Gangdong hagfish restaurant: spicy vs garlic at Ppalgan Kkomjangeo

What is Ppalgan Kkomjangeo near Dunchondong Station?

Ppalgan Kkomjangeo (빨간꼼장어) is an old-school hagfish (kkomjangeo) joint in the Dunchon Market alley near Dunchondong Station. As a Gangdong native hunting for good restaurants around Dunchondong Station, I wanted to introduce this long-standing alley spot.

A friend of mine, who loves a drink and really knows his food, recommended it to me again and again. It's a genuine local favorite, the real deal.

We're both Gangdong locals, so our conversations always drift to restaurants in Dunchondong and Seongnae-dong, haha. My friend kept raving about how delicious Ppalgan Kkomjangeo is, so with high hopes we dropped in on a whim on a weekday evening.

How to get to Ppalgan Kkomjangeo from Dunchondong Station

From Exit 4 of Dunchondong Station, head toward Dunchon Market and you'll find it quickly. They say they've been running for 14 years in Dunchon Market. A true market-alley favorite, no question!

You can feel the owner's pride from outside the shop. They say it's the first aged hagfish restaurant in Korea, so it's more than a place that just grills hagfish: they care about the aging method and the sauce! Takeout prices are way cheaper than dining in, wow. I bet they get a lot of takeout customers.

The secret to the charcoal aroma

Atmosphere and seating at Ppalgan Kkomjangeo

I arrived a little after 6 p.m. on a weekday and it was already 70% full. It really is a pilgrimage site for drinkers, since most people were enjoying hagfish with alcohol. It looked like the daytime drinking had already started, haha.

From outside it looks like a classic neighborhood pub, but inside it's roomier than expected, so it seemed fine for small gatherings or company dinners. It's quite spacious, enough for 8–10 people to eat together at once.

The tables aren't cramped, and they're round tables where 4 people can sit comfortably. It's a proper old-school Seongnae-dong spot for after-work soju with friends, acquaintances or coworkers over nutty, spicy snacks.

What else is on the Ppalgan Kkomjangeo menu besides hagfish?

Besides giant hagfish and regular hagfish, Ppalgan Kkomjangeo also serves spicy boneless chicken feet, pork skin, beef intestines and giant pork ribs, so it works as a restaurant and bar even if someone in your group doesn't like hagfish.

The side dishes are perfect for wrapping up a drinking session too! Kimchi cold noodles, udon hot pot, canned yellow peaches, rice balls and volcano steamed egg: lots of items that suit a table with soju.

What banchan (side dishes) does Ppalgan Kkomjangeo serve?

A spread that's already a great drinking-snack combo, starting with the free side dishes

The banchan at Ppalgan Kkomjangeo are tofu with kimchi, pickled perilla leaves, cold cucumber soup and a sweet-and-sour lettuce and chive salad. The seasoning on the cucumber soup and the pickled lettuce is just right, so good. The tofu kimchi was so good I got a refill. You know a place is the real deal when even the free side dishes are delicious, right?

The cold cucumber soup cleansed my palate and cooled my mouth, and the lettuce and chive salad and pickled perilla leaves were the best with the hagfish! It had that generous old-school table feel.

Spicy vs garlic giant hagfish: how do they differ?

Spicy vs garlic: giant hagfish, pick by your taste

The giant hagfish and regular hagfish at Ppalgan Kkomjangeo come in two main flavors: spicy (red) and garlic. I couldn't give up either one, so I ate both.

Spicy hagfish: fiery seasoning and smoky grill flavor

The spicy hagfish is generously coated in hot seasoning, and with the smoky grill flavor you keep reaching for more. They said it comes over 80% pre-grilled!

Garlic hagfish: special garlic sauce and rice cakes

For the garlic hagfish, the special garlic sauce, which they say they developed themselves when the shop opened, brings out the nutty flavor of the hagfish. The garlic isn't overpowering; it enhances the hagfish's clean, mild flavor, so it's easy to enjoy without feeling heavy.

The giant hagfish also comes with rice cakes (tteok) by default, and it's fun to grill the chewy rice cakes too. They say the garlic version comes 50% pre-grilled!

They thoughtfully wrote out the best way to eat each menu item.

What is the texture of the giant hagfish like?

According to the owner, giant hagfish is a rare catch with small volumes, so only 2–3 restaurants in all of Seoul sell it!! It's really plump, crunchy and chewy, with great texture, so delicious, and it was clearly a health-boosting dish..

They say the garlic sauce was developed in-house since opening and brings out the hagfish flavor, and I kept dipping into it. Loads of garlic sauce.. the hagfish is nutty and the savory depth is insane.

The fluffy volcano steamed egg is truly generous, as its name promises. We added steamed egg and rice balls to the golden-grilled hagfish, and it was definitely filling.

What to order at Ppalgan Kkomjangeo

Personally, I preferred the spicy flavor over the garlic at Ppalgan Kkomjangeo! Both are delicious, but if I had to pick, the spicy one wins, living up to the restaurant's name (ppalgan means "red")!!

This time I only added one extra serving of spicy hagfish, but next time I'd order 2 servings of spicy and 1 of garlic. That's the combo I recommend (personal taste). I'm a garlic girl, yet the spicy one was really good.

Regulars seem to stick their business cards on the wall at Ppalgan Kkomjangeo, even that is the real-deal sign. Autographs cover the walls too, so it seems lots of celebrities have stopped by this Gangdong favorite.

Ppalgan Kkomjangeo waiting times, reservations and opening hours

Even right at 6 p.m. there were lots of people, and at peak dinner time you have to write your name on the waiting list like this, which proves it's the real deal 😹

Hasn't Sung Si-kyung come yet? It's already famous, but it's a buy-low opportunity.. Go while you can get in!! I highly recommend Ppalgan Kkomjangeo, a great place for soju and snacks.

• Hours: 16:30–23:00
• Closed Sundays
• Delivery, takeout, Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms
• Reservations, group seating and parking available
• Naver reservations available for parties of 6 or more

For company dinners or get-togethers with friends, I recommend booking Ppalgan Kkomjangeo in advance! haha