Dak Hanmari restaurant in Dongdaemun with twin toddlers and baby

Hi everyone, this is beauty influencer Minyeon :) Last weekend we celebrated our twin babies' second birthday with a one-night trip to Seoul! One course I really wanted to hit on this Seoul trip was Dongdaemun's dak hanmari (whole chicken stew) alley.

Dongdaemun is one of Seoul's iconic food streets that never stops drawing foodies! Among everything there, the hot, deep broth of dak hanmari and the golden, crisply fried bindaetteok (mung bean pancake) are the signature dishes you can't skip when you visit Dongdaemun!

This time we visited Sunhuine Bindaetteok Dak Hanmari Dongdaemun Main Branch, a place where you can really feel the market's warm, homestyle cooking and generous portions. The pairing of rich broth and savory side dishes lived up to the hype and then some. We went for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed dak hanmari, meat meatballs, and finished it off with kalguksu noodles.

Sunhuine Bindaetteok Dak Hanmari Dongdaemun

Was it okay to bring two babies?

Visiting with two babies, a cramped restaurant makes things pretty difficult. Sunhuine Bindaetteok Dak Hanmari Dongdaemun had such a spacious interior that even with two baby chairs set up, it didn't block foot traffic at all. The moment we walked in, the savory smell of frying pancakes mixed with the bubbling, clean chicken broth hit our appetite hard, haha +_+

Menu and order

Let me show you the menu. Besides the signature dak hanmari, there were various side dishes too. Our babies love meat meatballs, and luckily they had those on the menu, which made me so happy.

We ordered the signature dak hanmari along with meat meatballs as a side, good for sharing. Right around then one of our babies woke up in a bad mood and cried a lot, ㅠㅠ so we took turns carrying her outside to calm her down. The owner was so kind and helped watch the baby too — I was really grateful ㅠ_ㅠ

How was the dak hanmari?

Once things settled down, we really dug into the dak hanmari! I'd been wanting to try this so much. It comes out in a big brass pot, packed with beautifully trimmed fresh chicken, green onion, and rice cake, set alongside bok choy.

Once you turn on the burner and the broth starts bubbling, the stock drawn from the chicken blends with the sweetness of the vegetables to create a deep, rich broth.

Dipping it in the special sauce

The real trick to enjoying dak hanmari even more is the special sauce! Made with soy sauce, chili paste, mustard, minced garlic, and chives, dipping the meat in it gives you a moist, tender bite with none of that dryness.

The clean, well-cooked chicken with no gamey smell paired with the spicy-tangy sauce was an incredible combination. My husband ate a ton too, which made me proud.

Meat meatballs if you're going with kids

And then the meat meatballs we ordered as a side arrived — don't they look amazing? +_+ Crispy on the outside, filled inside with juicy meat and vegetables! Our babies ate them up too, so if you're visiting with a child, definitely order this as a side! Paired with a sip of the dak hanmari broth, the flavors balanced out even more.

Finishing with kalguksu noodles

The perfect way to end the meal is kalguksu noodles! After picking through most of the chicken and meatballs, even full, you can never skip adding the noodle sarai!

They dropped the kalguksu noodles into the broth, which had simmered down into a rich, concentrated stock, and let it cook — the noodles soaked up the chicken broth and turned chewy and silky. Topped with a piece of kimchi, it was the perfect warm, filling end to the meal.

Overall thoughts

Eating dak hanmari at Sunhuine Bindaetteok Dongdaemun Main Branch is a memory I truly won't forget from this trip! Rich yet clean broth, tender chicken, crispy-outside-juicy-inside meatballs, and chewy noodles soaked in that deep broth — nothing was missing from this satisfying meal.

If you're looking for a solid, no-fail restaurant near Dongdaemun, I really recommend giving this place a visit!