Chuncheon dakgalbi restaurant with spicy doenjang jjigae: Hwagye Dakgalbi

One beautifully sunny day in September, our family was traveling around Chuncheon after starting in Yeongwol, Gangwon. We had to wrap things up with dakgalbi! You absolutely have to eat dakgalbi when you come to Chuncheon, right? After visiting Legoland, we found this great dakgalbi spot in Chuncheon!

Visiting Hwagye Dakgalbi in Sinbuk, Chuncheon

Hwagye Dakgalbi (화계닭갈비), a local favorite dakgalbi restaurant in Chuncheon, sits right at the beginning of a street packed with dakgalbi places. Parking was easy in the huge lot behind the restaurant.

The space that welcomed us as soon as we walked into Hwagye Dakgalbi. Wow... I had never seen a dakgalbi restaurant this big and grand! Hwagye Dakgalbi has two buildings: one for teppan-style dakgalbi and one for charcoal-grilled dakgalbi. Just let them know which one you want when you arrive, and the owner will show you to your table. We were having charcoal dakgalbi, so we were taken to the space on the right.

Charcoal dakgalbi menu and neat side dishes

Hwagye Dakgalbi's menu looked delicious just at a glance! They also have set menus, which makes it nice to take care of both the dakgalbi and your meal at once. The dakgalbi comes in charcoal, soy sauce, and gochujang (Korean red chili paste) versions, and takeout is available too—great for the road while traveling! There were lots of tempting meal options as well!

We ordered at the kiosk, and the side dishes prepared by the owner were the definition of neat and fresh! We had spent such a long time at Legoland that we were truly starving. From the dried radish strips that immediately caught my eye to the pickled gungchae and young-radish kimchi, I ate half a bowl of rice with just these. So good! The pickled onions were clean and refreshing too, and I loved how fresh the onions were!

Time to grill the salt charcoal dakgalbi properly

Among the charcoal dakgalbi options, we ordered the salt dakgalbi. It arrived with plenty of seasoning scattered over the top, and the meat looked wonderfully tender and soft. The best! It looked so delicious even before we started! This tender-looking dakgalbi was ready to meet the heated grill properly!

Once the charcoal came in and the meat hit the grill, the sizzle marked the start of a very happy time! Grilling up all that tender chicken thigh over charcoal—what happiness!

Spicy, rich doenjang jjigae

Meanwhile, the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and rice we ordered arrived. The stew was brought out bubbling hot, spicy and full-bodied, with lots of vegetables inside, so I finished a bowl of rice in no time! Seriously, how many bowls did we eat here? Maybe six bowls between the whole family!

Only the very end of the dakgalbi had a bone; the rest was boneless, so it was so easy to eat. Keep turning it often on both sides until it turns golden, and it is almost ready! Watching that delicious meat cook was making me so happy. I wanted to eat it already!

Once it was cooked enough to eat, we simply cut it into bite-sized pieces. The meat had cooked up golden and incredibly tender—it looked delicious to anyone! Now that it was cooked this beautifully, it was time to make a proper ssam (leaf wrap)!

Put a piece of meat on fresh wrap greens, then add ssamjang (savory dipping paste), dried radish strips, and pickled onions, and you have the perfect ssam! I took a big bite, and the tender dakgalbi was nicely browned, soft, and full of smoky charcoal flavor. The crisp texture of the onions on top was spot-on too. We found a good one! The chicken was so tender that I kept eating without realizing it, then thoroughly picked the last bit from the remaining leg bone. We ordered more and grilled more too. I think I could easily eat three servings by myself!

A space with a huge tree and outdoor tables

Between the buildings at Hwagye Dakgalbi, this Chuncheon dakgalbi favorite, stands one enormous tree. It is so grand just to look at that it could be called the restaurant's signature space. Seeing tables outdoors too, I think it could easily accommodate a very large group gathering! Hwagye Dakgalbi was truly delicious, had a great atmosphere, and was so kind that it left me in a wonderful mood.

When night came, beautiful lights switched on outside, making for such an atmospheric end to the day. The food was so delicious and everyone was kind—Hwagye Dakgalbi was good enough to make me say we had really eaten Chuncheon dakgalbi properly! At Hwagye Dakgalbi, a local favorite dakgalbi restaurant in Chuncheon, try a full charcoal-grilled dakgalbi meal!