Sindang-dong bar in Seoul, in on the second try: Gyeryugwan

A Sindang Station bar worth the wait — oak-fired neungi mushroom chicken and makgeolli at Gyeryugwan (계류관).

Sindang Station restaurant/bar: Sindang Gyeryugwan 🕖 Hours: Daily 16:00–23:00, last order 22:00 📍 Address: 15-17 Toegye-ro 87-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, units 102 & 103 🚙 Parking: No parking on site, use nearby public parking

Hi, this is Kiroto ꒰ᐢɞ̴̶̷ ·̫ ɞ̴̶̷ᐢ꒱ Sindang has a restaurant so hot it's been on shows like Fun-staurant and The Restaurant with the Line — if you don't know it, people will think you've been living under a rock. It's Gyeryugwan, where you can try all sorts of chicken dishes you rarely see elsewhere 🍗

I actually gave up on this place once before when I visited Sindang-dong and the wait was too long. This time I went back determined to eat here no matter what, and made it in on the second try..! 🎉 Oak-fired chicken, assorted chicken jeon (savory pancakes), makgeolli — I had it all, and the wait was worth every minute. Here's my review of Gyeryugwan, a Sindang-dong bar.

Where is Gyeryugwan, and how far is it from Sindang Station?

Gyeryugwan is a 1-minute walk from Exit 2 of Sindang Station — walk into the entrance of Hwanghak Market and turn left, and it's the first shop. There's no dedicated parking lot, but public parking is available 2–3 minutes on foot.

Right as you exit Sindang Station Exit 2, you'll see the entrance to Hwanghak Market. Walk in and turn left, and it's the first spot — easy to find.

There's a huge pile of firewood stacked in front of the shop, and just seeing that told me this was the real deal. It's a 1-minute walk from Sindang Station, so it's especially convenient by public transit.

If you're driving, there's no dedicated lot for the restaurant, so use a nearby parking area. There's public parking about 2–3 minutes away, like Hwanghak Children's Park public parking and Jung-gu Community Welfare Center parking — easy to park nearby and walk over 🅿️

Inside Gyeryugwan: full tables even close to last order

The interior of Gyeryugwan has a warm wood-tone atmosphere, and even though I went close to last order, it was packed with customers. There's a restroom inside the restaurant, which made it easy to sit and drink for a while.

The whole space has a cozy, warm wood-tone feel. I went near last order thinking it would be quieter by then, but it was still full of customers, which surprised me a bit 🙊

There are various table setups, so it works well for anything from a Sindang date to a group gathering.

Outside, you can watch whole chickens turning slowly over the oak fire. They bring it out right after you order, so you get to eat it at its best 🔥

One thing I always check when picking a bar is whether there's a restroom inside — Gyeryugwan has one inside, which made it easy to sit and drink for a long time.

Gyeryugwan's menu in Sindang-dong

What we ordered at Gyeryugwan

Gyeryugwan's signature dish is of course the oak-fired neungi (mushroom) chicken. But the menu goes way beyond that — enough to make you think "they make that out of chicken too?" 🐔 Assorted jeon, makguksu (cold noodles), dakgaejang (spicy chicken soup) — they use the whole bird, head to tail.

There's also a wide range of drinks including makgeolli, so it's a great pick for a Sindang Station bar where you can go from a hearty first round to a lighter second round all in one place 👏

Oak-fired neungi mushroom chicken, 23,000 won: a whole bird stuffed with neungi rice

Gyeryugwan's oak-fired neungi mushroom chicken is ₩23,000, and it comes as a whole chicken stuffed full with neungi mushroom rice. It's brined with spices, then smoked over oak wood for over an hour.

Yeolmu kimchi, napa cabbage kimchi, pickled onions, and various sauces to go with the oak-fired chicken — the side dishes felt more like a proper baeksuk (whole chicken soup) place than a bar.

The oak-fired neungi mushroom chicken. These days even a plain fried chicken costs over ₩20,000, so a big whole bird stuffed with neungi mushroom rice for ₩23,000 feels like incredible value to me.

The whole chicken is brined with spices then smoked over oak wood for over an hour, they said — you could smell the subtle smoky aroma the moment it arrived.

What surprised me most was the breast meat. Breast meat usually goes dry, but here it pulled apart soft along the grain while staying moist inside.

The thigh meat, needless to say, had that subtle smoky flavor woven through it and was tender with plenty of juice.

But the real kicker is the neungi rice inside. It's made with glutinous rice soaked in water used to rehydrate neungi and shiitake mushrooms, so it carries that fragrant mushroom aroma.

The chewy glutinous rice is delicious on its own, but topped with the seasoned seed relish side dish, you get a popping texture that makes it even better.

And it pairs perfectly with Gyeryugwan's makgeolli. It's not overly sweet, but pleasantly crisp and refreshing, so it cleans your palate nicely after the rich oak-fired chicken.

Assorted chicken jeon (pan-fried chicken): a different texture in every cut

Gyeryugwan's assorted chicken jeon (savory pancakes) uses different parts of the chicken fried as jeon. Pepper meatball jeon, chicken breast and cartilage jeon, heart, and thigh meat all had different textures.

Assorted chicken jeon. Not the jeon you'd normally picture — a unique dish using multiple parts of the chicken made into pan-fried patties.

The pepper meatball jeon in particular was stuffed plump with chicken meatball filling inside a pepper — the soft chicken combined with a spicy kick made it the best of the bunch..!

The jeon made with chicken breast and cartilage has a great crunchy texture, and the heart is wonderfully chewy.

The soft, moist thigh meat is perfect topped with tangy pickled onions, which cuts right through the richness. Even the same chicken has completely different charms depending on the cut..!

Chicken neck tangsuyuk, 15,000 won: the one dish to order with drinks

Gyeryugwan's chicken neck tangsuyuk is ₩15,000, made with the special cut of chicken neck meat that only yields about 20g per bird. The ginger-based sauce cuts the richness, so it was an endless loop of makgeolli pairing.

Chicken neck tangsuyuk. Getting sweet-and-sour chicken for just ₩15,000 — you'd be missing out if you didn't order this!!! If the oak-fired chicken is Gyeryugwan's signature dish, and I had to pick just one bar snack, I'd choose this chicken neck tangsuyuk 🥇

Made from the rare chicken neck cut that yields only about 20g per bird, the tangsuyuk has a really appealing bouncy texture.

The sauce has ginger in it, so it's fragrant and cuts through the richness completely. I ended up in an endless loop of a sip of makgeolli, a bite of tangsuyuk, repeat 😂

Is Gyeryugwan near Sindang Station worth the wait?

Sindang Station's Gyeryugwan, from the fragrant oak-fired neungi mushroom chicken to dishes using every part of the chicken, is clearly different from your typical restaurant — eating here, I could see exactly why it's been on so many TV shows.

With snacks that pair perfectly with makgeolli and enough food to make a full meal, I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for a Sindang-dong bar to cover both your first and second rounds in one spot.