Gwangmyeong chicken stew with a melted cheese topping: Sindaebakjip

A really delicious dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken) place opened up in Gwangmyeong! It's Sindaebakjip, a hotspot near Gwangmyeong Sageori Station. The original name was Sindaebakjip, but it's now been renamed Sindaebakjip. It's a place where you eat dakdoritang served in a giant cast-iron pot lid, and it was seriously delicious.

Where Sindaebakjip Gwangmyeong Sageori Branch is and when it opens

📍 Location 📍 Address: 992 Oriro, 101-102, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Subway: 95m from Exit 6, Gwangmyeong Sageori Station, Line 7

💡 Hours 💡 Daily 11:00 – 23:00

🚗 Parking 🚗 On-site parking available (the building's lot is small, so using the Gwangmyeong public parking lot makes parking easier)

🍴 Delivery & Takeout 🍴 Delivery (Baemin, Coupang Eats), takeout and pickup available

It's already a famous spot in Gwangmyeong, so there seems to be quite a wait in the evenings. That's why there's a waiting area set up in front of the restaurant.

Inside Sindaebakjip: the room and the self-serve side dish bar

The interior has a bright atmosphere, and there are tables big enough for groups. It seems like a great spot for gatherings, so it's probably packed with customers in the evening.

There's a self-serve side dish bar, so if you run out of banchan (side dishes), you can just grab more from there!

Disposable aprons are also at the self-serve bar. Feel free to use them.

Sindaebakjip menu and what we ordered

There's a detailed sign at this Gwangmyeong Sageori hotspot explaining why they insist on cooking everything in a cast-iron pot lid, haha. Also, there's a review event running right now where you can get free sari toppings (except potato sari), so keep that in mind!

Besides the main dish, there's also potato pancake on the menu, and a huge variety of sari (add-in) options — glass noodle sari, potato sari, ramyeon sari, rice cake sari, and more.

We ordered the aged kimchi cast-iron dakdoritang for 3 (₩55,000) + eomuk (fish cake) skewers x2 (₩2,000) + cheese sari (₩4,000) + rice x2 (₩2,000) + self-fried rice (₩2,000).

The three side dishes

This Gwangmyeong Sageori hotspot serves three types of side dishes: pickled cabbage, baek-kimchi (white kimchi), and pickled garlic scapes — a nice variety to enjoy.

Aged kimchi cast-iron dakdoritang for 3, 55,000 won

I was so amazed when this came out in a giant cast-iron pot lid at first! Since it comes fully cooked, the advantage is that you can dig in right away.

The aged kimchi (mukeunji) is genuinely generous. I ordered it thinking it might taste better than regular dakbokkeumtang, and now I understand why it's the signature dish.

They cut the long, large pieces of aged kimchi for you like this, which makes it much easier to eat.

The chicken legs come out in a number matching your party size, so everyone can share evenly. There's plenty of meat on the bone too, so eating it is properly satisfying.

Every piece of chicken has plenty of meat on it, so tearing into it is really enjoyable. The sauce is well soaked in too, making it extremely tasty.

Potato sari comes included by default, along with carrots, onions, and scallions. The potatoes come out well-cooked, so they're fluffy and have a really great texture.

Adding the eomuk skewers in was fun too, since the sauce soaks right into them. You can eat them spicy, and eating right off the skewer just feels right.

The aged kimchi is simmered thoroughly, so it's really delicious. It has that satisfying quality of tearing it apart with your hands, and it pairs perfectly with the chicken. If you visit this Gwangmyeong Sageori hotspot, you absolutely have to order the aged kimchi version.

Wrapping it up with rice like this is basically a rice thief — the flavor makes you want to keep eating, it's that addictive. Make sure to order the rice too, and definitely eat it together!

Too spicy? Add the cheese topping for 4,000 won

We felt the sauce was a bit spicy, so we added the cheese sari. They sprinkle mozzarella cheese right on top like this! It makes everything nuttier and richer, and you can also sprinkle it over the fried rice, so keep that in mind.

Finishing with self-fried rice and its nurungji crust

It's called self-fried rice, but the owner actually fried it for us! They leave a bit of the sauce behind and fry it up deliciously right in the cast-iron pot lid.

They carefully flip and press the rice so that nurungji (crispy scorched rice) forms in the pot lid. Once it's crisped up enough, you eat it — it's a real treat too. You absolutely have to finish with the fried rice!

One bite of the rice fried in that spicy, delicious sauce and the meal wraps up perfectly, haha. Because it's cooked in a cast-iron pot lid, the nurungji forms nicely too, giving it great texture — you can eat it up really happily. I'd recommend this Gwangmyeong Sageori hotspot, Sindaebakjip, formerly Sindaebakjip!