Gwangmyeong Sageori chicken stew, weekend wait: Sindaebakjip

Today I'm introducing a place near Gwangmyeong Sageori that's great when you're craving dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken stew). It looks like the name has changed to Sinjjangdak now, so it might help to keep both the old and current names in mind when you visit.

How to find Sindaebakjip Gwangmyeong Sageori Branch, and is there parking?

Sindaebakjip Gwangmyeong Sageori Branch (now Sinjjangdak) is located at 992 101, 102-ho, Oriro, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. It's 95m from Exit 6 of Gwangmyeong Sageori Station, and there's no parking available 🚗

This is the exterior. The sign reads "Sinjjangdak Sotdukkeong Dakdoritang" in big letters. I went on a Saturday at 8pm and there was actually a wait!?

There are red chairs out front for waiting customers — looked like a comfortable spot to sit while you wait!

Inside Sindaebakjip: a cast-iron pot lid on every table

At Sindaebakjip Gwangmyeong Sageori Branch, each table has a cast-iron pot lid (sotdukkeong) in the middle where the food simmers. The tables are spaced comfortably apart, the place was busy with diners, and with so many tables simmering away, the dish's signature atmosphere really came through. It looked like a great spot to visit with friends or a group for a hearty meal.

Looking further inside, there's plenty of seating throughout. The walls and ceiling are covered with various signs and menu notes, and the kitchen was constantly preparing food. With a pot lid at every table, it felt a bit different from a typical chicken stew place. If you prefer this cast-iron style over the usual pot-style chicken stew when looking for a Gwangmyeong Sageori restaurant, this place should suit you well.

Seating was more generous than expected, making it a good option for gatherings or groups. Every table has its own cast-iron pot lid, so your chicken stew is simmered right at the table.

The very first thing you notice once you sit down is this pot lid!!

On the wall there was a sign recommending you add rice cake or fish cake for extra flavor, so I added a fish cake skewer too.

What we ordered: aged kimchi cast-iron chicken stew, 18,500 won

I ordered the aged kimchi cast-iron chicken stew for ₩18,500, and added ramyeon noodles for ₩2,000, a fish cake skewer for ₩1,000, and fried rice for ₩2,000. Instead of just having the chicken stew alone, I went all out with the extra noodles for a heartier meal.

On the wide cast-iron pot lid, chicken, aged kimchi, onion, and green onion were piled up generously, sitting in a shallow layer of sauce. As it simmers away, the sauce seems to soak deeper into the ingredients over time.

Above all, the aged kimchi gave it a flavor quite different from a typical chicken stew.

The chicken had absorbed the sauce well, and the aged kimchi turned soft as it cooked through, pairing nicely with the chicken. The tangy, deep flavor unique to aged kimchi added to the sauce and rounded out the savory taste overall.

Ramyeon noodles and a fish cake skewer as add-ons

You can't have a soupy dish like this without ramyeon noodles, haha. With the sauce already reduced down nicely, adding the noodles let them soak it right up for a chewy bite.

I also added a fish cake skewer, and simmering it in the chicken stew sauce let the fish cake soak up the spicy flavor too. The soft texture of the fish cake combined with the sauce turned out to work better than I expected. If you're looking for a Gwangmyeong Sageori Station restaurant recommendation and want to load up your chicken stew with extra add-ons, this is a good way to do it.

Up close you can see the sauce properly reduced down. The chicken is evenly coated in red sauce, with generous chunks of aged kimchi visible too. The onion soaked up the sauce and added a sweetness, and the green onion brought in some extra aroma — it was fun to eat through all the different ingredients together. Personally, the combination of aged kimchi + chicken + sauce all in one bite worked best for me, rather than just eating the chicken alone.

Finishing the chicken stew with fried rice

And of course, the finale is fried rice. Frying rice in the leftover sauce from the chicken stew let me enjoy the dish fully right down to the last bite.

Scraping up the crispy bits stuck to the pot lid gave a nutty flavor with a strong concentration of sauce, plus the texture of slightly crisped rice.

The chicken stew sauce itself is spicy and savory, so it worked really well as fried rice too.

Is Sindaebakjip worth it for chicken stew near Gwangmyeong Sageori?

Overall, this is a place worth checking out if you're searching for chicken stew near Gwangmyeong Sageori. It's not just chicken stew — simmering it with aged kimchi in a cast-iron pot lid makes it even tastier!! Haha. I liked that you can add ramyeon noodles, fish cake skewers, and fried rice to customize it to your taste. If you're looking for a restaurant recommendation near Gwangmyeong Sageori Station, this is a good spot for anyone who likes spicy chicken stew.

The dish I tried this time was the aged kimchi cast-iron chicken stew. Compared to regular chicken stew, the biggest difference was the addition of aged kimchi. The chicken held onto the sauce well, and as the aged kimchi cooked through, its deep flavor added to the sauce, making the broth itself feel quite rich. Adding ramyeon noodles let the noodles soak up the sauce for a whole different experience, and adding the fish cake skewer made it even more fun to pick through the different ingredients.

If you're looking for chicken stew near Gwangmyeong Sageori and you like a spicy sauce with aged kimchi mixed in, this place is worth checking out. On a day when you're craving chicken stew in Gwangmyeong Sageori, try the aged kimchi chicken stew simmering away on the cast-iron pot lid for a satisfying meal :)

Sindaebakjip opening hours ⏰

Daily 11:00–23:00