Dongtan samgyetang restaurant with dinner drink set: Dream Samgyetang

Hi everyone, I'm a food blogger always on the hunt for a great meal. 😊 With fall here and the temperature swinging so much between day and night, I caught a bit of a cold and body ache — so I came to a well-known samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) spot in Dongtan for something hot and restorative.

128 Dongtan-yeokro, 2nd floor, Unit 201, Dongtan-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea / Mon–Thu, Sat–Sun 10:30–22:30 (last order 22:00) / Fri 10:30–21:00 (last order 20:30)

Where is Dream Samgyetang, and where do you park?

Dream Samgyetang is on the 2nd floor of a building on Dongtan-yeokro, and the sign really stands out from outside haha. Parking is available in the building down to basement level 5, and the lot is huge, so I didn't have to worry about finding a spot.

Park, take the elevator to the 2nd floor, turn right, and walk to the end — that's it~~^^ Being a well-known recovery-meal restaurant near Dongtan Station, it's genuinely close to the station~~~

Inside Dream Samgyetang: a wide dining room with the AC at 21°C

The moment I walked in, Dream Samgyetang felt clean and spacious inside. The table layout was nice too.

I arrived around 5pm and there were maybe 4 tables occupied?? ^^ Early for dinner, but people kept trickling in. Samgyetang is served piping hot so you can end up sweating through the meal, but the interior here was comfortable with the AC at 21°C^^ — really cool and pleasant. The space is roomy too, so it'd work well as a group recovery-meal spot in Dongtan.

Dream Samgyetang menu: lunch specials, dinner dishes and a drink-pairing set

True to its reputation as a go-to samgyetang restaurant in Dongtan, there was quite a variety on the menu. Basic Dream Samgyetang, abalone, herbal, perilla, mung bean, and more — plus a lunch special, which I snapped a photo of.

It wasn't just a lunch menu either — there was a dinner menu and a drink-pairing set too. That was a surprise, haha. Samgyetang usually brings lunch to mind, but samgyetang as a dinner drinking set? Haha, maybe it's not for nothing that this place is known as a top samgyetang spot in Dongtan.

The basic Dream Samgyetang has a rich broth, apparently because it's made with 10 kinds of herbal ingredients and grains. No wonder it tastes so wholesome. After some deliberation, since we both love perilla and mung bean, we ordered the perilla samgyetang and the mung bean samgyetang.

Side dishes and the self-serve bar: radish refilled twice

The standard sides at Dream Samgyetang are diced radish kimchi, kimchi, and radish, and you can refill them at the self-serve bar. They said the kimchi is made in-house and aged three times a week.^^

Of all of them, the radish was my favorite, so I went back for a refill twice, haha.

They also bring out salt, but I like things on the milder side, haha, so I skipped putting salt in the soup and just dipped the chicken meat in it instead.^^ And the ginseng liquor came as a complimentary service~^^ It's really bitter, but in a healthy sort of way? The ginseng aroma really hits you.

Perilla samgyetang at Dream Samgyetang: nutty, rich broth

Since I love perilla, I ordered the perilla samgyetang from Dream Samgyetang~~~ The broth is simmered for a long time with 10 kinds of herbal ingredients, so it had a deep flavor right from the first sip.

On top of that, the perilla added a nutty, rich flavor that spread through the whole mouth, haha. The chicken was cooked through so well that the meat pulled apart easily and stayed moist and tender.

Eating the glutinous rice together with the nutty perilla broth made for a filling meal that still felt gentle on the stomach. If you like a rich, savory samgyetang, this one's a good pick.

Mung bean samgyetang: the lighter, cleaner bowl

Next up!! The mung bean samgyetang arrived at a rolling boil~~^^ With mung bean in the mix, the flavor was completely different from the perilla version. The chicken was cooked tender and the meat pulled apart easily too.

Thanks to the distinctly nutty, clean flavor of mung bean, the broth went down easily without feeling heavy. If you prefer a lighter, more savory taste over the richness of perilla, the mung bean samgyetang would suit you well.

Verdict: is Dream Samgyetang worth it for a restorative dinner in Dongtan?

Dream Samgyetang, a well-loved samgyetang restaurant in Dongtan, had a great variety of samgyetang on the menu, and both the perilla and mung bean versions were nutty and satisfying. If you're looking for a place to get a proper recovery meal near Dongtan Station, it's worth a visit at least once. One more thing — Dream Samgyetang has started offering nationwide delivery, so that's worth keeping in mind too~~^^