Sindang date izakaya with a local's No.1 fried rice: Lucky Dragon JCB

What is Lucky Dragon JCB?

Lucky Dragon JCB is an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) near Sindang Station that serves Chinese dishes with a Japanese twist, at a good price. I live around Sindang Station and often watch the neighborhood change, so today I'm introducing Lucky Dragon JCB, my pick for a date night near Sindang Station~~

Lucky Dragon JCB location and hours

Lucky Dragon JCB Sindang is a 3-minute walk from Exit 4 of Sindang Station. The outside has a bit of a mountain-lodge feel, haha.

• Address: 1F, 43-8 Dasan-ro 42-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Mon–Sat: 17:00–02:00 (last order 01:00)
• Sun: 17:00–24:00 (last order 23:00)

Seating and atmosphere at Lucky Dragon JCB

Lucky Dragon JCB has mostly tables for two and four, plus one group table. It's popular enough to have a wait, even in trendy Sindang-dong!

It's an open, airy space where you can see the Sindang-dong alley outside. The outside and the lighting inside were dark, but visiting while the sun was still up felt kind of fresh and bright~

Lucky Dragon JCB menu and how to order

You order with the QR code on the table!!

The menu has rice and noodle dishes that are easy to eat, and, true to a pub, small dishes and anything-goes drinking snacks, haha. Being a Japanese-style izakaya, there's sake, plus cocktails, highballs and other drinks, so I think it would be really good for a date.

Here's what we ordered.

• Chahan (fried rice) + mapo tofu + handmade yakigyoza (pan-fried dumplings) + tomato tsukemono (pickled tomato) set ₩31,900
• Lemon sour ₩6,900
• Coke Zero ₩3,000

The table also had a variety of extra seasonings,

and they brought out the lemon sour and cola we ordered first!

Tomato tsukemono and the free side dish, mustard leaf kimchi

The set's tomato tsukemono is an easy dish to nibble on: pleasantly tangy, with a nice crisp tomato texture.

The food came out one dish at a time, and the set is great value, with generous portions of drinking snacks, haha. A free side of gat-kimchi (mustard leaf kimchi) came too, and it was tangy and tasty!

How does the mapo tofu taste at Lucky Dragon JCB?

I think the mapo tofu is Lucky Dragon JCB's signature dish: spicy with a numbing kick. I eat it with relish every time I come, and I really liked the thickness of the sauce and the way the seasoning soaks into the tofu.

It's loaded with tofu and minced meat. There's also a mala (numbing-spicy) version, and even though I ordered the regular mapo tofu this time, I could taste a faint mala aroma.

You get a hint of chili oil, and the tofu tames the intense but savory sauce, so the balance is great. The freshness and flavor of the shredded scallions on top also cut through the overall heaviness.

Sindang-dong's best fried rice: char siu chahan at Lucky Dragon JCB

The chahan at Lucky Dragon JCB is so good that I can confidently call it number one for fried rice in Sindang-dong!! Please, please try the chahan~

Instead of the basic chahan, I ordered the char siu chahan, which adds char siu (roast pork). It had a smoky grilled aroma, and the pork was rich and clean-tasting. Really good,

and the rice was stir-fried loose and fluffy, well seasoned, with plenty of ingredients inside. I love fried rice and have eaten a lot of it, and this ranks in my top three.

Dipping it in the mapo tofu sauce let me enjoy different flavors, which I loved, but my girlfriend said the chahan is so good on its own that plain is best~~

With all the good food out, we had to clink glasses and celebrate~

Handmade yakigyoza at Lucky Dragon JCB

The handmade yakigyoza at Lucky Dragon JCB was grilled so well that the outside came out really crispy, almost like fried~

You get a crunch when you bite in, and then the flavor of the moist, generous filling. It was a deep taste that made me think, so this is what truly handmade dumplings taste like, haha.

Why I recommend Lucky Dragon JCB as a date spot near Sindang Station

It was my first time at Lucky Dragon JCB with my girlfriend, and she was so happy and ate so well that I felt glad I brought her~ The prices of the dishes felt really cheap overall, but the taste and the amount of ingredients definitely didn't. The staff were friendly and the mood was good too, so I really recommend it if you're looking for a date restaurant near Sindang Station!