It goes well with the fountain sculpture outside, and I could see why older folks love this place. Older people want a truly great restaurant plus atmosphere to go with it!

It seems like a great place for a family gathering in Ilsan, and they say you don't throw away duck fat, and then you add fried rice on top? That's game over.

Complimentary duck soup and salad

Seokgi Sidae also served a complimentary white-broth duck soup. They said they'd give us gochujang if we wanted, but we decided to eat it as it came. With spicy duck jumulleok, one bowl of duck soup wipes out the heat, a fantastic combination!

A salad came out too, haha. I love salad, so I cleared it right away.

Is Seokgi Sidae's ₩15,000 seafood pajeon a must-order?

The seafood pajeon at Seokgi Sidae is a ₩15,000 side dish that's crispy and packed with seafood, so it's worth ordering. My boyfriend loves crunchy things, and he ate it happily, hehe. I wondered how on earth they fried it, because the crispiness was so alive. It's loaded with seafood too, so I hope you order the seafood pajeon!

And the whole spread is complete~ Isn't this just summer health food?!

Red duck jumulleok, white duck soup and seafood pajeon. The three dishes went together so well that I felt I could finish several bowls of rice.

How spicy is the duck jumulleok, and can kids eat it?

The seasoning of the duck jumulleok at Seokgi Sidae is just right but with some spiciness, so it might be a little hard for kids...? We ate duck until we were stuffed. In that case there's no worry, because there's the seafood pajeon!

It isn't a pajeon that's all flour. It has plenty of green onion and quite a lot of seafood like squid and shrimp, so it suited my taste perfectly.

There was lettuce for wraps too, but I love cabbage wraps, so I ate all the cabbage, hahaha. Seokgi Sidae really was the real deal of an Ilsan restaurant.

Seokgi Sidae's ₩3,000 fried rice: save some duck for it

The fried rice at Seokgi Sidae is ₩3,000, and a staff member stir-fries it right away in the leftover duck jumulleok sauce. Huh? Why is the focus off... I left this much for the fried rice, haha. Oh, it looked a bit oily, but they said duck fat is a good thing, and they fried the rice right away!

I was thinking of just getting plain rice, but fried rice (₩3,000) is better after all! So I ordered it, and it was an excellent choice.

Can you see how it looks...? They fry the rice in the sauce of the leftover duck, so don't finish it all; leave some! We left a lot, so they put it in a bowl on the side, and we ate even that, hehe.

Why I recommend Seokgi Sidae for duck in Ilsan and Paju

After finishing with the fried rice, the K-dessert, I felt my body was nourished and my stomach full. There's a reason duck is called health food. Eating duck jumulleok at a place that does it properly after so long felt comforting, haha.

If you're looking for duck for a family gathering in Paju, I highly recommend Seokgi Sidae in Ilsan! It's close to Paju and close to Ilsan, so it counts as both a Paju and an Ilsan restaurant. Do visit!

• Address: 3 Songsan-ro, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (1st floor)
• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:00