Hongdae chicken-feet restaurant with terrace seats: Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987

After a long week, my friend and I were seriously craving chicken feet, so we went looking and ended up here. If you’re also searching for a great chicken-feet spot in Hongdae—especially if you’re after an outdoor tent-bar vibe in autumn like this—I think this review will be helpful!

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch: location and parking

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch (청년닭발1987 홍대점) is on the first floor at 218-1 Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It is about 239 m away, a three-minute walk from Exit 3 of Hongik University Station. Hours are 4:00 PM to 12:30 AM the next day Monday through Thursday, 3:00 PM to 1:30 AM the next day on Friday and Saturday, and 3:00 PM to 12:30 AM the next day on Sunday. There is no parking in the building, but a public parking lot is a two-minute walk away and costs ₩3,000 per hour.

Pocha-style indoor seating and an outdoor terrace

Even though Cheongnyeon Dakbal is indoors, it has such a proper pocha (Korean street-bar) vibe that the drinks just go down so easily. The playlist is full of songs you’d want to belt out at karaoke too, so the atmosphere is really alive.

There are 10 indoor tables and 5 outdoor tables, and in autumn weather like this, the terrace would be so nice, right? But even when I went at 6 PM on a Friday, it was nearly full and there were no terrace seats at all. If you want to eat outside, I recommend getting there a little early.

Each table also had tissues and disposable plastic gloves ready to use.

Cheongnyeon Dakbal Platter menu and spice levels

The Cheongnyeon Dakbal Platter is ₩42,000, and you can choose the spice level. Level 1 is Shin Ramyun, level 2 is Buldak 볶음면, and level 3 is Nuclear Buldak. You can also choose bone-in, boneless, or tulip-cut chicken feet.

My friend and I are both total weaklings with spice, but even though we ordered level 1, it was hot enough that we added corn cheese. Still, when you consider that the platter in the ₩40,000 range includes chicken feet, fried chicken skin, kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), rice balls, and muksabal (cold acorn-jelly soup), it is really good value.

The chicken-feet platter that was spicy even at level 1

The chicken feet have a clean, refreshing heat from Cheongyang chili peppers rather than a capsaisin-style burn, so they are the kind you keep reaching for. Add the bean sprouts on top and let everything simmer together, and you have chicken feet—the soul food of women—done right!

If you are not good with spicy food, I recommend having the chicken feet with mayonnaise or wrapping them in perilla leaves. Eating them with angel-hair noodles also takes the heat down quite a bit.

The fried chicken skin keeps its crisp texture, so it is great for eating between bites of spicy chicken feet.

The kalguksu soaks up plenty of broth, giving it a thick, sticky texture, and the noodles are satisfying on their own too. The portion is very generous, so the two of us had leftovers! I think it would be just right for three women.

The rice balls are the perfect match for mixing with the rich sauce, so you really have to eat them with chicken feet. As you would expect from a chicken-feet specialist, Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 has lots of delicious sides that pair well with them, which I loved. My favorite side was the rice balls!

The muksabal is great for refreshing your palate between spicy bites, so it is especially welcome for anyone who cannot handle much heat. It was so spicy that I kept scooping it up, haha.

With tissues and disposable plastic gloves at every table, this is the perfect chicken-feet restaurant for comfortably pulling them apart and digging in. I strongly recommend Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 for a day when you want chicken feet and a shot of soju in Hongdae!!