Gangdong charcoal chicken restaurant with white sauce: Ondogye

The day I craved charcoal-grilled dakgalbi in Cheonho

I was hanging out in Cheonho with Eongdaengs when we suddenly craved charcoal-grilled dakgalbi (spicy grilled chicken), so we visited Ondogye 🤤

Here’s the exterior! Ondogye has a main building and an annex, and we went to the main building. It felt like the place had been around for a while, which gave it such a real local-gem vibe.

Here’s the inside! It isn’t a very large space, so there was a wait during dinner time. I think the main building had around six tables!!

Dakgalbi ordered in three flavors

The menu includes garlic-salt dakgalbi, soy-marinated dakgalbi, spicy dakgalbi, salted chicken neck, fried chicken gizzards, vegetable skewers, steamed egg, and rice balls. We started with the soy-marinated and spicy dakgalbi, then added garlic-salt dakgalbi and fried chicken gizzards because everything was so good, haha.

These are the complimentary sides—can you see the fried chicken gizzards? A doenjang-jjigae (soybean-paste stew) comes out while you eat, too. Such amazing value!! The green-onion kimchi is delicious grilled, and the bean-sprout and shredded-green-onion salad with dakgalbi is heavenly.

I mean, complimentary food could easily have been fried ahead of time, but absolutely not here. These gizzards came out freshly fried and piping hot 🤩 Seriously crispy! There was no gaminess at all, just a savory deliciousness.

The sauce on the left is the house special sauce, and it tastes a little like the sauce you dip pizza crust into. It’s insanely good with the dakgalbi 👍 The one on the right is a gochujang (red chili paste)-based sauce—great for dipping the less-seasoned chicken.

Finally, the dakgalbi arrived! So glossy… so juicy-looking… ✨ It looks packed with juices, right?

The soy-marinated dakgalbi is on the left and the spicy dakgalbi is on the right. They come partially grilled, then a kind staff member cooks them for you, which made eating so easy. The color is no joke 🥹

The pieces were bigger than I expected, and since they use thigh rather than breast, the chicken was wonderfully tender and soft, haha. When I had charcoal dakgalbi in Gapyeong before, I had to grill it myself; I couldn’t tell whether it was done, even burned it, and all the moisture disappeared so it became dry. At Ondogye, they grill it for you, so it stays moist instead of drying out!!!

Can you see how moist it is?! It’s charcoal-grilled, so it has loads of smoky flavor and is full of juices, too. The soy-marinated dakgalbi has a sweet soy seasoning, giving it that sweet-and-salty balance. The spicy dakgalbi was spicy but also a little sweet, so it wasn’t as hot as I expected!! Even people who are weak with spice can give it a go 😉

The signature white sauce is essential

Dip the dakgalbi in the signature white sauce, top it with the bean-sprout and shredded-green-onion salad, and wrap it in ssammu (pickled radish slices). It’s sooooo good you might wolf it down and accidentally bite your tongue 🤤 You absolutely have to eat it this way—it’s essential ⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s good with the red sauce too, but the white sauce is legendary.

Of course, we couldn’t skip carbs. ❗️A hot tip for enjoying the rice balls❗️ Put them on the grill and toast them! That turned out to be such a special treat, haha.

Makgeolli—one driiiink~~~ I heard Tiger Makgeolli was a little sweet, and since I like sweet flavors, I chose this one. It was totally my style!!

This was the day I learned that makgeolli (Korean rice wine) goes so well with dakgalbi. I already want charcoal dakgalbi and makgeolli again 🤩

The doenjang-jjigae is complimentary here too! There was a gigantic piece of tofu in it, hahaha. As a tofu lover, I was happy. It wasn’t bland at all—the seasoning was just right, and it surprisingly went really well with the dakgalbi!!

We declared today a cheat day and added the garlic-salt dakgalbi too, haha.

The garlic-salt dakgalbi isn’t marinated, so you can taste the chicken’s naturally savory, clean flavor!! It was great ordering all three flavors to enjoy the variety, and if you’re planning to visit, I recommend getting one serving each of different flavors 😉

If you’re looking for excellent charcoal dakgalbi, I highly recommend Ondogye! I’m 100000000% coming back 🥹 Next time, I should bring my parents, haha.

To finish, the extra order of fried chicken gizzards! They come complimentary, but we wanted more, so we ordered another portion. Fresh-fried gizzards: properly crisp outside and tender inside 🥰

Eongdaengs’ taste review

• Garlic-salt dakgalbi: A clean flavor with a subtle garlic aroma and just the right saltiness in perfect balance. Recommended if you want to enjoy the chicken’s natural flavor ⭐️
• Soy-marinated dakgalbi: Sweet and salty, with a slight teriyaki-like feel?? Recommended for anyone who likes moderately sweet flavors or that teriyaki profile ⭐️
• Spicy dakgalbi: Not as spicy as expected!! It’s totally manageable even for people who are weak with spice, with a spicy kick and pronounced smoky flavor. Dipping it in the white sauce softens the heat and adds a lovely sweetness. Personally, this was the best flavor 🥰
• Chicken gizzards: They came complimentary and were freshly fried, so they were incredibly warm. No gamey or fishy smell—crisp and pleasantly chewy.
• Doenjang-jjigae: The whole chunk of tofu made it feel like they really don’t skimp on ingredients. It has a gentle heat while bringing out the true soybean-paste flavor: clean, nutty, and that comforting Korean barbecue restaurant stew taste!!
• Rice balls: The familiar kind sprinkled with seaweed flakes. Delicious with no strong likes-or-dislikes. I’m the type who absolutely needs rice with meat, so it was a great pairing. They said grilling them would be good, and it really was—crisp outside, moist inside.
• Overall: Great value, great food, and every staff member was so kind. They grilled all the meat for us, so we could simply enjoy ourselves—it was really convenient. The side dishes were great, and both the white sauce and spicy sauce were delicious. The portions are generous, and this is genuinely such a good restaurant that I want to visit again. Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️