Gangnam Korean restaurant for charcoal dakgalbi: Yanggyegok

When you want plenty of chicken, not a griddle full of extras

When you think of dakgalbi (stir-fried chicken), you usually picture chicken, cabbage, rice cakes, sweet potato, and noodles all sizzling together on a huge iron griddle, right? It is fun to eat all those ingredients at once, but sometimes I just want lots more chicken itself. That is when charcoal dakgalbi comes to mind. This time, Nyong and I visited Yanggyegok (양계옥), a meat restaurant near Yangjae Station where you can grill dakgalbi over charcoal.

A retro, lively restaurant atmosphere

Yanggyegok was just a short walk from Exit 4 of Yangjae Station. The exterior had a retro look with an extra spoonful of hip flair.

Inside, it was bustling like a pocha (Korean tent bar), and that atmosphere actually got us in the mood. If you prefer an evening of chatting and grilling together over a quiet meal, it would work nicely for a Yangjae date, too. That day, a group of international guests was enjoying dakhanmari (whole chicken soup). It looked so suited to the restaurant's vibe that I thought I might try dakhanmari next time.

A chicken specialty restaurant with a three-generation story

According to the restaurant introduction, Yanggyegok began with a grandmother who ran a gukbap (rice soup) restaurant at Pungyang Traditional Market in Yecheon, Gyeongbuk, in 1970! Her home-style cooking, shaped by looking after solo diners like family and the belief that “honesty is the iron rule in the food business,” was passed through the father and on to a third generation. That made me feel I could enjoy it with even more confidence. With a broad range of chicken dishes, from dakgalbi to gomtang and kalguksu, it also felt like there were plenty of Korean-menu options for anyone looking for a good restaurant in Dogok-dong.

What comes on the Yanggyegok Platter, and how the charcoal dakgalbi tasted

We ordered the Yanggyegok Platter. It lets you enjoy salt dakgalbi, gochujang dakgalbi, chicken cartilage, and seasoned grilled deodeok (Codonopsis root) all at once! It was great for those times when you cannot decide on just one flavor: you can compare the salt and gochujang marinades, then switch things up with the cartilage and deodeok in between~

The restaurant says it uses fresh chicken butchered that day. Maybe that was why, but the chicken itself was neither tough nor dry; it had a firm yet juicy texture. Being able to grill such good-quality dakgalbi over charcoal makes this a total recommendation for a meat restaurant near Yangjae Station! At first, the staff kindly cut and grill the chicken for you~ Once it is cooked to a certain point, you can cut it up and eat it as you like!

Each bite of chicken had a springy bounce, with a gentle charcoal aroma. The moisture held inside the meat made the clean flavor of the salt dakgalbi come through even more clearly~

The gochujang dakgalbi had a sweet-and-spicy marinade, making it quite different from the salt-grilled version. Alternating between the two was less monotonous than eating only one flavor. The crunchy chicken cartilage was also so good among the tender chicken!

Four sauces and a fish roe wrap combination

There were four sauces served alongside: spicy sauce, wasabi mayo, sweet sauce, and chipotle. Nyong especially loved the wasabi mayo and kept reaching for it~

Dipping the chicken in each sauce was nice, but the wrap combination suggested by Yanggyegok was especially memorable. We layered pickled radish on a perilla leaf, then added well-cooked dakgalbi, flying fish roe, and Yanggyegok's special mayo sauce. The fragrant perilla leaf, tangy radish, charcoal-scented chicken, and little pops of roe went so well together. The mayo sauce brought everything together with a nutty richness, so please try this combination at least once! Even with the same dishes, it was fun to create so many combinations with the sauces and fish roe wraps, so I think it would be perfect for a Yangjae date, too~

Seasoned deodeok and fish roe rice balls

It was also unusual that the Yanggyegok Platter came with seasoned grilled deodeok~ The fragrant, crisp deodeok went wonderfully with the chicken. It reminded me of having a full deodeok grilled-meal set after a hike long ago, so it was especially lovely to have again after such a long time.

The flying fish roe rice balls were nutty and savory-salty, making them a good match for the boldly seasoned dakgalbi. After focusing on the chicken, one more bite of rice ball made the meal feel filling, too. With several Korean dishes set out together rather than dakgalbi alone, it also seemed well suited to a Korean meal in Dogok-dong.

Chicken gomtang broth and a generous chicken kalguksu

When you order the Yanggyegok Platter, chicken gomtang broth comes with it~ I did not realize a complimentary broth was included, and because I also wanted something warm and soupy, I ordered chicken kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup)! Since the soup dishes can overlap, it would be good to know this before choosing your order~

The chicken kalguksu was generously portioned, and I loved the clean, deep flavor of the warm chicken broth. Shredded chicken and vegetable toppings sat on top of the noodles, making it look even more appetizing.

It would be lovely for ending a charcoal-grilled meal with something warm, but I also thought it would be perfectly fine to come for chicken kalguksu alone at lunch~

If you are looking for Korean meal dishes at a good Dogok-dong restaurant, take a look at the chicken kalguksu, too. The menu also had jeyuk-bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork) and gyeyuk-bokkeum. When I asked what gyeyuk-bokkeum was, a staff member explained that you can think of it as a chicken version of pork-based jeyuk-bokkeum~

For days when you want to enjoy dakgalbi itself

Yanggyegok feels like the kind of place that will come to mind when I want to enjoy dakgalbi itself rather than iron-griddle dakgalbi! Alternating between salt and gochujang dakgalbi, enjoying the varied textures of chicken cartilage and seasoned deodeok, then finishing with wraps that pop with fish roe made the platter feel so varied~ If you are looking for a meat restaurant near Yangjae Station where you can grill meat over charcoal, or want a lively, retro Yangjae date spot, it is worth a look. I already want to come back next time for dakhanmari!