Hongdae chicken-feet restaurant: pork belly at Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987

Soup chicken feet between Hongdae and Yeonnam-dong

While looking for somewhere to have dinner or drinks in Hongdae, I visited Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch (청년닭발1987 홍대점), a great place for spicy soup chicken feet and a drink. Chicken feet can be a bit divisive, right? But this place made me see them a little differently. It is good not only for people who love chicken feet, but also for visiting with friends who do not usually eat them, so I wanted to introduce it to anyone looking for a Hongdae drinking spot.

Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 is a well-known chicken-feet spot that has held its place in Hongdae for an impressive 10 years. I was even more excited to hear that it had been featured on Wednesday Food Talk and Live Today. Located between Hongdae and Yeonnam-dong, Cheongnyeon Dakbal 1987 Hongdae Branch is surrounded by plenty of restaurants and bars, making it easy to work into dinner plans. It is also in a great location for meeting friends at Hongik University Station, having a meal, and continuing on for a second round—so it felt well suited to dates, friend gatherings, and drinks alike.

Hours and what we ordered

• 1F, 218-1 Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Mon–Thu 16:00–00:30 / Fri–Sun 15:00–01:30
• Reservations, takeout, delivery, Wi-Fi, and group seating available
• Boneless soup chicken feet, 2 servings ₩24,000 / cheese rice cake add-on ₩2,500 / pork belly add-on ₩3,000
• Tuna-mayo rice balls ₩5,500 / kalguksu ₩7,000 / flying-fish-roe steamed egg ₩5,000 / Chamisul Fresh ₩5,500

The restaurant had a relaxed atmosphere where it was easy to settle in over food and drinks. The weather was nice, so we sat outside; it had Hongdae's lively energy but was still comfortable for chatting with friends, making it perfect for drinks. Best of all, the menu was really varied. From soup chicken feet and fire-grilled chicken feet to bone-in and boneless options, you can choose according to your preference. There are also plenty of dishes to have alongside them, including beef intestine, odeng-tang (fish-cake soup), fried chicken skin, cheese fries, and tuna-mayo rice balls. So rather than a place that serves chicken feet alone, it felt more like a Hongdae bar where you can lay out several tasty drinking dishes and enjoy a drink.

The menu is very extensive, and you can order through the kiosk at each table.

Boneless soup chicken feet with cheese rice cakes and pork belly

We ordered boneless soup chicken feet with added cheese rice cakes and pork belly, along with kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup), tuna-mayo rice balls, and flying-fish-roe steamed egg.

I chose boneless chicken feet because I wanted to eat them more easily than bone-in ones, and they really were perfect for popping into your mouth while having a drink. The spicy, slightly reduced broth sauce had soaked into the chicken feet so well that I kept spooning up the broth too. Adding cheese rice cakes made it fun to pick out the chewy pieces from the spicy broth. Because the rice cakes have cheese inside, eating them with the chicken-feet sauce seemed to soften the heat a little. I also added pork belly to the chicken feet, and this combination worked better than I expected. We kept getting refills of the complimentary bean sprouts, and the chewy boneless chicken feet with the rich pork belly made such a good drinking dish.

Tuna-mayo rice balls and kalguksu on the side

And when you eat chicken feet, the thing you would miss most has to be tuna-mayo rice balls, right? These are not ordinary rice balls—they are generously filled with tuna mayo, and I heard that each one is seasoned and prepared by hand.

The nutty, mild tuna-mayo flavor went so well with the spicy chicken feet. If you add a little chicken-feet broth and eat it with a rice ball, you get both spice and richness, so I kept reaching for more. A bite of rice ball after spicy chicken feet, then chicken feet again—this combination simply cannot fail.

The kalguksu had chewy noodles in a rich broth, with a deep, savory flavor. Having warm kalguksu in between bites of chicken feet felt like a nice reset for my palate. The noodles were especially chewy and easy to slurp up with the broth. Once we had both the chicken-feet broth and kalguksu, it was quite filling, and I felt like we had eaten well right through to the end.

Since the spicy dishes kept coming, we ordered flying-fish-roe steamed egg too. The roe popped between the fluffy, soft steamed egg, making the texture fun and giving us something nice to eat between bites of spicy chicken feet. Alternating between chicken feet, rice balls, and steamed egg kept the heat in check, and it paired well with drinks too. As we worked through the dishes, drinks naturally followed! If you are looking for somewhere to go on a date in Hongdae or have relaxed drinks with friends, I would recommend this place.

For the restroom, go up half a floor in the building to the right of the restaurant; there are separate men's and women's restrooms.