Hongdae bar for grilled chicken feet: Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987

Lately, once evening rolls around, how has the weather gotten this perfectly cool and lovely?! There is still a little sunshine during the day, but the moment the sun goes down, the breeze starts drifting by—and those are exactly the days when you desperately crave an outdoor drink! ხომ?

This perfect season for outdoor drinking passes in the blink of an eye, so I figured we had to enjoy it right now before it gets colder 🏃♀️➡️🏃➡️ I went on a Hongdae date with my fiancé for the first time in a while and visited Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch (청년닭발1987 홍대점), where we could have soju with spicy dakbal (chicken feet) in the cool breeze!

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch, full of outdoor-terrace vibes

We arrived on a weekday evening around 8:00 to 8:30! Even though it was not the weekend, the place was seriously packed.

Both the indoor space and outdoor terrace were bustling with customers, giving it a proper hot-spot feel! Luckily, table 2 on the terrace was open, so we sat down straight away. It was a total prime seat where we could feel the cool autumn breeze and look out onto the street 💛

Sitting at the red pocha-style table with the refreshing breeze, it almost felt like people walking by were looking at us with envy...?! 😆 In weather like this, outdoor drinking is absolutely the answer!

After we finished everything and got up past 11 p.m., it finally started to get a little quieter~

I also took a quick look inside, and the atmosphere was so distinctive! Soft bulb lights twinkled from the ceiling, while red and white flag-style menu signs fluttered above the kitchen. It had the retro feeling of stepping into an old roadside pocha from the 1980s or 1990s.

The walls were also covered in notes left by customers, creating that wonderfully relaxed, lively drinking-party atmosphere.

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 menu and our first order

As the name suggests, chicken feet are the main event here~ From the Cheongnyeon Dakbal Set, designed to go with soupy chicken feet, to the rather unusual mala chicken feet, there were plenty of options!

When you are eating chicken feet, other dishes start calling your name too—and there were all kinds of mains and sides, from tofu kimchi and cartilage to chicken gizzards and jjagyechi. The drinks would go down very easily here!

For our first order, we got two servings of boneless charcoal-grilled chicken feet (₩24,000), tuna-mayo rice balls (₩5,500), Terra draft beer (₩5,000), and Chamisul soju (₩5,500), for ₩40,000 altogether~

By the way, there was also an event on the tablet offering fries for writing a receipt review, but we did not take part~

This was the complimentary bean sprout soup! When I tried it, it was much more lightly seasoned than an ordinary savory bean sprout soup, so it felt a little bland to drink on its own. Then I realized it seemed designed for adding both the sprouts and broth to the soupy chicken feet and simmering them together!

Looking around, every other table was indeed bubbling away with soupy chicken feet. Watching them, my fiancé and I promised, “Next time, we are definitely trying the soupy chicken feet!” 😋

Even in cool weather, an ice-cold drink just feels so good, right~?

Boneless grilled chicken feet and tuna-mayo rice balls

Boneless charcoal-grilled chicken feet, 2 servings

Finally, our main dish of boneless charcoal-grilled chicken feet arrived! It came on a hot iron plate, and as soon as it hit the table, the smoky charcoal aroma rose up intensely. There was also a generous serving of nostalgic cabbage salad with ketchup-mayo dressing on the side. That is such an incredible drinking snack too~

After one bite, the chicken feet were quite a bit spicier than I expected! On the heat scale, I would put them somewhere between Shin Ramyun and Buldak 볶음면 (spicy stir-fried noodles)! The clean, punchy heat hit my mouth along with the charcoal smokiness, so I kept going “whew, hot!” while reaching for more 🔥

Tuna-mayo rice balls

Since the chicken feet were fairly spicy, the rice balls were an absolute essential! We put on plastic gloves, mixed everything together, and shaped it into bite-size rounds.

Rather than a style with distinct, firm rice grains, these rice balls had plenty of mayonnaise and tuna, making them moist, soft, and easy to swallow 🍙 They were not dry at all, and they paired perfectly with the spicy chicken feet!

Once we lined the pretty rice balls up around the iron plate of chicken feet, the visual was complete! A piece of spicy charcoal-grilled chicken feet on top of a moist tuna-mayo rice ball, followed by a cold Terra draft beer and a shot of Chamisul—it was the kind of flavor that melts all your stress away 🍻

As we ate, the chicken feet were definitely spicy, so to cool the heat and add some carbs, we ordered jjagyechi (₩6,500) and another bottle of Chamisul (₩5,500). Our total came to ₩52,000!

Jjagyechi that tamed the heat

This is the jjagyechi we added while going “whew, hot!” over the chicken feet! Jjagyechi—what more is there to say... it is that delicious flavor we all know ❤️

A slice of nutty cheddar cheese sat on top of saucy Jjapagetti, along with a sunny-side-up egg with a runny yolk and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Every time my mouth was tingling from the chicken feet, a bite of this worked like an excellent firefighter! The balance of sweet-salty and spicy flavors was fantastic, and the soju just would not stop flowing 🤤

A Hongdae chicken-feet hot spot that is perfect for spicy, smoky chicken feet and a soju-and-beer mix on an outdoor terrace with a gentle autumn breeze! The outdoor-drinking vibes are completely alive here, so it is a must before the weather gets colder—and I am already planning a return visit for the soupy chicken feet!