Seolleung duck bar with thick-cut skin and Terra beer: Mirim Yangjang

The interior is clean and the menu isn't just the usual stuff, so it works fine for a date, taking your parents out, or a company dinner too.

What kind of place is Mirim Yangjang Seolleung Branch?

This Chinese dining bar sits in the basement level of a building on Seolleung-ro 86-gil and serves a range of Chinese dishes, including Peking duck. Peking duck takes at least 30 hours from drying to roasting to make one bird, so even though the ducks used in Korea aren't the same breed as in China and the taste isn't identical, the quality here is close enough that it's worth trying at least once if you're at Mirim Yangjang.

Mood and seating at Mirim Yangjang

Walking in, the modern interior catches your eye right away. It's not the dated-feeling space you'd expect from a typical Chinese restaurant — it's neatly put together, so the atmosphere works well for a meal or for a casual drink.

There's one large standalone table, and most of the rest of the seating is arranged for two or four people.

What we ordered: half Peking duck and a Terra beer

This time we ordered half a Peking duck and got egg noodles from a review event. For drinks, we went with Terra.

When you're eating Chinese food, a beer that's too heavy or too fragrant can sometimes mask the flavors, but Terra goes down clean, so it pairs well with Peking duck.

The peanuts come tossed in sugar and seasoning — the kind you keep reaching for even without thinking about it. The bean sprout pickles have a tangy edge and the sprouts stay crunchy, which works well alongside the richer dishes. Peanuts and bean sprout pickles come as banchan (side dishes), and the Peking duck arrives with scallion strips and cucumber.

Egg noodles served free through the review event

The egg noodles we got as a review perk paired nicely with the Chinese dishes. The bouncy texture particular to egg noodles, plus a soy-based savoriness, made it a good order to share alongside the Peking duck.

Half Peking duck: thicker-cut skin this time

Today's main event, the half Peking duck. This time the skin was cut noticeably bigger than last visit. Maybe because of that, the plate looks more like classic Peking duck right off the bat. The whole point of Peking duck — enjoying the skin and meat separately — came through much more clearly. Last time you needed to stack two pieces together to get that authentic taste; bigger pieces definitely help with that.

The skin felt a bit less crispy than last time, but personally I found it easier to eat through several pieces since it felt less greasy. If you're expecting that classic crackly Peking duck skin, this might disappoint slightly, but the reduced oiliness from the less-crispy skin made it easier to go through multiple pieces this time.

How to wrap the duck in a wheat pancake

The yajang sauce that comes with it is meant to go with scallion and cucumber. Just place the duck skin and meat on the wheat pancake, add scallion or cucumber, and you're set. The rich duck flavor gets cut through nicely by the crunch of cucumber and the aroma of scallion, cleaning up the palate.

An unexpected pairing: bean sprout pickles and sugared peanuts

Surprisingly, the bean sprout pickles worked great with the duck. The tangy flavor and crunchy texture cut through the duck's richness, making it a good pairing. I'd assumed it was just a standard side dish, but paired with the Peking duck it turned out to be a really good match.

Even paired with the egg noodles, the yajang sauce worked well too, tying everything together. It was also fun to dip the duck lightly in the sugar the peanuts had been tossed in — you might wonder how sugar and duck could possibly work, but the sweetness paired surprisingly well with the duck's savory, rich fattiness.

Is Mirim Yangjang worth a visit for Peking duck?

Overall, the most striking thing about this visit compared to the last was how much larger the duck skin was cut. Thanks to that, each piece let you really taste that signature skin-and-meat combo of Peking duck. It was slightly less crispy than before, but the reduced greasiness made it easier to eat through several pieces.

Best of all, there's fun in mixing and matching — not just yajang, scallion, and cucumber, but bean sprout pickles and sugared peanuts too. And since there's plenty you can order alongside the Peking duck, like fried rice, it's worth coming here if you really want to appreciate the duck itself.

A good spot in Seolleung for when you want a beer with something more like Peking duck rather than the usual jjajangmyeon or jjamppong. Order the half Peking duck to share with a group in the modern setting, and adding on extras like the egg noodles is a good call too.