Uijeongbu sundaeguk with a free sticky sundae: Yetnal Gyeongseong

I'd been thinking I should try the newly opened Uijeongbu sundaeguk (blood sausage soup) place, Yetnal Gyeongseong Sundaeguk, and it just so happened my parents wanted to go out for lunch, so we went. It's a brand new sundaeguk spot, open less than a month.

It started in the sundae alley at Yongin Central Market and now runs as a chain, and it's opened a branch in Uijeongbu too. Cheoin-gu in Yongin used to be a passage into old Hanyang (Seoul), and rumor has it that as travelers stopped and stayed there, a market formed and a lot of good restaurants sprang up.

Where is Yetnal Gyeongseong Sundaeguk Nokyang Branch, and is there parking?

Yetnal Gyeongseong Sundaeguk Nokyang Branch is at 778 Dongil-ro, 1st floor, Uijeongbu, less than 1km from Exit 2 of Nokyang Station. When I heard it opened in Nokyang-dong, I thought, I don't have to go all the way to Yongin anymore, and I knew I had to go. Most people probably live nearby and walk or drive, but it's in a good spot even on foot.

There's also an outdoor parking lot set up right in front of the restaurant, which made it convenient to visit with my parents.

Easy parking, plus a bench sitting right in front of the entrance. It looks handy if there's a wait, or for sitting down with a coffee after your meal.

And here's the important part — if you order 2 portions to take out, you get what feels like 3 portions' worth. I've taken it home before, and it's already generous normally, so getting even more here is surprising.

Yetnal Gyeongseong Sundaeguk in Uijeongbu opens at the exact same time every single day with no days off. Opening and closing time are both 10, so it's easy to remember.

From Yongin Central Market: 60 years of sundae experience

I expected it to be quiet since it just opened, but instead people kept streaming in. First things first, grab a seat!

The tables had noticeably wide spacing and I liked the layout. There are also face-to-face 2-person seats where you can eat alone, so solo dining works fine here too.

Jeongseong Chanmaru, the self-serve banchan bar

The open kitchen is clean and naturally draws your eye, and next to it is the self-serve Jeongseong Chanmaru banchan bar. The chives that go on top of the sundaeguk and the kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) side dish stand out.

You get a basic serving at first, and after that you just take as much as you want. We finished our kkakdugi while there was still a bit of soup left, so we grabbed just a small extra serving ourselves — no leftovers at all.

Menu and tablet ordering at Yetnal Gyeongseong Sundaeguk

The menu at Yetnal Gyeongseong Sundaeguk is ordered through the tablet installed at each table. You can customize what goes in — sundae only, innards only, no머리고기 (head meat), no sundae — according to your taste. There are also set menus that include pyeonyuk (boiled sliced meat) or sticky sundae.

If sundaeguk feels like too much, there's also ugeoji haejangguk (napa cabbage hangover soup), so it's a lunch menu that has something for everyone — a real gukbap spot in Uijeongbu.

For a taste of everything, you can order sticky sundae, pyeonyuk, and native sundae as an affordable combo. We ordered the basic sundaeguk and the native sundae.

Sesame seeds and a mini mortar on the table

I thought sesame seeds and a mortar were only a tonkatsu-restaurant thing. Here they give you sesame seeds to grind yourself in a mini mortar.

They also brought out seokbakji (radish kimchi), kimchi, ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), and salted shrimp.

For gukbap, the kimchi and seokbakji really need to be good for the meal to shine — and these passed the test.

The free sticky sundae and the basic Gyeongseong sundaeguk

The opening-anniversary sticky sundae came out too. It's the style you'd usually think of from a bunsik (Korean snack) shop — packed full of glass noodles, chewy and tasty.

The basic Gyeongseong sundaeguk, with native sundae and innards, comes with rice.

They piled on plenty of chives, and added in the sesame seeds we'd ground earlier.

The ingredients packed into the sundaeguk were substantial.

The salted shrimp felt more mixed with ssamjang than the usual kind — served like a seasoned sauce side dish — and when I put it on the sundae and head meat, there was no off smell at all, just a savory flavor.

Then I dumped in a whole bowl of rice and stirred it up — the milky broth, the hearty ingredients, and the rice. One spoonful loaded with everything, and my mouth is happy.

Native sundae vs sticky sundae: what's the difference?

Just sundaeguk alone felt like it might not be enough, so we also ordered native sundae, and then the sticky sundae came free as a service, which made me wonder if I'd over-ordered — but the two turned out to have clearly different characters. Native sundae, mixing pork innards and vegetables, has high moisture content and works well either dropped into the soup or eaten on its own. Eating it alongside the sticky sundae, the fullness built up fast, and I ended up leaving a little behind.

Dessert: barley candy and coffee

Hot gukbap and chewy sundae, all at Yetnal Gyeongseong Sundaeguk in Uijeongbu. On the way out after finishing our meal, there was barley candy, so I had a piece — it was good, so I scooped more into a paper cup and had another round.

There's also a coffee machine, so having coffee with the barley candy filled that little dessert gap. We went in planning a light lunch, but ended up well fed on generous sundaeguk portions plus sticky sundae — worth the trip.