Andong restaurant for whole grilled salted mackerel and soju: Gilpung

Andong brings a lot of food to mind — jjimdak (braised chicken), grilled mackerel, heotjesabap (mock ancestral-rite rice bowl), Andong soju, sikhye (sweet rice punch), and more. I visited an Andong restaurant where you can enjoy all of these in one place. It's Gilpung, the spot that was also featured on Pungza's Ttogan-jip!

Where Gilpung is, its hours and parking

Gilpung is located at 8 Nabau-gil, Pungsan-eup, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, near Hahoe Village, so it's easy to stop by while touring Andong. Hours are Mon–Fri 10:00–20:00 and Sat–Sun 09:30–20:00, and parking is available.

Gilpung is a restaurant selected by the Korea Tourism Organization as a clean and delicious place, and it's also been featured on various TV shows as a spot locals actually eat at. There were plenty of Andong specialties to enjoy, and there was even an Andong Special set menu that bundles them all together! The three of us ordered a medium Andong jjimdak, a whole grilled salted mackerel, and a makgeolli.

On the back of the menu, Andong specialties were listed — salted mackerel, Korean beef, sikhye, heotjesabap, jjimdak, and heungma (black horse meat). They were selling more than four of these menu items here.

Buying Andong soju as a souvenir at Gilpung

Gilpung also sells Andong soju. I'd looked for it downtown as a souvenir, but it wasn't really sold at places like convenience stores. If you're looking for an Andong travel souvenir, picking one up at Gilpung is a great option!

They had it all laid out for you to browse and buy — including bottles shaped like Hahoe masks — with a really wide range of types and price points 🤍

I brought home one at a nicely affordable price! I took the photo without the box, but it does come with one, making it a perfect gift item.

A spacious hall and private rooms for family and group meals

The interior of Gilpung was really, really spacious. And true to that size, groups like hiking clubs were having their gatherings there! If you're looking for a group gathering spot near Andong's Hahoe Village, Gilpung would be a great choice.

There are also private rooms like this, which I'd really recommend for a family gathering with grandparents in tow.

What three of us ordered at Gilpung, and the prices

Andong jjimdak (medium) 38.0 Whole grilled salted mackerel 15.0 Makgeolli 5.0

The side dishes came out like this — kimchi, pickled radish, and garlic scapes, a lineup that suits Korean food well.

Whole grilled salted mackerel: an entire fish on the plate

There's a full mackerel set meal too, but we ordered the grilled mackerel as more of a side. From what I know, the mackerel set comes with half a fish per person, but the whole grilled version gives you an entire fish!

I'd tried a mackerel set meal somewhere else the day before, and honestly it was just so-so, which left me a bit disappointed in Andong mackerel. The moment I tried Gilpung's grilled mackerel, my mind changed. The fish was huge, the flesh inside was moist, and I ate it up happily 😋🤍

Medium Andong jjimdak with Huigok raw makgeolli

Andong jjimdak is also available for takeout — it takes about 20 minutes, so I'd recommend calling ahead before you go. We ordered the medium jjimdak, which comes with roughly a whole chicken's worth of meat. It's also packed with vegetables that go well with jjimdak, like cabbage, glass noodles, potatoes, and carrots, and my dad said it was such great value for around thirty thousand won.

The makgeolli was the Huigok raw makgeolli, and it wasn't too sweet, so it was clean and easy to enjoy 🤍 Huigok raw makgeolli had a subtle sweetness plus just the right amount of fizz, making it go down cleaner than expected. It didn't have that heavy, chalky makgeolli taste, and the finish was light, so it paired really well with the jjimdak.

The Andong jjimdak had that perfect salty-sweet balance from the savory soy sauce base with a subtle sweetness. The chicken was deeply seasoned all the way through, so it was moist and tender, and best of all, the glass noodles soaked up the sauce beautifully. The chewy noodles were packed with jjimdak sauce, and I kept reaching for more haha.

Who should visit Gilpung in Pungsan-eup?

Today I visited Gilpung, a restaurant near Hahoe Village where locals eat and where you can enjoy a wide range of Andong specialties. Everything was well-prepared and the owner was kind, so if you're taking a family trip to Andong, I think it's worth a visit.