Jongno, Daegu Korean restaurant: pollack mulhoe with rice, Hyangtaek

Out with my Daegu Choi Soo-jong 🫶🏻 Korean food lovers, let's meet at Hyangtaek (honestly, it's just me wanting to eat there)

Where is Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch, and what are its hours?

Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch is at 66-1 Jongno 2-ga, Jung-gu, Daegu, a one-minute walk from Jungangno Station Exit 1. It is open daily 11:00–20:00, with break time 15:30–17:00 and last orders at 15:00 and 19:30.

• 📍 Location: 66-1 Jongno 2-ga, Jung-gu, Daegu (1-minute walk from Jungangno Station Exit 1)
• ⏰ Hours: daily 11:00–20:00
• Break time: 15:30–17:00
• Last order: 15:00 / 19:30

Hooked in Gyeongju: a third visit to Hyangtaek

This is the outside of Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch. A friend introduced me to Hyangtaek's signature eggplant doenjang rice bowl 🍆, and after trying it in Gyeongju I was hooked, so I visited the original branch too. Now this is my third visit, to the Daegu Jongno Branch>< There are already 5 branches, including Gyeongju and Busan (impressive).

Hyangtaek's tile-roofed hanok interior is pretty every time I see it. I thought that kind of hanok only showed up in Gyeongju, but it blends in so well with the hanok-style Starbucks in the Jongno alley.

How does the dinner wait at Hyangtaek work?

At dinnertime Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch was packed, so we waited a bit before being seated. At the entrance there's a menu board and a waiting list. Luckily we could wait inside, and the place was nice and cool, freedom from the heat 🥵

They've kept the same review event going since opening, and the whole-plate mushrooms you get for a review are sooo good! I really recommend leaving a review and trying them>< There's also a new chicken bulgogi dish. It's been a while since my last visit, so there seem to be lots of new menu items.

Hyangtaek Jongno is popular. Not a single empty table.

We were shown to a 2-person table and ordered after sitting down.

Inside Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch: hanok interior and seating

The inside of Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch has a mix of 4-person and 2-person tables. The owner keeps the place incredibly clean, and the hanok interior stands out while still feeling warm and homey.

Aprons are self-service and a must. I dropped food again today, and the apron saved me.

Hyangtaek menu and prices: what did we order?

The menu at Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch is split into rice dishes, savory dishes and grilled items, and noodles, with prices written on the menu in units of ₩10,000. This time we ordered one pollack yukhoe mulhoe (cold raw-beef-and-fish soup) and one eggplant doenjang rice bowl and shared them.

• Rice dishes: mackerel gondre rice (₩14,000), eggplant doenjang rice bowl (₩13,000), yukhoe bibimbap (₩14,000), chamnamul squid rice bowl (₩13,000)
• Savory dishes and grilled items: grilled deodeok (₩9,000), whole-plate mushrooms (₩6,000), whole-plate galbi (₩10,000), Cheongsong-style chicken bulgogi (₩9,000)
• Noodles: pollack yukhoe mulhoe (₩16,000), herring roe bibim noodles (₩13,000)

I always have the eggplant bowl, but it was so hot out and I wanted to try the new menu item, so we decided to order one pollack yukhoe mulhoe and one eggplant doenjang bowl and share!

Even the water is nutty at Hyangtaek.

How to eat the eggplant doenjang rice bowl

Hyangtaek's side dishes are seed jeotgal (salted seafood), gungchae pickles and gopchang gim (seaweed). You absolutely have to put the seed jeotgal on the eggplant doenjang bowl and wrap it in the gopchang gim~~

We each take our own photos, haha. Time to eat, yum. Wow,, the juices from the eggplant,,, you'd drool watching the video. Choi Soo-jong mixes it so skillfully haha

If there's a recommended way to eat something, eat it the way the owner tells you. It's gopchang gim, so wrapping it makes it even tastier.

New pollack yukhoe mulhoe: portion and taste

The new pollack yukhoe mulhoe (₩16,000) at Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch is huge and comes with a bowl of rice. Wow,, this new menu item is crazy good. The portion was so big I wondered if they gave us extra because we waited. The bowl of rice comes along too, and that is what finishes it off.

Let me mix it. Pollack on top, yukhoe (raw beef) in the middle, noodles at the bottom. The icy broth,, so good. The pollack is chewy and why is it so delicious. Nothing goes off on its own, everything comes together and it's soooo good. I'm going back to eat it again before summer ends!!

Finish the pollack mulhoe with rice in the broth

Once you've eaten most of the pollack yukhoe mulhoe, you must put the rice in!! Put it in the cold broth along with the leftover bits and it's so good 😭

Closing time at Hyangtaek and the Starbucks across the street

At Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch the crowd only thinned out at closing time, so I could finally photograph the restaurant again. The tile-roofed Hyangtaek lit up in the darkened Jongno is so pretty. My stomach felt ready to burst, but we needed dessert, so we went to the Starbucks across the street, chatted away the rest of the evening, and headed home. The Jongno alley is a paradise of good restaurants, I love it. Hyangtaek is the best among them.

Verdict: is Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch worth it?

The owner and staff at Hyangtaek Daegu Jongno Branch are so kind, and whichever branch you visit the taste is the same and consistently delicious 🤍🤍 This was my first visit since the new menu launched, and the pollack yukhoe mulhoe, perfect for summer, is a real must-try!!! It was so good I'll go again before the summer ends><

This is a Jongno restaurant I recommend proudly, the kind I'd want everyone around me to know about. If you like Korean food, definitely go 🫶🏻