Dangsan Station bossam restaurant on a packed Friday night: Cheongun

On a Friday evening, I headed to Cheongun Bossam Dangsan Branch (청운보쌈 당산점) near Dangsan Station for dinner.

What was the Friday-evening atmosphere like at Cheongun Bossam Dangsan Branch?

On Friday evening, the inside of Cheongun Bossam Dangsan Branch was almost full. They also set up tables outside, so you can eat with a street-side yajang (outdoor drinking-table) feel. With the cool evening breeze these days, eating outside sounded nice.

People were gathered around every table eating bossam, and it was already buzzing this early in the evening. I could really feel how many people come here as their Dangsan Station go-to.

Location and opening hours of Cheongun Bossam Dangsan Branch

The address is 9 Yangpyeong-ro 12-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, 1st floor, and it is open daily 11:00-22:00 (last order 21:00). It is close to Dangsan Station, where Lines 2 and 9 run, so it looks easy to get to even as a meeting spot for a bigger group.

Please note before visiting that it is open daily 11:00-22:00, with last order at 21:00.

What are the menu and prices at Cheongun Bossam Dangsan Branch, and what did we order?

We ordered the medium five-layer pork bossam. I heard the jjukkumi (baby octopus) bossam is great too and was curious, but after some debate I decided to focus on the true taste of bossam this time, haha.

The medium five-layer pork bossam is ₩43,000, and you can pick one service dish with it. I kept the regular five-layer pork. On the order screen there was also an option to switch to gaburisal for an extra charge, so keep that in mind depending on your taste.

The service dish can be chosen from tray makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles), clam kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup), spicy kalguksu and more. Some items cost extra, so keep that in mind! We wanted something tangy to go with the bossam, so we picked the tray makguksu.

(Waiting for the food with a nostalgic old-school water bottle, haha)

The free tray makguksu: the portion alone was a surprise

The first thing out was the tray makguksu we chose as the service dish. And I was surprised by the portion the moment I saw the plate. Noodles and vegetables were piled high on a wide plate, with carrots, cabbage and lettuce topped with a generous sprinkle of seaweed flakes. Even though it was a free service dish, the portion was so generous that I was happy from the start. Then a staff member brought us a pair of plastic gloves.

You mix the tray makguksu by hand, with gloves on

At Cheongun Bossam, instead of mixing with chopsticks, you put on gloves and mix the tray makguksu by hand! I flipped everything over and worked hard so the sauce coated the noodles and vegetables evenly. It's fun to eat this way, haha.

The first bite of noodles was chewy and bouncy. I could feel the springiness with every bite, and the texture was especially good. The tangy flavor comes through first, and with the crunchy vegetables mixed into the bouncy noodles, it's a perfect appetizer before getting into the bossam. I'd also heard that Cheongun Bossam is a great place for kalguksu.

I enjoyed the makguksu this time, so next visit I'd like to switch the service dish to kalguksu.

Medium five-layer pork bossam at Cheongun Bossam: a generous spread, starting with the sides

After the tray makguksu, the medium five-layer pork bossam arrived. On one side of the wide plate the bossam was neatly sliced, and on the other were red radish kimchi and cabbage. Ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) and chili peppers came in the middle.

A separate plate held saeujeot (salted shrimp), wrap vegetables, seasoned bean sprouts and other side dishes. It was nice that you could mix and match instead of just eating the meat.

How did the five-layer pork taste?

The five-layer pork bossam had no gamey smell, and it went down soft while still keeping a bouncy bite. It's pork belly, so there's fat, but it wasn't overly greasy.

The lean meat was mild and the fatty parts were tender, so they were great chewed together. I also liked that it wasn't mushy and kept the meat's own texture. The chili-spiked ssamjang next to the meat paired well with the pork too. I put a piece of meat and radish kimchi on a cabbage leaf and added a little ssamjang.

Tender pork with crunchy cabbage and spicy radish kimchi in one bite was a whole other flavor. I also dipped into the saeujeot now and then, and it gave a little kick to the mild flavor of the meat. Delicious.

With so many sides, I kept reaching for one combination after another. Thanks to that, the meat disappeared without a break, haha.

A Dangsan Station dinner spot where I want to try the kalguksu next

I visited Cheongun Bossam Dangsan Branch on a Friday evening, and it was so crowded that finding an empty seat was hard.

Outside, they put out red tables and chairs and run it like a yajang, which looked like a great way to have dinner in cool weather.

True to a Dangsan Station dinner spot, it was bustling with people sipping drinks and chatting away.

Of everything we ate, what stays with me most is the tray makguksu's bouncy noodles and tangy sauce. Even as a service dish the portion was generous, and mixing it by hand was fun too. The five-layer pork was tender and mild with no gamey smell, so it was great to alternate with the makguksu.

If I go again I'd like to try the kalguksu, but the makguksu was so good that I'll probably agonize over it again, haha. If you're stuck on dinner near Dangsan Station, Cheongun Bossam Dangsan Branch, where you can fill up on bossam plus makguksu, is worth a look :)