Hongdae chicken feet, flying fish roe egg custard: Cheongnyeon 1987

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987: an outdoor chicken feet bar in Hongdae

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch is an outdoor-seating chicken feet bar on Donggyo-ro near Hongik University Station. The weather's gotten so nice and cool that it just calls for outdoor seating, and instead of the usual Euljiro/Hannam-dong outdoor spots, we tried one in the Yeonnam-dong/Hongdae area this time. And the food was seriously amazing ><

Starting my review of 'Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch' now!

We walked in around 5pm and the outdoor seats were already almost full!! Lucky to get a table. While waiting for our order, the playlist was all our generation's 2010s K-pop, so I was already hyped. We ordered the chicken feet combo — let me explain with the photos below

How spicy is level 1? A guide for the spice-shy

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch lets you adjust the spice to about 3 levels, and since we're weak with spice, we picked level 1 — Shin Ramyun level (it was exactly right). Side dishes were sliced pickled radish and bean sprout soup! They told us the bean sprouts are for mixing in if it gets too spicy! My heart was racing a little..

A sign that's easy to spot even from far away! And every table had disposable gloves and napkins ready, which made it so easy to pick the meat off the chicken feet. Disposable gloves are the best

What comes in the chicken feet combo, and is it enough for two?

This is what we ordered — the chicken feet combo! Somehow there was none of that artificial, stomach-burning spice, and it turns out they don't use capsaicin — the heat comes from red pepper flakes and cheongyang chili instead. The combo was really generous, plenty for two!! (Light eaters could probably even do 3–4 people)

Tulip chicken feet vs bone-in chicken feet: which to order

Ta-da~! There were two types of chicken feet — tulip chicken feet and bone-in chicken feet — and we went with tulip. Honestly, tulip chicken feet came off so smoothly with just chopsticks, no gloves even needed (it had rice cakes, cabbage, and quail eggs inside, and we added extra quail eggs). You can also pick toppings — Chinese glass noodles, bunmoja noodles, cheese, and more were all options!!

Fried chicken skin, great for cooling down between spicy bites, and a refreshing muk sabu (acorn jelly noodles)! Plus kalguksu noodles and a tuna mayo rice ball!!! And for wrapping bites, there's cheonsachae salad and perilla leaves with mayo (the cheonsachae was seasoned with pepper, so it wasn't greasy at all — perfectly seasoned)

Haha~~ Can you believe this is the first time we've eaten chicken feet out, after 7 years of dating? There's still this much we haven't tried. Let's~~~~ do it all, us!

The fried chicken skin wasn't greasy at all and was so crispy and delicious haha. My chicken-loving boyfriend ate it up too haha

The flying fish roe egg custard add-on: bigger than the pot it comes in

This is the flying fish roe steamed egg (egg custard) I added on. I love steamed egg and flying fish roe so much, and this one was so soft and big, piled generously with roe on top ㅠ Made me so happy, so delicious, so silky smooth.. The portion was even bigger and denser than a typical stone pot serving — total win!

The kalguksu was well seasoned with a good kick too, and the tuna mayo rice ball was delicious (we didn't eat it as a rice ball — we mixed it up bibimbap-style instead haha)

Eating this good food while listening to fun songs really made it feel like fall had arrived haha. So happy

Is Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 good for a date or a group night out?

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch seems like it'd be great for a date or for hanging out with friends too~!! What I liked most was that not everything had the same seasoning — each dish had its own sauce suited to it, and they all complemented each other really well. But seriously, isn't the combo so generous? Even women with smaller appetites could easily come as a group of 4 and have plenty!!

Ahh the kalguksu was genuinely so good ㅠ It had onion, cabbage, and chili in it, and that spicy kick was just great

The tuna mayo rice ball was textbook-perfect ~ Loaded generously with mayo, tuna, sesame seeds, seaweed, and chopped pickled radish, so we mixed it up and devoured it. So good ~

I've attached a map, so please check the location, it's very easy to find! Also a great area for a walk before or after eating ~