Gamjatang takeout with extra sieuchi for family dinner: Chungsilok

I was craving a spicy, hearty gamjatang (pork bone stew) loaded with bones, so I got takeout from Chungsilok in Sejong. There was a sign up advertising a takeout discount on gamjatang, and since I was already planning to take it home, seeing that sign made me weirdly happy.

What was the atmosphere like inside?

Walking in, there were way more people than I expected. Quite a few customers were eating in, so the place had a lively feel. Seeing so many people dining in person made me think I should come back and eat here in the restaurant next time.

How did the takeout order go?

I thought about eating in, but figured it'd be nicer to eat comfortably at home with the family that day, so I ordered takeout. I called ahead about 10 minutes before I planned to pick it up, and when I arrived, the food was already packed and ready to grab. Eating in is great, but if you want to eat comfortably at home, takeout works well too — especially with the discount.

• Address: 207 Hannuri-daero, Sejong, South Korea
• Hours: 10:30–21:00 (break time 14:30–17:00)
• Closed every Sunday

What came in the takeout order, and how much

Once I got home and started opening everything up, the portions were pretty generous. It wasn't just the gamjatang — perilla leaves, dumplings, glass noodles and potatoes were all packed separately too. I love sieuchi (dried radish greens), so I'd ordered extra. Having everything packed separately made it really convenient to put together at home. Everything was packed neatly too.

I transferred the gamjatang into a pot and brought it back to a boil. Once it started bubbling, that spicy smell rose up right away — gamjatang really does taste best hot off the stove. They'd packed the ground perilla seeds separately too, so I added those in while it simmered.

Bone count and spice level

I counted around 8 pieces of pork bone in there. Pretty generous for the small size. At first I worried it might not be enough for the whole family, but once it was all in the pot, it turned out to be plenty. The broth is spicy on the mild side by default. I like spicy food, so after trying the base broth I decided to kick it up a notch with some Vietnamese chili flakes I had at home. As expected, adding a bit more chili flakes made it way more to my taste. If you like spice, add more to taste — and if someone in your family can't handle heat, the base version is fine too.

I also added in the dumplings and glass noodles they'd packed separately. The glass noodles soaked up that spicy broth nicely, and the dumplings cooked up chewy, going great with the broth. The potatoes turned out soft and crumbly too, and eating them with the meat off the bones made for a really filling meal. I picked the meat off each bone piece by piece, and with the whole family digging in, it disappeared faster than I expected. Ha.

I figured there'd be leftovers with such a big portion, but nope — everyone said it was delicious and kept eating, and in the end the whole family ate their fill.

Didn't quite make it to fried rice

You can't have gamjatang without fried rice at the end, right? Looking at everything they'd packed, I figured I'd toss rice into the leftover broth at the end.

But we ate so much gamjatang that day that we never made it to the fried rice stage. Next time I'll have to save some room from the start specifically for the fried rice. Haha.

My takeaway from eating it as takeout

Getting this as takeout turned out to be convenient in a lot of ways. Calling ahead meant the food was ready when I arrived, and at home all I had to do was pour it into a pot and heat it up — nothing complicated. The portion was generous enough that the whole family ate well and left full. If you're in Naseong-dong, Sejong and craving something hot like Korean comfort food, haejangguk (hangover soup), or gamjatang, eating in at Chungsilok is a good option — but taking it home to share with family, like I did, works well too. Next time, given how packed the place was, I'd like to actually visit in person and eat it hot right off the stove. That's my takeout review of Chungsilok's gamjatang — a hearty, satisfying meal with the family.