Duck BBQ in Gwacheon, 1-minute grill by the house guide: Deo Chadol

What is Deo Chadol, the duck BBQ restaurant near Seonbawi Station?

Deo Chadol (더차돌) is a duck BBQ spot on Dwitgol 2-ro, near Exit 3 of Seonbawi Station in Gwacheon 🦆 Under the sunset sky, a gray building glowed with long yellow lights and cars were lined up in the front yard, so the moment we arrived I thought, "this place has to be good," haha

Here's the inside of Deo Chadol 🏠 There are brown leather sofa seats by the big windows, and every table has a square grill. The wide hall at the back has long tables running along it, and the wall has a golden wooden painting. There are pink baby chairs too, so it looks good for family gatherings. With tables this long, I could invite all my relatives and still have room, haha

How to order at Deo Chadol and the couple set price

You order on the tablet at your table, and we went with the couple set at ₩55,000 💑 A notice on the tablet says meal menus can be ordered until 8 pm on weekdays and until 3 pm on weekends.

Next to it were a review event (write a review in the Naver café and get a ₩30,000 Deo Chadol gift voucher) and another one giving iced persimmon if you save the place on Naver, Kakao Map or T map. The moment ₩55,000 for the couple set showed on screen, tonight's dinner dilemma was over too, haha

What's at the Deo Chadol self-serve bar?

The Deo Chadol self bar has side dishes, wrap vegetables, sauces and cutlery all in one spot 🥗 A "SELF BAR" sign hangs over a stainless steel fridge bar, with "Self bar | Take only what you'll eat" written below. It feels reassuring every time you go for a refill. Of course, we have to follow the "only what you'll eat" rule, haha

These are the utensils and sauces 🍴 Stainless steel containers hold spoons, forks, scissors and tongs in separate slots, and next to them labeled sauce bottles stand in height order. The red-capped sauce bottles lined up side by side looked just like students at morning assembly, haha

Wrap vegetables and pickled radish wraps (ssammu) are at the self bar too 🥬 Fresh lettuce and kale are piled high, and the next section has pickled perilla leaves, white ssammu and kimchi. With greens this lush, I came for meat and almost turned into a herbivore, haha

Side dishes and table sauces at Deo Chadol

The basic sides at Deo Chadol are cabbage salad, lettuce, pickled perilla leaves, ssamjang (wrap sauce), garlic and kimchi 😋 The sauce-drizzled cabbage salad and lettuce come in a big bowl and the rest are neatly set out. The table was full before the meat even arrived, as if the side dishes were greeting us with "welcome~", haha

The table has the house special meat sauce and salt 🧂 Of two silver containers, one is labeled "pink salt" and next to it stands the orange special meat sauce. Subtle salt, bold special sauce: today's loyal helpers for the duck, haha

Deo Chadol's tips for enjoying duck BBQ

The Deo Chadol tablet shows "Tips for eating duck deliciously!" 💡 For the duck brisket BBQ, grill it golden, take the first bite with only the special sauce, then eat it with the chives, bean sprouts, mushrooms and pickled perilla leaves on the grill.

For the raw marinated duck (jumulleok), flip it often as you stir-fry it, eat the rice cakes first, put ssammu on a perilla leaf with meat and garlic and wrap it, and finish with the must-have fried rice. I never studied this hard, but I memorized these tips diligently, haha 📝

How long should you grill duck brisket?

Duck brisket BBQ at Deo Chadol takes about 1 minute per side ⏱️ In the couple set the duck brisket comes first and the staff put it on the grill: four rolled-up pink strips of duck on the black grill, a pile of minari (water dropwort) beside them, and big chunks of onion and mushroom underneath. The duck lying there curled up looked like it was taking a nap under a blanket, haha 😴

Flipping them one by one with tongs, the pink duck turned golden in no time. Whole garlic cloves were on the grill too, and a nutty smell drifted up. Only 1 minute, so the short wait is perfect for an impatient person like me, haha

Here's the nicely grilled duck brisket 😍 The rolled-up meat opened out fully, golden at the edges and juicy inside. The round grilled shapes looked like blooming flowers, so I took photos before eating 📸

