Minari duck brisket BBQ dinner with kids in Gwacheon: Deo Chadol

Deo Chadol, a Gwacheon favorite for duck chadol BBQ

• Baby chairs available, parking available
• 5-minute walk from Seonbawi Station Exit 3
• Open daily 11:00–21:30, break time 15:00–17:00

Why we chose Deo Chadol for dinner after a day out in Gwacheon

The weather was great this weekend, so we took the kids out around Gwacheon and stopped here for dinner — Deo Chadol, a local favorite. Gwacheon has plenty of kid-friendly spots we visit often, like Seoul Grand Park, Seoul Land, and the National Science Museum, and Deo Chadol happens to sit right near Seonbawi Station on the way to Seoul Grand Park, making it convenient before or after an outing. If you're out in Gwacheon with kids looking for a filling meal, this place is a solid choice!

Inside Deo Chadol, a well-known duck restaurant in Gwacheon

Walking in, the place was bigger and cleaner than I expected. The tables are well spaced and the whole interior feels tidy — a good atmosphere for a family meal!

There's a private room too, good for family gatherings or group meals, and one wall is covered with celebrity signatures, which told me this is already a pretty well-known local restaurant! And of course, baby chairs are ready, so it was easy to come with a young child.

Deo Chadol's Gwacheon flagship is different from your typical duck stew place! The signature dish is duck chadol BBQ — raw duck sliced thin and grilled like chadolbagi (thinly sliced beef brisket). I've had plenty of smoked duck and duck stir-fry before, but duck this thin was new to me.

What comes with the 55,000 won Deo Chadol Couple Course

We ordered the Deo Chadol Couple Course (₩55,000), which lets you try several dishes at once. The basic side dishes came out neatly arranged, along with vegetables like king oyster mushroom, onion, and minari (water dropwort)!

It starts with the duck chadol BBQ, followed by doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and duck stir-fry, and finishes with fried rice — such a filling lineup that I order this every single time I come!

First up, the duck chadol! The meat was sliced really thin, nothing like the thick duck cuts we usually eat. At first glance it looked like beef chadolbagi, rolled up thin, and we grilled it alongside minari and onion on the pan.

Thin-sliced duck brisket grilled with minari

Grilling them one at a time, they cooked fast since they were so thin. The outside turned slightly golden with a nutty aroma rising, and once in the mouth, it chewed far more tender than typical duck meat!

There was still that distinct savory duck flavor, but not overly greasy, and grilling it together with the minari and other vegetables worked really well!

The minari cooked lightly in the duck's rendered fat gave off a fragrant aroma, and wrapping a piece of duck chadol with it cut the richness and felt much fresher.

Doenjang jjigae served midway through the course

Partway through the meat, the doenjang jjigae arrives, loaded with tofu and zucchini — exactly what you want alongside grilled meat!

The broth was savory with just the right amount of spice, and a spoonful between bites of duck chadol felt like a palate reset! Grilled meat and hot doenjang jjigae — can't skip that combo.

Second round: spicy raw duck stir-fry

After the duck chadol, we moved on to the raw duck stir-fry. If the chadol was clean and nutty, the stir-fry is a total mood shift! The red sauce coats the duck thoroughly, and with plenty of onion and green onion mixed in, the smell alone as it starts cooking on the pan is mouthwatering.

The sauce is spicy-sweet with a deep savory kick that makes you crave rice. Cooked in the sauce, the duck stayed tender rather than chewy, and it was even better picked up together with the vegetables. Having both the clean duck chadol and the spicy duck stir-fry in one set never felt repetitive — it was actually fun getting two different duck dishes!

Finishing with fried rice on the grill

Once you've had the stir-fry, you can't skip the fried rice. Rice, seaweed flakes, and vegetables get tossed into the leftover sauce, and even full, I kept reaching for more! The duck stir-fry sauce itself is so good that once it's mixed evenly through the rice, it needs no further explanation.

Scraping up the slightly crisped bits stuck to the pan is its own treat! From duck chadol to stir-fry to fried rice, the portions were generous and we ate really well.

Would we return to Deo Chadol again with the kids?

This nth revisit to Deo Chadol, our go-to Gwacheon restaurant, was satisfying as always. Duck chadol itself isn't a common menu item to begin with, and pairing the thin-sliced duck with minari on the grill worked great. On top of that, having spicy duck stir-fry and fried rice suited me well, since I like trying a bit of everything.

The restaurant is spacious and clean, with baby chairs that make it easy to bring the kids, and a private room that would work well for a family gathering with parents too! Next time we're out in Gwacheon, I'll be back again.