Goyang duck baeksuk for two with broth refills, ₩45,000: Guil Baeksuk

Belatedly making up for the boknal (dog days of summer) I missed ..❕✨ I went looking for a body-recovery restaurant near Seoul and found 'Guil Baeksuk Haengju Fortress Branch,' located near Haengju Fortress in Goyang.

Guil Baeksuk Haengju Fortress Branch: hours and location

A baeksuk (whole poultry soup) and samgyetang restaurant in Deogyang-gu, Goyang :: Guil Baeksuk Haengju Fortress Branch

• Hours | Daily 11:00 - 20:30
• Last order | 19:45
• Takeout / reservation / group dining available
• 🚖 Parking available

A Haengju Fortress restaurant where you can properly restore your energy with duck baeksuk and a Korean set meal — I'd recommend 'Guil Baeksuk Haengju Fortress Branch' as a great spot for family gatherings.

Parking at Guil Baeksuk and how busy it gets

🅿️ < Restaurant exterior and parking > Right in front of the entrance there's a dedicated lot exclusively for the restaurant, so parking is convenient at Guil Baeksuk! When I visited there were plenty of spots open, but since the lot itself isn't very large, it could get a bit tight during busy times like weekend lunch hours or holidays.

Guil Baeksuk Haengju Fortress Branch 🏰 was originally '(the former) Sopung,' a restaurant known for dried yellow croaker, seasoned crab, and octopus, that has been newly renovated into a duck baeksuk recovery-food restaurant. Even the name has changed!

Inside the restaurant: seating for groups

< Interior > Stepping inside, the space has a cozy, clean Korean restaurant interior with 2- and 4-person tables plus larger tables further inside, making it a good Goyang restaurant for group visits too!

What comes in the hwangchil duck baeksuk set for two (45,000 won)

Guil Baeksuk's signature dish is 🍗 hwangchil duck baeksuk 🍗 — a hearty recovery-food course made up of duck meat, sweet rice, and duck bone broth. I ordered the hwangchil duck baeksuk set for two at ₩45,000. This year I somehow made it all the way from early boknal to late boknal without ever tasting baeksuk or samgyetang..ㅜㅜ

Not long after ordering, the hwangchil duck baeksuk arrived!! It came with a variety of side dishes — dongchimi (watery radish kimchi), seasoned eggplant, cucumber kimchi, pickled perilla leaves, kimchi, and more haha. Along with it came the duck bone broth in an unheated hot pot and the already-deboned duck meat, plus sweet rice on the side — such a hearty spread!!

How the deboned steamed duck and hwangchil bone broth taste

The duck meat came already trimmed for easy eating! I loved that I could just eat the meat straight away without having to debone it myself like regular baeksuk 😌 There was no dryness at all — it was tender and moist. It's even better eaten together with the accompanying chive pancake 🥢.

The duck bone broth arrived on the side like a hot pot! It's simmered for a long time with hwangchil (lacquer tree extract) for a rich brew. The broth starts off clear and light, but the longer it simmers, the more that deep, rich flavor comes through 🥄 I kept scooping up the broth haha. Couldn't stop reaching for the spoon..

Can you get a broth refill at Guil Baeksuk?

We enjoyed the broth so much we ended up finishing it all off haha, so I asked the owner for a refill! Thanks to that we got to enjoy that hot, rich, thick broth all the way to the end. Felt like I properly restored my energy, hoho.

Simmering the sweet rice into porridge

For the sweet rice that comes with the set-for-two, the owner suggested a method — first ladle some broth over the rice and eat it moistened bit by bit, then later put it into the bone broth and simmer it down into a thick porridge. Eating it that way warmed me up from the inside out — my energy felt fully recharged 🔋❤️🔥, such a satisfying, hearty finish.

* If you feel the rice portion is small, add yakbap (sweet rice, ₩5,000) to enjoy an even more filling meal.

Self-serve side dish bar and coffee machine

At the self-serve bar on one side of the restaurant, you can take as much as you want of the side dishes originally set out for you. (Disposable aprons are also provided.)

There's also a coffee machine so you can grab a cup on your way out — a great restaurant for family gatherings in Goyang. If you're looking for a recovery-food restaurant to restore some tired energy, take a trip out near Seoul to Haengju Fortress in Goyang and give 'Guil Baeksuk' a try.