Samgakji duck grill with garlic and minari: Cheongdo Minari Sikdang

Why we picked Cheongdo Minari Sikdang for a Samgakji work dinner

I was hunting for a good spot for a group dinner near Samgakji and found Cheongdo Minari Sikdang Samgakji Branch. It's right in front of Samgakji Station, so it was really easy to find. I tend to prefer meeting places close to a subway station, and since this one's basically right outside the exit, it seemed like a great pick for a group gathering.

Retro dining rooms across the first and second floors

Walking in, the space was bigger than I expected. The retro-style interior stood out in particular. There are plenty of clean, modern restaurants around these days, but Cheongdo Minari Sikdang has a slightly old-school feel that made the meal feel warm and comfortable rather than sterile. On top of that, with both a 1st and 2nd floor, it looked good not just for small meals but also for bigger Samgakji group meetups or company dinners.

What's on the menu at Cheongdo Minari Sikdang

The menu included minari shabu-shabu, salted duck bulgogi, spicy duck bulgogi, half-and-half duck, minari duck jeongol (hot pot), minari duck loin, minari duck bulgogi, Cheongdo minari mixed pork platter, Cheongdo minari samgyeopsal, Cheongdo minari pork neck, and Cheongdo minari yukhoe (raw beef), with extras like minari pancake, minari bibimbap, Cheongdo doenjang jjigae, kimchi mandu, meat mandu, minari ramyeon, mul naengmyeon, bibim naengmyeon, and bul naengmyeon.

The side dishes that come with the duck

After ordering, the side dishes started arriving one by one before too long. There was a good spread — braised lotus root, pickled peppers, corn salad, spicy radish salad — all of which went well with the duck. When you're eating meat, tangy, crunchy side dishes that reset your palate between bites really matter, and things like the pickled peppers and radish salad were clean enough that I never got tired of eating duck.

Fresh duck loin piled with garlic

Finally, the grilled fresh duck loin I'd been waiting for showed up. What caught my eye first was the mound of garlic piled on top of the raw duck. Duck and garlic together — even just looking at it, it felt like it was going to be a savory, healthy meal.

They put the duck on the hot grill and started cooking it. As soon as the meat hit the plate, it started sizzling away, and that savory duck aroma began rising. Being raw duck, the color kept changing deliciously as it cooked, and the surface turned a nice golden brown.

Grilling potato, onion and minari on the same pan

Once the duck was cooked through a bit, they piled on potato, onion, and a generous amount of minari to grill together. From this point the whole dish transformed visually. The potato and onion cooked in the savory fat rendering off the duck, and with the fragrant scent of minari added in, the grill alone looked incredibly appetizing.

How the grilled duck loin tasted

I picked up a well-cooked piece of the fresh duck loin and tried it. The surface was browned and savory, while the inside stayed moist with a nice chewy texture. There was that distinctly rich yet clean duck flavor, and eating it together with the garlic added a pungent, nutty depth. The garlic mellowed out as it cooked on the grill, its sharpness softening, and it paired really well with the duck's savory flavor.

And the real highlight here was, as expected, the minari. Eating the duck together with minari sent a fresh, fragrant burst right through the duck's rich, savory taste. The minari wilted slightly on the grill but kept its distinctive aroma intact, cutting through the richness of the duck and keeping the palate clean. The potatoes soaked up the duck fat too and came into their own.

Water bibim naengmyeon with minari

The water bibim naengmyeon (cold noodles) had minari mixed in, which made it a particularly good way to close out the duck. Slurping the noodles in the tangy, cold broth left my mouth feeling refreshed, and the minari that turned up between bites added a fragrant lift. Compared to regular naengmyeon, the minari gave it a slightly brighter aroma and it cut cleanly through the richness of the meat. Alternating a bite of duck with a bite of naengmyeon worked really well — the savoriness of the meat and the tangy, cold noodles kept pulling me back for more.

Finishing with fried rice on the grill

You can't eat grilled meat without fried rice, so I ordered that too. Fried right on the grill using the leftover duck fat, the rice naturally soaked up all that duck flavor.

The rice grains were fried loose and fluffy, with the parts touching the grill getting slightly crisped for extra savoriness, and eating it with the bits still on top made it feel filling and kept me going back for more. Finishing the meal off with fried rice after all that meat felt like squeezing every bit of flavor out of the grill — I finished right down to the last spoonful.

Is Cheongdo Minari Sikdang good for a Samgakji group dinner?

Cheongdo Minari Sikdang Samgakji Branch is easy to get to, right outside Samgakji Station, and with seating split across two floors, it's a good option when you're looking for a Samgakji group dinner or company gathering spot. What I liked most was that the duck loin wasn't just grilled plain — it came with garlic, potato, onion, and minari to grill alongside, making it fun to enjoy in different combinations. If you want good duck around Samgakji, or you're looking for a Samgakji dinner spot with comfortable seating for a group, this place is worth a visit.

• Address: 56 Baekbeom-ro 99-gil, 1F & 2F, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: 11:30 - 22:00
• Break time: 14:30 - 17:00