Samgyetang restaurant near Gyeongju City Hall, Dongcheon-dong

Samgyetang near Gyeongju City Hall — Ogajeong Gamasot Samgyetang (오가정가마솥삼계탕).

Lunch near Gyeongju City Hall before heading to Busan from Gampo

My husband Camembert and I went to stay at a pension near Gampo, and before heading to Busan we decided to grab lunch in Gyeongju and looked around the area. Turns out there was a samgyetang place near Gyeongju City Hall.

The weather had suddenly turned chilly and I was craving hot soup, so when I spotted this local favorite samgyetang spot, my mouth was already watering. Since it's near Gyeongju City Hall, it seemed like a lot of neighborhood locals and office workers eat here. Honestly, who hates samgyetang? I haven't met that person yet.

Yeongyang samgyetang on the menu, drinks in 500ml bottles

Here's the menu at this local favorite, Ogajeong Gamasot Samgyetang. Camembert and I both ordered the yeongyang samgyetang, and got cola to drink.

One nice touch here — the drink comes in a 500ml bottle instead of a can. With a can you sometimes feel like it's not quite enough while you're eating, but with 500ml I had plenty to drink all the way through the meal.

There was hall-style seating and also room seating. We said it was just the two of us, and they pointed us to a table, so we sat there.

I was debating between the gasiogapi (Siberian ginseng) samgyetang and the yeongyang samgyetang, but decided to go with the tried-and-true yeongyang version. It was so good that I want to try the gasiogapi one next time.

No need for a side of rice — the samgyetang is already packed with it

We didn't wait long before the food arrived. I asked the owner whether we should order extra rice bowls alongside the samgyetang, but she told us there was already plenty of rice inside the soup, so we skipped it. And she was right — there was a solid amount of rice packed in there. Almost wasted rice for nothing.

An owner who gives customers an honest heads-up — thank you!

Riding a motorcycle out to Gampo in Gyeongju had really worn me out physically. My husband has plenty of stamina so it's no problem for him, but I'm more of a paper-doll-level-stamina type, and riding a nearly 200kg cruiser motorcycle long distance is fun but exhausting. So this kind of restorative samgyetang felt especially necessary.

After a bowl of this local favorite's yeongyang samgyetang, I could feel my body warming up and my energy coming back — a very satisfying meal.

A little sprinkle of pepper made it even tastier.

You have no idea how good it feels to sip cola between bites of hot yeongyang samgyetang to cleanse your palate. The seasoning in the samgyetang was neither too salty nor too bland — just right, so aside from pepper I didn't add anything else.

Let me show you how I enjoyed it!

My favorite combo: eating it with cucumber kimchi

Since I was hungry, I dug into the rice inside the samgyetang first. Among the side dishes were kkakdugi and cucumber kimchi, both tangy and delicious, and they went really well with the samgyetang. So good!

Eating it with the hot samgyetang broth, the rice just kept going down so easily. I'd had no appetite all day from riding in the heat, but eating this brought my appetite right back.

Dipping it in salt the classic way was tasty too, but my favorite was definitely eating it with the cucumber kimchi. I've always been a fan of cucumber kimchi to begin with.

The combo of samgyetang chicken and cucumber kimchi was so good that I kept eating until I'd cleaned the whole bowl. The portion was generous, but seeing it all gone made me think this yeongyang samgyetang has some kind of magic. The location near Gyeongju City Hall was convenient too.

This local favorite's yeongyang samgyetang won me over even more for having no unnecessary frills. It stuck to the fundamentals of good flavor, and both Camembert and I were able to finish our bowls happily.

They must have used good-quality chicken, since there was no gamey smell at all, and it was delicious. If you want samgyetang near Gyeongju City Hall, this place is worth a reservation. Recommended!

A samgyetang place I'll think of again

Travel is always fun, but riding a motorcycle for hours in a day left us so exhausted we almost got into a fight. Of course, Camembert is gentle and sweet so the cause of any fight is always me, but maybe because we'd eaten such good samgyetang, we made it all the way home without arguing. Thank you, Ogajeong Gamasot Samgyetang!

Gyeongju isn't just a summer vacation spot for me — I go whenever I'm bored, basically living like a local there, so this is a samgyetang place I'd happily go back to next time it comes to mind. And it was rewarding to see Camembert eat so well.

Happy memories from our time in Uljin and Gyeongju! Having fun experiences but eating bad food would kind of ruin things, right? In that sense, going to Ogajeong Gamasot Samgyetang made this trip both filling and fun.