Dangye-dong soup restaurant in Wonju: dak-gaejang and suyuk

It's getting chillier by the day, isn't it? These days I keep craving hot soup. I wanted to take my mom out for lunch with my brother, and since I was craving broth, we headed to Yukdaejang Dangye Musil-jeom, a Wonju City Hall-area yukgaejang (spicy beef and vegetable soup) specialist. We got there a bit early and sat down, but soon the place filled up with people — yep, this is definitely a local favorite!

Finding the entrance and seating at Yukdaejang Dangye Musil-jeom

Yukdaejang Dangye Musil-jeom is on the 2nd floor, and true to its 'traditional' name, the entrance has some nice traditional-style patterns.

Once inside, the staff greeted us warmly. They led us straight to a table right in front of the kitchen. Us aunties sat at this spot with a view of the kitchen area.

The sign about the green onions was pretty memorable. I wanted a glass of makgeolli (Korean rice wine) next to it, but they say daytime drinking makes you unrecognizable even to your own parents, so I held back, hahaha.

What we ordered from the Yukdaejang menu

At Yukdaejang Dangye Musil-jeom we ordered chicken gukbap, brisket yukgaejang, and brisket yukkal-myeon. Let's take a look at the menu — they also have spicy braised short ribs and steamed pork.

There were plenty of yukgaejang options. My brother said he hasn't been eating much rice lately, so he wanted the yukkal-myeon with knife-cut noodles. Mom went for her favorite, brisket yukgaejang with beef. And I ordered my usual, chicken gukbap.

They also have grilled bulgogi apparently. A yukgaejang made with care!

Write a receipt review and you get a free plate of dumplings! We were too full for it though, so I passed.

The basic side dish setup. But the yukgaejang was so good that we ended up pouring it over rice and barely touched the sides.

How do the dak-gaejang, brisket yukgaejang and suyuk taste?

The steamed pork at Yukdaejang Dangye Musil-jeom comes out on a grill plate so it stays warm to the last bite, and the chicken gukbap had a clean, refreshing broth that went down easily. The pork sits on a bed of chives underneath. Since it's served on a grill, it keeps warming up, so it stayed hot, chewy, and tender — delicious right to the end.

Here's my chicken gukbap — I love chicken, so this was a treat. The broth was great above all. The flavor from the well-cooked chicken blended nicely with the stock, going down smooth and refreshing.

Mom and my brother's brisket yukkal-myeon. It comes with a small side of rice too.

Mom's brisket yukgaejang.

Bossam (steamed pork wraps) usually comes with chives and white kimchi, but since those weren't ready, they gave us regular kimchi and seasoned dried radish instead.

Adding the chives gave it a whole different flavor. Honestly, once we'd finished eating the solids, we were full, so mom and I shared just one bowl of rice between us. The portions are surprisingly generous.

We cleared the whole spread! The tofu came out warm and tasty too, but I was so full I had to give up on even one piece of it, hahaha.

Yukdaejang Dangye Musil-jeom location and parking in Dangye-dong

Yukdaejang, the yukgaejang specialist near Wonju City Hall, is on the 2nd floor across from AK Plaza, on the city hall side. There's a large parking lot if you head across from AK Plaza, but I made the mistake of turning left from the terminal direction and driving up, which led me up a steep hill — a bit alarming. The parking lot is right across from AK Plaza.

The view around the parking lot!

This is the wrong side I accidentally drove up. You can still park there though.

The staff were so kind that we had a pleasant, delicious meal. A warm, satisfying lunch with mom and my brother at Yukdaejang, the yukgaejang specialist near Wonju City Hall.

• Yukdaejang Dangye Musil-jeom
• Location: 2nd floor, 407-12 Dangye-dong, Wonju-si, Gangwon-do
• Hours: Mon–Sun 00:00–24:00 (closes 21:30 every Tuesday, reopens 09:30 Wednesday)