Gimbap-topped gopchang for an 11-year regular: Jinseong Hanwoo

Today I'm bringing you a review of a place I visited constantly near my parents' house — the real deal, Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship in Garak-dong.

I've paid out of my own pocket so many times I've lost count,, if it wasn't good I wouldn't have kept going back, and I definitely wouldn't have gone back after moving out — but I kept thinking about it, so even after moving I went to visit.

During the 11 years I lived at my parents' place, I went so many times I can't even remember the number, whenever I wanted gopchang (beef intestines) haha. Okay, let's get straight into the review!!

Location and hours of Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship

• Location: 27 Songpa-daero 28-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: daily 12:00–23:00 / open until midnight on Fri, Sat
• Parking: use the Seongwon Sangtteville commercial parking lot / first 2 hours free, paid after

Arrived at Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang. It's been way, way too long...

When to avoid the wait

The inside is actually pretty spacious, but it's always full and there's always a wait,, they run at full tilt with no days off, and with this many customers it really shows how popular it is...

Since this is a place worth waiting for, if you're going during weekend peak hours, I'd recommend arriving a bit earlier than dinnertime or avoiding that window entirely! More people come around 8pm for late-night eats, so that's when it's busiest! But honestly, this place is worth the wait haha.

No combo platters — single items only, here's what we ordered

The menu is nice and simple like this. Oh, and this place only has single-item options. No combo platter!! But since gopchang is my favorite anyway, I actually liked that there was no combo.

We started off with 2 orders of hanwoo gopchang, 1 hanwoo daechang, and 1 kkakdugi yangbap.

*A little TMI aside — this place actually first became famous because it started out selling 200g for around ₩10,000-something, so it got known as an affordable gopchang spot haha.

The origin labels and homemade sauces

And here's the really touching part... an origin menu board with absolutely no Chinese-sourced ingredients, which is genuinely rare to find at restaurants these days... not even the common stuff like chili powder is from China... and all the kimchi is homemade... I truly respect that,,

The sauces are all homemade too haha. You can tell how serious they are about the food...

Once we ordered, the side dishes came out like this. The minari (water celery) sauce wasn't here before — it's new!!

And that day they gave us a free drink too!!! Score!! I happily accepted haha.

Since it's a raw, unprocessed ingredient, the condition can sometimes vary unintentionally, but they said if that happens, just let them know and they'll swap it out. That wasn't a thing before — a lot has changed while I was away haha. SOooo friendly...

The three kimchi siblings and minari sauce

The three homemade kimchis tasted exactly the same as I remembered — delicious. I don't remember mustard leaf kimchi being here before, but it's new now. That scallion kimchi in particular is absolutely, absolutely delicious... grilled and eaten with gopchang, it's unbeatable...

The minari sauce is also really good, with a fragrant minari aroma. Mixed with garlic, the savoriness goes wild.

And a complimentary steamed egg!! The steamed egg here is soft and jiggly and really tasty. Can you tell how soft and bouncy it is? Total drinking snack, I'm telling you...

Staff grill the gopchang and daechang on a 3-minute timer

And here come the gopchang and daechang I ordered! Super generous portions, a lot of it. Looks so good, right...

The color is insane... just leave it alone and they'll come grill it for you, so don't touch or flip it yourself!

This timer is set to 3 minutes, and when it goes off, they flip everything front and back. Just like this... looks so good... they cut everything up piece by piece so all you have to do is eat.

The visuals are insane.. it really looks delicious. Gopchang turning golden brown as it cooks!!

The gopchang here isn't chewy, it's soft, and above all, there's zero smell, and the fatty richness (gop) inside is still intact.

See how packed full of gop that gopchang is? It's genuinely nutty and delicious.

Dipping it in the minari sauce makes it even better... and the well-fried rice cake dipped in the sauce too is a heavenly combo!!

Eating it together with cabbage is also amazing... and grilling it with the scallion kimchi is out-of-this-world good. Truly delicious.

Order the kkakdugi yangbap early — that's the tip

Next up, the kkakdugi yangbap (radish kimchi fried rice) arrives. It's topped with a variety of colorful ingredients. This is different from before too! It used to just be fried rice and the seasoning, now it's much more generous and varied.

Ha,, the color looks great... here's a tip! This takes a bit of time to come out, so make sure to order the yangbap ahead of time. That way it arrives right around when you're finishing up the gopchang!!

They mix it all up nicely like this.. and one bite, ahh--- the yangbap's savoriness is insane. The sweet-and-salty richness of the kimchi seasoning is so full-flavored it's incredibly delicious, gone in a flash...

In the end, one more serving of beef gopchang

And then... haha the gopchang was so delicious I couldn't bear it, so I added one more serving of beef gopchang.. haha.

The second round was also really soft and packed with gop, really delicious. Ah,,, I want to eat it again already...

(+++And another thing!!!! Everyone knows how good it is to put gopchang on top of the kkakdugi yangbap right??? You really, really have to try eating it this way,,,

This is genuinely a place you can't help but revisit.. it makes you feel proud of your neighborhood. Does it seem like it just keeps getting better as time goes on?? I'll be back... I've seen branches pop up in Sindang, Bangi and elsewhere.. but just so you know, the original is the Garak branch!!!!