Birthday dinner at a Garak-dong beef intestine grill: Jinseong Hanwoo

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship: hours, location and reservations

• Hours: Sun–Thu 12:00–23:00 (last order 22:00), Fri–Sat 12:00–24:00 (last order 23:00)
• Reservations: phone reservations available (wait expected after work hours)
• Other: separate men's/women's restrooms located outside (3-minute walk), this is the 'flagship' branch of Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang
• Address: 27 Songpadae-ro 28-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea / 5 minutes from Garak Market Station Exit 4

Why we chose Garak-dong gopchang for my husband's birthday dinner

My husband said he wanted gopchang (beef intestine) for his birthday dinner, so we headed to Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang, the famous Garak-dong gopchang spot near his office!

We got there around 6 and there was no wait, but if you show up any later than that, this Garak-dong gopchang favorite has a wait every single day.

They've got quite a résumé, but honestly I don't put much stock in TV appearances — what really gets a woman in her thirties is a sign that says they make their own green onion kimchi, mustard leaf kimchi, and altari (young radish) kimchi.

Only three items on the menu: hanwoo gopchang, 200g for 19,000 won

The main menu has exactly 3 items! Hanwoo gopchang, hanwoo daechang, and hanwoo makchang (₩19,000, ₩19,000, ₩20,000). Gopchang at ₩19,000 for 200g, with today's prices? Absolute steal. This place's gopchang is the real deal, so the two of us ordered 2 servings of gopchang and 1 serving of daechang.

What makes Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang different: mijeolma sauce and homemade green onion kimchi

And now for Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang's secret weapon — mijeolma sauce. It's a minari (water celery) and garlic pickle sauce with minari, garlic, and chili all in there, and it completely cuts through the richness of the gopchang. So good.

Besides the mijeolma sauce, the chive salad is refreshing too.

The homemade mustard leaf kimchi, young cabbage kimchi, and green onion kimchi are also excellent. The green onion kimchi is even good grilled together with the gopchang. The sour, spicy, refreshing side dishes that come with the gopchang basically make you want to keep getting free refills of gopchang.

The kimchi gets cut right at your table like this — and the fact that it comes out as a whole piece to be cut means you can be sure this place never reuses leftovers. Trustworthy.

I've been to Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang more than 10 times, and not once have I been disappointed. I believe in you, Chef Kim Seong-gwang.

While we waited for our order, I looked around — it's only 6 o'clock and Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang is already packed. Truly a Garak-dong favorite.

They even make the soy sauce that goes into the mijeolma sauce by pickling garlic themselves like this — and since they must use a lot of it, they always have several jars pickling at once.

Beer prices and where the beef comes from

On top of the kimchi, beer is what really cuts through the gopchang! And a nice touch — they carry both Terra Light and Terra 0.00.

Looking at the origin signage, both the kimchi and the gopchang are all domestic. Domestic gopchang, 200g for ₩19,000? That is a genuinely great deal — total bang-for-your-buck beef gopchang.

The complimentary steamed egg and one more serving of gopchang

The steamed egg custard came out as a free side. Eating it with kimchi before the gopchang is done grilling, as a snack with soju-beer, is great.

Honestly, we originally ordered just 1 serving of gopchang and 1 of daechang, but the grill looked kind of empty. As a couple of big eaters, we couldn't just let that slide.

One more serving of gopchang, please! Once the grill was full, we were finally satisfied.

Can you tell just from the color how fresh it is? Along with the gopchang and makchang, it comes with chive salad, kimchi, mung bean sprouts, cabbage, rice cakes, and potatoes, so you can eat a good variety.

Once the staff sets the timer and walks away, the longest wait in the world begins until the gopchang is done grilling. Cook already!! Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle.

When the timer goes off and the gopchang is nicely grilled, they finish it off by topping it with the green onion kimchi.

How the gopchang tastes: no off-smell, mijeolma sauce and somaek

We're ready to get started too, cheers. Rich gopchang calls for soju-beer. It's been a while since my husband and I went out to eat, so I'm excited!

Take a bite of the perfectly grilled gopchang topped with mijeolma sauce — mmm. This is it, this is exactly it, ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Can you tell just by looking how fresh the gopchang is and how perfectly it's cooked? Grilled just right with no off-smell at all ㅠㅠ so moving.

Bite by bite, we cleaned the whole thing off the grill. ^ㅠ... As big eaters, but we were too full even for fried rice after all that.

We didn't order fried rice, but it looked like they cook it up and bring it out regardless. Being able to eat without waiting — nice, nice. Thanks to Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang, we had a very satisfying, delicious birthday dinner, hehe.