Mapo duck restaurant with minari pancake: Gongjung Dodeok

As the weather gets cooler, it becomes that season when you just keep craving a hearty meat meal, haha. Today I went to Gongjung Dodeok, a great duck spot in Gongdeok where you can enjoy roasted duck and marinated duck jumulleok all at once!! 🦆🔥 Isn’t the name so clever? Haha.

A cute duck welcomes you right from the entrance! The outdoor patio tables were quite spacious and nice. I went at lunch, so I ate inside!! (Too bad.)

The Gongjung Half-and-Half Set for roasted and marinated duck

I absolutely recommend going for the Gongjung Half-and-Half Set here! You can enjoy mild roasted duck and smoky marinated duck jumulleok (spicy stir-fried marinated duck) together on one table, so it is fun to switch between them, haha. It also comes with minari (water celery) and boneless duck gamjatang, so the set itself is really well put together!

As you would expect from a place that does Korean food well, the interior had a hanok-inspired style too, haha. It is so neat and pretty, right? There were tables for two and four, and everything was really clean!

Menu

What we ordered today

• Gongjung Half-and-Half Set: half marinated duck jumulleok + half roasted duck + minari + Gongjung Dodeok boneless duck gamjatang
• Barley shrimp minari pancake

The basic table setting

It comes with perilla leaves, pickled garlic stems, ssammu (pickled radish wraps), green-onion kimchi, perilla-seed sauce, and Cheongyang chili mayo sauce! Each person gets a small plate, chopsticks, a spoon, and a cup, haha.

The marinated duck jumulleok and roasted duck

The roasted duck and marinated duck jumulleok sat side by side in one pan, with minari right in between them! It looked delicious at first glance alone, haha. And there were potatoes too!! It was seriously such a hearty spread!

The mild roasted duck let the duck’s naturally nutty flavor shine through, so it went down tenderly even on its own. The sweet-spicy seasoning had soaked right into the marinated duck jumulleok, so I kept reaching for it, haha. Eating it with the minari on top added a lovely fragrance and kept it clean without any greasiness! The Cheongyang chili mayo sauce that comes with it was, no words needed... so good, haha.

Boneless duck gamjatang that was so easy to eat

After we had eaten some of the meat, the boneless duck gamjatang (spicy potato stew) appeared! It is made with only duck meat and no bones, so it was wonderfully easy to eat without the work of picking meat off bones. The deeply simmered broth was packed with duck meat, and from the very first spoonful, I could instantly tell why this place is so popular. There were plenty of oyster mushrooms, minari, perilla leaves, and potatoes too. It was spicy, warming, and deeply flavored—truly perfect!!

Barley shrimp minari pancake and daytime drinks

And then, the barley shrimp minari pancake we added as a side! The crisp-fried pancake was filled with nutty little barley shrimp and crunchy minari, so every bite burst with savory flavor as you chewed, haha. It felt like the perfect pairing for a glass of makgeolli or soju! Can you see how generously packed it is with barley shrimp???

In the end, I could not resist a daytime drink. I ordered soju right away and ahhh... Crisp barley shrimp, fragrant minari, and then a cool sip of soju to wash it straight down—there is no other heaven than this. I was so happy. Overall, every single menu item was high quality, and we cleared it all so deliciously, haha.

What I liked about Gongjung Dodeok

• A satisfying half-and-half set that lets you enjoy roasted duck and marinated duck jumulleok together
• Boneless duck gamjatang that is easy to eat
• A savory, crisp barley shrimp minari pancake