Hongdae restaurant for mala soup chicken feet: Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987

Hongdae mala soup chicken feet for a stressful day

I was stressed and craving something intense, so I went to Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch!

Mon–Thu: 16:00–00:30 Fri–Sun: 15:00–00:30

I visited around sunset, and the sparkling sign was so eye-catching that it was easy to find! The sign has such a strong 1987 feel to match the name too, haha.

It was nice that there were several tables for eating outside too. The weather has been warming up lately, so chicken feet with a breeze on your face—ahh.

Even the inside was decorated around the concept, so although it was small, it was fun to look around.

What was so unusual was that they hung tissues and plastic gloves from the ceiling. I almost wouldn’t have found them if I hadn’t looked up, hahaha. So fascinating~

The tables had pretty tent canopies too, which was fun, and I really felt like I’d stepped into another era.

Mala soup chicken feet: don’t underestimate the mild level

What I ordered was, ta-da!! Mala soup chicken feet. The mala aroma hit my nose the moment it arrived. I’m such a lightweight with spice, and wow... don’t underestimate the mild level. While eating, I couldn’t even tell whether I was eating chicken feet or drinking water. My friend kept drinking water too—it was chaos, haha.

The mala soup chicken feet came with a big lump of mala sauce, which you melt down to make the broth before eating it with the chicken feet! I ordered cheese because I was worried it would be spicy, but you absolutely have to eat it quickly ㅠㅠ I waited to eat it after the chicken feet, and it had all hardened, which was a shame. Still, my friend ate every bit of it happily, haha. Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch has all kinds of chicken-feet dishes, so I need to work my way through every single one! 🤤🤤

If you’re looking for spicy chicken feet in Hongdae, I recommend this place~ I thought the fried pieces on top were chicken, but they were actually fried chicken feet!!!! Fried chicken feet seem like something only true chicken-feet fans would enjoy. It’s probably a love-it-or-hate-it flavor? But the texture was seriously crispy x10000. I thought I was there filming ASMR, hahahahaha. Incredible..

The chicken feet had a strong mala flavor along with a pronounced smoky charcoal-grilled aroma! If you like intense food, I super, super recommend it 😀 It was my first time having soup chicken feet with bones, but digging out the bones relieved my stress and made me focus so hard that all my random thoughts disappeared.

The tuna and little pieces of danmuji (pickled radish) really added texture.

Pairing tuna rice balls with flying-fish-roe steamed egg

I also ordered tuna rice balls, an essential pairing with chicken feet!! This place is great for rice balls too.. Honestly, I’d want to come just for the rice balls, not only the chicken feet. Maybe because there was lots of mayonnaise, and the amount of rice was legendary.. They also gave us cool chilled bean sprout soup for free, and it was perfect for my spicy mouth 😁😁😁😁 The crunchy, fresh bean sprouts were delicious.

I ordered the flying-fish-roe steamed egg to soothe my stomach after the mala chicken feet, and it was loaded with roe, which went so well with the egg. Hot tip!!!!! Eat half the roe with the steamed egg, then wrap the other half with the rice ball. Seriously, heaven 💫💫 It makes the rice balls even more moist~

They have a review event too!! They give you French fries, apparently.. I promised myself I’d definitely claim them next time.

A distinctive vintage pojangmacha-style interior

There were cute little things on the walls that looked like they could have existed in the ’90s, and so many guests had left doodles behind 😍🤣 It had a vintage feel too!~

The ceiling sparkled too—it really felt like an outdoor pojangmacha (Korean street tent bar). I think this was my first time at a restaurant with such unusual decor~ It was nice that the staff refilled the side dishes if it looked like we were running low.

Next time, I’m going to add a huge amount of cheese again~ Recommended for chicken-feet lovers!!!!! It was also nice for chatting with people I know in a private-feeling space, and eating chicken feet to blow off stress was such a fun experience that I really want to go back.