Stroller-friendly restaurant near Tongdosa, Yangsan: Eonyang Dak

My mom, my baby Jooseong and I decided to get some fresh air at Tongdosa Temple. While looking for somewhere to eat nearby before heading in, I found a chicken kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) place. Today's lunch: Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Tongdosa Branch!

Hours and location of Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Tongdosa Branch

Eonyang Dak Kalguksu Tongdosa Branch is open 11:00–21:00, with last order at 20:00. It sits right on the road leading into Tongdosa Temple.

There's a dedicated parking lot, so it was easy to visit even by car.

Can you bring a stroller in? Inside the restaurant

The entrance only has stairs, so it might be a bit awkward with a wheelchair or stroller. Still, ours was relatively easy to lift and carry inside.

The interior is quite spacious, so it probably wouldn't feel chaotic even with a lot of customers.

They also have kid chairs on hand.

My baby was a bit fussy, but luckily we hit a lull between lunch waves and we were the only customers, so I could push the stroller around the store. The owner watched Jooseong and even pushed the stroller for us so we could eat comfortably — for about 5 minutes, maybe? T_T Mom scarfed her food down and then went to look after the baby, haha. Thank you so much for helping us eat in peace, even briefly, sir! And no, he wasn't an acquaintance — someone I met for the very first time today.

Menu and what we ordered

The signature dish is, of course, chicken kalguksu! Besides that there's Eonyang-style kalguksu, dakgomtang (chicken rice soup), chewy mandu (dumplings), jjimdak (braised chicken), and suyuk (boiled meat platter), among other things. We ordered the chicken kalguksu and the dakgomtang.

The difference between Eonyang-style kalguksu and chicken kalguksu is simply whether half a chicken is included or not!!! It's only a ₩2,000 difference, so just get the chicken kalguksu... It said the noodles are house-made and low-temperature aged, which takes a bit of time to cook, so I expected a wait, but since there were no orders backed up, it came out fast — 5 to 10 minutes, by my count.

What the half-chicken kalguksu tastes like

Half a chicken sat whole on top of the pale broth, looking incredibly hearty. They said it's a chicken bone broth with perilla seeds mixed in, and I worried the perilla flavor might be overpowering, but it was surprisingly nutty and the broth was rich. I personally dislike perilla — I'm not even a fan of perilla seaweed soup — but this was actually delicious.

With hot broth plus chicken and noodles, one bowl alone was pretty filling. And of course, noodles need kimchi! They said the kimchi is a geotjeori (freshly made, unfermented) kimchi made fresh daily. They warned it was spicy, and I wondered how spicy — turns out, pretty spicy. I'm a wimp with spice, but I do like spicy food. I occasionally eat silbi kimchi too, and this was less spicy than that. It's good enough that I'd buy it separately if they sold it. (My husband would probably love it.)

The self-serve corner has milder kimchi too

My mom wasn't eating hers because it was too spicy, and I thought it'd be great if there were a milder version — so on a hunch I checked the self-serve corner, and sure enough, there were separate spicy and mild kimchi. What comes with the dish by default is the spicy one. There's also onion & ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) and pickled radish, so help yourself to whatever you like. A trip to the self-serve corner before eating is a must, as always!

And each table has pepper and dadegi (spicy seasoning) ready, so you can add them to taste.

How dakgomtang differs from chicken kalguksu

Dakgomtang has the exact same broth as the chicken kalguksu, just with rice instead of noodles. Am I dumb for not realizing that... I genuinely thought it was a completely different dish.

I'm generally not a fan of rice mixed into soup either, so I was a little surprised to see it in there, but once I tried it, it was tasty too. If you'd rather not have the rice mixed in, it might be worth asking for it on the side when ordering! Since the broth is identical, the dakgomtang was also delicious. If I had to pick a difference, the kalguksu broth is a bit thicker from the noodles' starch, while the dakgomtang broth is a bit thinner until the rice starts breaking down.

Is Eonyang Dak Kalguksu a good meal stop near Tongdosa?

If you're looking for somewhere to eat near Tongdosa, this is worth a stop. With half a chicken in it, just one bowl of kalguksu was quite filling, and it felt almost like eating samgyetang (whole chicken soup) for a health boost. Maybe my body changed after giving birth, but eating the chicken kalguksu and dakgomtang had me sweating buckets... The owner even turned on a fan for us. He was so kind it was almost embarrassing, haha. With parking available and a fairly spacious dining room, this seems like a solid option to visit with family too. Now that we're full and satisfied, time to go explore Tongdosa.

Oh!!!! One more tip for anyone torn on whether to get the dakgomtang: adding a bowl of rice to the kalguksu to make it chicken kalguksu + rice works too. The broth is the same either way, and there's no noodle refill option anyway~