Dipping in the special sauce and wrapping in minari

We dipped the duck brisket in the special sauce and wrapped it in grilled minari 😋 I picked up a piece with chopsticks and dipped it in the special sauce, and it soaked right in. Then I wrapped it in grilled minari and popped it in whole, and the fragrant minari and nutty duck were a perfect match. The minari was hugging the duck so tightly I wondered if the two were dating, haha 💚

Doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) in the couple set

The Deo Chadol couple set comes with doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) too 🍲 Big pieces of tofu, zucchini and potato sit in a black earthenware pot, with steam bubbling up from the broth. A spoonful between bites of meat resets your mouth, haha

It's packed with ingredients 😊 When I scooped it with a ladle, tofu and zucchini came up one after another and the deep orange broth filled the ladle. On a cold day like these, nothing beats it, really, haha ❄️

Next course after duck brisket: spicy marinated duck

In the Deo Chadol couple set, once you finish the duck brisket, the marinated duck (jumulleok) comes out 🔥 The duck in red seasoning is loaded with rice cakes, cabbage, onion, enoki and king oyster mushrooms, and whole garlic and onion sit on one side of the grill. I thought the brisket had filled me up, but the moment I saw the jumulleok, my stomach grew another room, haha

I filmed the mixing too 🎬 The red seasoning sizzles on the grill, and as the spatula stirs it, the cabbage and enoki get coated in sauce. It's a 10-second clip, but I could almost hear the sizzle and got hungry, haha

The rice cakes in the marinated duck cook first, so we ate them first 😋 The rice cake I picked up with chopsticks was chewy and coated in red sauce, while duck and vegetables simmered on the grill. The tip said to eat the rice cakes first, so this isn't eating, it's following the rules, haha

Here are the well-cooked meat and vegetables 🤤 Soft cabbage, onion, rice cakes and garlic are mixed in among the sauce-soaked duck. The red seasoning glistened so much that my spoon moved on its own, haha

The marinated duck is perfect wrapped in lettuce or ssammu 🥬 I piled duck, rice cake and garlic on lettuce for one big wrap, and also put meat on white ssammu for a tangy wrap. One warning: it's super hot, so watch your palate. Mine already got burned once, haha 🔥

Self-cooked fried rice to finish, shaped like a heart

For the Deo Chadol self fried rice, leave just a little marinated duck on the grill and add the rice 🍚 Rice, chopped kimchi, seaweed flakes and green wrap vegetables come piled in a black bowl. The tip called fried rice a "must," so even full, I couldn't put my spoon down, haha

Then you mix the fried rice into the leftover sauce, haha 🥄 With two wooden spatulas I swished the sauce and rice together, and the seaweed flakes and vegetables turned redder and redder. Holding a spatula in each hand, I felt like a teppanyaki chef 🍳

I made a heart shape too ❤️ I pressed the fried rice down with the spatula to shape it, but making a heart is harder than it looks. I never expected to take one fried rice this seriously, haha

Haha, so embarrassing 😳 The finished heart fried rice came out a bit squashed, so it's awkward to insist it's a heart. But with the eyes of the heart, it's definitely a heart. Love is about feeling, not shape, haha 💕

Ice cream for dessert and the celebrity autograph wall

Deo Chadol also sells ice cream after your meal 🍦 Colorful ice cream cups sit in the freezer with a ₩4,000 price tag beside them. I was full and ₩4,000 felt like a lot, so I held back, but I heard you get a free ice cream coupon if you turn on notifications on Naver Map, so I'll definitely grab it next time, haha

Like any famous spot, Deo Chadol's wall is full of celebrity autographs ✍️ One whole wall is covered in gold frames, each packed with photos and signatures. On Naver Map I also saw a record of the place appearing on the TV show 2TV Saengsaeng Jeongbo for its duck bulgogi. At this point, one wall is Deo Chadol's official certificate, haha 👍

Is there parking at Deo Chadol?

Deo Chadol has a large gravel car park, so it's easy to come by car 🚗 Cars sit side by side, and the yellow-lit restaurant stretches out beside them. With such a big car park, it was honestly a perfect restaurant. Eating well and then having no parking worries made it a perfect day to the very end 😊

Deo Chadol near Seonbawi Station in Gwacheon was a duck BBQ spot where you can enjoy a course from duck brisket to marinated duck and fried rice 🦆 The self bar is tidy, and with a wide hall and baby chairs it's good for family gatherings or dates too. If you're looking for a duck restaurant near Gwacheon or Seoul Land, do stop by 😊