Seomyeon chicken restaurant with a graffiti wall: Yetnal Tongdak

What kind of place is Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Seomyeon Branch?

Hi, I'm Uto. I heard that Yetnal Tongdak & Tang, famous for Busan fried chicken, had recently opened a branch in Seomyeon, so I went for chimaek (chicken and beer) with a friend~! The tender Harim chicken was so good haha. There wasn't a single dry part — everything was cooked soft and juicy — so if you like chicken, this is a Busan fried chicken restaurant worth checking out.

The original Yeonsan location is so famous that people make the trip out there, but now with a branch in central Seomyeon, it's much more accessible. On the map it's marked as being on an alley called Manchwi-gil! It sits in the pub street between the main road with the Seomyeon BRT and the bigger street where the old Jeonpo NC Department Store used to be.

Yetnal Tongdak & Tang menu and what comes in the set

This is the menu at Busan fried chicken restaurant Yetnal Tongdak & Tang! The mains are dakdoritang, Andong jjimdak (braised chicken), and various fried chicken. The set menus looked like great value, so I imagine a lot of people order those. I went back and forth between boneless chicken and yetnal tongdak, but decided fried chicken should be on the bone, so I ordered the whole dakdoritang plus half yetnal tongdak set.

Inside the Seomyeon branch: a wall you can write on

This is the interior of Busan fried chicken restaurant Yetnal Tongdak & Tang Seomyeon Branch. Even though it's clearly newly opened, it doesn't feel that way — there's a local, lived-in feel haha. On one wall, pens are set out so you can freely write graffiti. My friend went hunting for empty space on the packed wall and wrote a cheer for her baseball team~! Finding the phrase for the team I like was fun. I even replied to some of the writing, so the wait for food was actually entertaining haha.

While waiting for the food after ordering, we ate the chips and cabbage salad that came as basic sides. The chips had a great crunch, and the cabbage salad was slightly refreshing, which whet our appetite. By the way, this cabbage salad pairs really well with the yetnal tongdak — it's a nice touch!

How the whole dakdoritang tastes at Yetnal Tongdak & Tang

The dakdoritang came out first! True to being a whole portion, it was generous in size, and the broth was spicy and delicious. There were glass noodles soaked in sauce, three long rice cake strips, and even quail eggs on top! The seasoning, compared to other dishes, was less thick and more like a broth — similar to soup-style dakbal (chicken feet) or soup tteokbokki — so it seemed like it would go well with all kinds of added ingredients.

I thought adding extra rice cakes and eating it like tteokbokki would be really tasty too. There was a hint of pepper in the seasoning, and it had that spicy kick.

What I liked best at Busan fried chicken restaurant Yetnal Tongdak & Tang was the tender texture! Using Harim chicken made the chicken itself tasty, but more than that, even the breast meat that can turn dry was cut small and cooked so it came out soft.

There were plenty of glass noodles too, so I slurped those up happily.

The sauce was good, but the chicken itself was really moist and tender. Tastes like exactly why it's famous as a Busan fried chicken restaurant!

Half a yetnal tongdak with yangnyeom chicken sauce

While we were eating the dakdoritang, the half yetnal tongdak arrived too! Exactly the classic, crispy old-style fried chicken look haha.

It comes with a sweet seasoned chicken sauce and sesame salt for lightly dipping. I dipped the crispy chicken in the seasoned sauce and it was really good haha.

Crispy batter on the outside, tender meat inside — really tasty.

Is Yetnal Tongdak & Tang a good first drinking stop in Seomyeon?

Both the dakdoritang and the fried chicken were so tender that I'm already craving them again! They serve draft beer too, so this place would come to mind when looking for a first-round drinking spot in Seomyeon. If you want tender, moist chicken in Seomyeon, I recommend Yetnal Tongdak & Tang~!