Lamb skewer set & fried rice at Sinseoldong Station: Yangchigi Sonyeo

My husband loves lamb, so we've been going out for lamb a lot lately. After we moved, we finally went back to a lamb skewer place in Sinseoldong called Yangchigi Sonyeo (양치기 소녀). My husband even said, "I'd love to work part-time here," he was that happy with it, so I'm sharing it with you now.

Getting to Yangchigi Sonyeo Sinseoldong, and parking

Yangchigi Sonyeo Sinseoldong is a 2-minute walk from Exit 6 or Exit 10 of Sinseoldong Station. If you're driving, you can use the parking lot behind the building.

Inside Yangchigi Sonyeo Sinseoldong: good for gatherings and group dinners?

There are privately partitioned seats as well as good group seating, so it looked just right for gatherings or company dinners. We arrived late, around 7:30 PM, and it was still packed.

What we ordered at Yangchigi Sonyeo, with prices

We ordered the lamb skewer set (₩60,000), fried rice (₩10,000), saero (a soju brand, ₩5,000) and 2 canned drinks (₩3,000 each). The menu is long and I wasn't sure what to get, but then I saw the "Lamb Skewer Set" printed there so confidently, and figured it must be what they're proudest of. So I picked it.

• Lamb skewer set - ₩60,000
• Fried rice - ₩10,000
• Saero - ₩5,000
• Drinks - ₩3,000 × 2 cans

Each table has curry powder, seasoning powder, chili powder, zira (cumin) and more. If you want salt, just ask the staff and they'll bring it. The side dishes and lamb skewers are brought out as soon as you order.

What side dishes come at Yangchigi Sonyeo?

The sides were dried tofu salad, jellyfish cold salad, cucumber salad, zha cai (Chinese pickled mustard stem) and peanuts. Lots of places make you order these separately, right? I liked getting to taste a little of each. It felt like a mini sampler of Chinese side dishes, which made me even happier.

The lamb skewers were a vivid red from the start, so I could tell they use fresh meat.

Tomato egg soup

As soon as the skewers went on the grill, the tomato egg soup arrived. It had bok choy, onion, egg and tomato, and the steam rising off it looked warming just to look at.

The broth was really clean-tasting. The egg was softly swirled in, so it was gentle and settled my stomach, and it worked perfectly as a palate cleanser before the lamb.

How was the lamb skewer at Yangchigi Sonyeo?

The lamb was really tender with almost no gamey smell. The fire is strong, so the skewers cooked quickly.

Dipped in zira sauce and curry powder, one bite and I had to admit this is a proper Sinseoldong lamb skewer spot. The seasoning isn't overpowering, so you taste the lamb's natural flavor cleanly, and it's not heavy, so my hand kept reaching for more.

Kkanpung eggplant and shrimp

The kkanpung eggplant and shrimp (sweet-spicy fried dish) also came out quickly. Big pieces of fried eggplant sat on lettuce, generously drizzled with kkanpung sauce on top.

When I cut it into bite-size pieces, I could see plump shrimp inside.

The first bite was slightly crisp outside and moist inside, and the shrimp popped as I chewed, spreading a nutty richness. Eaten with the lettuce, the kkanpung sauce wasn't too intense but pleasantly sweet, and it cut the oiliness of the fried eggplant well. It didn't get tiresome like I expected, so I kept reaching for it.

Complimentary stir-fried chives and pork

While we were eating, the owner brought us a free dish of what looked like stir-fried chives and pork (?). Chives, carrot and pork were stir-fried together, with spicy chili peppers here and there.

It was savory and salty, and quietly addictive.

Yangchigi Sonyeo's fried rice: how is it different from other lamb skewer places?

The fried rice (₩10,000) is packed with ham, scallion, carrot and even shrimp, so the flavor was much richer and the wok aroma really came through. At Chinese restaurants, egg fried rice is one of the things I always order, and these days a lot of lamb skewer places only do a plain egg-and-scallion version, right?

Thanks to all the ingredients the texture was great, and I was quite surprised by the big pieces of egg. It felt like they didn't hold back on anything, so I stayed satisfied right to the last bite.

Is Yangchigi Sonyeo Sinseoldong worth a return visit?

Yangchigi Sonyeo is a Sinseoldong lamb skewer spot with reasonable prices, and the food tasted like what you'd eat in China itself, so I was really happy. This was already my third visit, and I'll probably keep coming back from time to time.