Chilgok duck barbecue with mountain views: Yaksamgol Garden

Chilgok’s great duck spot, grilled on a stone griddle Yaksamgol Garden (약샘골가든)

Duck grilled on a stone griddle at a place with a completely insane view—who could resist that? No one. I heard there was a meat restaurant in Chilgok, Gyeongbuk where you grill on a stone griddle and the view is genuinely amazing, so I went last weekend!? It felt like I’d come back having eaten both the view and the meat... The whole time, all I kept saying was, “This is so good... The view is insane... This place is seriously great...” This is Yaksamgol Garden (약샘골가든), a great meat spot in Chilgok. (It is sponsored, but... it’s seriously delicious, so please stay till the end.)

Yaksamgol Garden location and what to check before visiting

⏱️ Hours Daily 11:30–24:00 Yaksamgol Garden is a stone-griddle meat restaurant in Yagmok, Chilgok, Gyeongbuk. It’s about 20 minutes from Gumi!

It’s halfway up a mountain, so I was wondering, “Is this really right?” But then I spotted the Yaksamgol Garden sign. If you follow navigation, it may direct you down another road near the destination, so be sure to look for the sign!

There’s plenty of parking too, so it seems like such a good place for a group gathering.

Outdoor-table views and reservations

The atmosphere here is seriously insane... Why am I only finding out about it now..?

There are indoor and outdoor tables, but I absolutely recommend an outdoor table here!!!! You can reserve through Naver Booking, even on the same day, so reserve an outdoor table before you visit!

I reserved before visiting, and they had already lit the fire in time for us. It takes quite a while for the stone griddle to heat up, so it was great that they got the fire going beforehand—we could start grilling right away!

Ordering stone-griddle duck

Here’s the menu at Yaksamgol Garden, a great Chilgok restaurant. As you’d expect from a stone-griddle meat restaurant, they have duck, pork belly, pork neck, plus sausages and shrimp that are great as extras. There are set menus where you can try everything too, so if you visit as a group, it would be nice to order a set and add individual items!

A whole duck is ₩45,000. For meat grilled on a stone griddle, duck is simply the best. I ordered one whole duck.

The side dishes arrive as soon as you order.

They set out the side dishes, oiled the stone griddle, and kept checking whether it was hot enough. They said the meat tastes better when the stone is properly heated... Let’s keep it a secret that the oil alone made my mouth waterㅠ Finally, the duck is going on!! You really need the sound for this too... Please watch it in the video.

I was sitting there waiting for the meat to cook, and this view was unreal too... I wanted to come at sunset, but I miscalculated the timing, so there was no sunset... Still, the view itself was healing. Since the stone griddle was properly heated, the meat cooked quickly.

You know it’s truly delicious when you grill onions and mushrooms in the duck fat and let them soak up all that oil too, right..?

They said Yaksamgol Garden makes its own kimchi too, and this kimchi is absolutely wild when you grill it...

I wrapped up the nicely grilled duck in ssam (leaf wraps), ate it with grilled kimchi, and had a proper feast. Writing this post makes me want it again... The grilled-kimchi-and-duck pairing is seriously insaneㅠ

Save duck for fried rice

Grilling meat on a stone griddle and not having fried rice afterward? How do people even do that..? We saved a little meat and asked them to stir-fry it with the rice, but the fried rice here is slightly mild. It’s even better if you grill kimchi and mix it in with the seasoned chives! (This is seriously wild... As a fried-rice fanatic, I highly recommend it.)

• ❗️ Before having fried rice, save some duck and grill some kimchi.
• Don’t forget, everyone.

When the fire died down a little, they put sweet potatoes into the wood fire too—the roasted sweet potato touch was the best.. I felt like my stomach was about to burst, but somehow this still went down!?! Such a perfect meal...

Yaksamgol Garden, a great restaurant in Chilgok, Gyeongbuk, is a meat restaurant where you grill on a stone griddle. With its open view and stone-grilled meat, it was full-on healing. Once it gets colder, it’ll be hard to enjoy that outdoor-dining vibe, so make sure you go before then! (I’m planning to revisit soon too... It’s just too delicious..🫶🏻)