Cheomdan, Gwangju duck BBQ with no gamey smell: Hyangchon Duck

What is Hyangchon Duck in Cheomdan, Gwangju?

Hyangchon Duck (향촌오리) is a newly opened duck restaurant in Cheomdan, Gwangju, where you can have grilled duck and shabu-shabu together. They also cover 3 hours of parking, so it was easy to visit by car.

I visited the newly opened Hyangchon Duck in Cheomdan! You can eat duck and shabu-shabu at the same place, so it looked good for a family meal out too. We grilled the duck, then had shabu-shabu and even kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) :)

Inside Hyangchon Duck: private rooms and the self bar

Since it just opened, the inside is clean, the tables are big, and there are separate rooms too. Even with lots of dishes on the table, it didn't feel cluttered. It seems good for a family meal or for bringing your parents! For a bigger group, the rooms would be a good choice.

The self bar at Hyangchon Duck has a really wide variety of vegetables for shabu-shabu. Just pick what you want, and you can grab more if you run out. The noodles to add after the shabu-shabu are also at the self bar, haha.

What's on the Hyangchon Duck menu?

The main menu at Hyangchon Duck is duck and beef short rib meat. You can choose a whole or half duck depending on your group size and appetite. You don't just eat duck, you get shabu-shabu too, so we decided to try both..!

Starter porridge and green onion kimchi

At Hyangchon Duck, warm starter porridge comes out before the meat. It's nice to have something warm before the main event.

The kimchi was tasty too, but the green onion kimchi (pa-kimchi) is seriously good. Perfect to have a piece with the duck!

Does Hyangchon Duck's grilled duck have a gamey smell?

At Hyangchon Duck they put a whole duck on the grill and cook it golden for you, and there was really no gamey smell!! Duck can sometimes have that distinctive odor that bothers you, so I was extra happy.

Well-cooked duck is good on its own, and also good with the pickled onions.

How to eat grilled duck with perilla chili dipping sauce

Hyangchon Duck serves a sauce of chojang (sweet-sour gochujang sauce) mixed with perilla powder, and it went well with dipping the duck.

Dip a piece of duck deep in the sauce, then eat one with green onion kimchi in between..! Switching between the sauce and side dishes, we finished a whole duck in no time, haha.

Duck shabu-shabu and kalguksu at Hyangchon Duck

For the shabu-shabu at Hyangchon Duck, you put plenty of vegetables from the self bar into the broth and cook them. You can eat just the vegetables or have them with meat.

Having the warm shabu-shabu broth between bites of grilled duck felt like eating a whole different dish..! Being able to eat grilled meat and shabu-shabu at one table seems to be Hyangchon Duck's signature.

Finishing with blueberry sikhye

Hyangchon Duck also has sikhye (sweet rice drink) after the meal. Not regular sikhye, but sikhye with blueberries! After duck, shabu-shabu and kalguksu, we finished with a cold glass of it :)💜

Hyangchon Duck in Cheomdan: is it worth it?

I went because it just opened, and what stuck with me most was being able to eat duck and shabu-shabu at one table. The duck was easy to eat with no gamey smell, and dipping it in the gochujang perilla-powder sauce was delicious. There are rooms and the tables are fairly large, so keep it in mind when looking for a place for a family gathering in Cheomdan ><