Bakchon Station duck BBQ date: raw duck with cabbage salad, Ganaandeok

What kind of duck restaurant is Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch?

Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch (가나안덕 계양점) is a duck specialty restaurant within a 10-minute walk of Bakchon Station, where you can eat raw duck grilled over real charcoal. It also has a large private parking area, so you can come by public transport or by car without worrying about parking.

My boyfriend loves meat, and duck most of all! He has had smoked duck and duck baeksuk (whole duck simmered in a hearty broth) many times, but I heard about a place where you grill raw duck yourself, so we went. Come to think of it, smoked duck is the only grilled duck I'd ever had, and this was a charcoal-grilled raw duck place.. I was so curious when we arrived.

Lots of people seemed to be there for family meals or bringing their parents. With the weather getting hotter, it felt like a great place to go for a energy-boosting meal.

Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch hours, waiting and reservations

Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch is open daily from 11:00 to 22:00, with last order at 21:30. It's already famous as a place with a wait, even known as a favorite near the Gyeyang youth soccer field!

Maybe because it's so popular, there's a separate waiting area. If you're going at a busy time, I recommend reserving ahead through the Catch Table app!

Seating and group tables

I'd heard it's often full at peak times, but the tables at Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch are spaced out and comfortable, so even a full house seemed fine to eat in. There's also group seating in a separate area, so it looked good for company dinners or group gatherings too.

What are the self-serve side dishes and seaweed soup like?

The basic side dishes at Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch, from ssam-mu (pickled radish wraps) to kimchi and seasoned bean sprouts, are all made by the owner, they say. There are self-serve bars in two spots in the middle of the restaurant, and you set up your basic side dishes from there.

Next to the self-serve bar there was also seaweed soup. It's homemade, packed with seaweed, and mild and clean-tasting, which was totally my taste haha

Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch menu, prices and half-and-half orders

At Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch, charcoal-grilled raw duck is ₩29,000 for half a duck and charcoal-grilled seasoned duck (jumulleok) is ₩30,000 for half a duck. You can order from one whole duck, and they say you can also split it half and half.

As a duck specialty restaurant, the menu is really varied, with raw duck loin, duck jumulleok, duck baeksuk, duck clay-oven roast and more, so order to your taste. I wanted to try both the clean-tasting raw duck and the jumulleok, so I ordered half and half.

• Charcoal-grilled raw duck, half a duck: ₩29,000
• Charcoal-grilled seasoned duck (jumulleok), half a duck: ₩30,000

Charcoal grilling and sweet potatoes in the coals

At Ganaandeok you don't cook on a pan; you grill directly over real charcoal! Before the meat goes on, they wrap one sweet potato per person in foil and put them in the coals. We took ours out when we finished and they pulled the grill away, and they were perfectly cooked ><

What goes best with charcoal-grilled raw duck?

The charcoal-grilled raw duck at Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch tasted best with the cabbage salad. They say they use only fresh, antibiotic-free Korean duck, and you could see the freshness in the color of the meat.

We were told to grill the raw duck first, before the seasoned one. For half a duck, they said to put it all on at once and keep turning it as it cooks. Listening well, of course. Grilled over charcoal, the fat drains right off and it turns clean and mild, so I liked it much more than smoked duck.

I tried it plain and in different combinations with the cabbage salad and the seasoned chives (the self-serve bar had mustard sauce, and I ate it all up before finding out, which is our secret), and the raw duck was best with the cabbage salad. How good would it have been dipped in the mustard sauce..

Try charcoal-grilled duck jumulleok with ssam-mu radish wraps

The charcoal-grilled duck jumulleok at Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch went best with the ssam-mu the owner makes by hand. Even though it's marinated, it doesn't burn easily over the charcoal, so it was easy to grill!

We swapped the grill and started a new round, this time the charcoal-grilled duck jumulleok! We grilled it the same way as the raw duck. I'm normally an unseasoned, clean-tasting raw meat person rather than a marinated one, but the jumulleok here isn't overdone or harsh, so it was good even without rice. That changes things, you know.

Funnily enough, the jumulleok went better with the ssam-mu than with the cabbage salad! haha I inhaled it without thinking.. It's definitely a different charm from the raw duck! I recommend ordering half and half so you can enjoy both flavors!

Both duck dishes were so good that I got curious about the neungi (oyster mushroom) duck baeksuk and the duck clay-oven roast we didn't order.. I'll definitely come back for them..

To finish: roasted sweet potato, free mung bean porridge and ball ice cream

At the end of the meal, Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch brings out the sweet potatoes roasted in the charcoal, plus free mung bean porridge. When we pulled out the hot charcoal at the end, I got my nicely roasted sweet potato!

A bite of sweet potato to finish was so nice. My appetite came back, but I was too full to eat more. Isn't sweet potato basically the K-dessert that kids and adults both love.. Great touch from the owner 🤍

The real last thing! On the ordering pad, in the staff call category, there's a "Porridge, please!" button. It's free mung bean porridge. Every item and the whole lineup made me think of family. Everything tasted mild and natural, and you could feel the owner's sincerity.

They also sell ball ice cream at the exit. The portions are just right, and with roasted sweet potato and porridge it's a perfect lineup. I recommend Ganaandeok Gyeyang Branch as a duck restaurant for family meals or group gatherings!!