Eating Dakgalbi in Chuncheon

Coronation Street, Downing Street, Saville Row, Fifth Avenue, Hollywood Boulevard, Albert Square, La Rambla… BBQ Chicken Street…

In Chuncheon, South Korea, there’s a place called Myeongdong Street (not to be confused with Myeongdong in Seoul). It’s known as Dakgalbi (BBQ Chicken) Street and is just as famous as any one of the locations I’ve listed above. But I bet you’ve not heard of it before. I hadn’t either.

During our recent holiday in Seoul, we took a mini trip to Gangwando Province which is best known for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. It’s also the only province in Korea to straddle both the North and South. We were obviously staying in the South, in Chuncheon, the capital city. Our purpose: to eat the best Dakgalbi we could find. It’s a spicy bbq grilled chicken dish and is the region’s speciality. In fact, it’s what Chuncheon is most famous for.

Although there are actually three streets around the city which are known for their Dakgalbi, Myeongdong Street is the most famous. By day, it’s quite dingy with very little to see but by night it comes alive with restaurant after restaurant selling this delicious BBQ chicken dish.

Gangwando has historically been a poultry farming region and so, it’s no surprise that their signature dish is chicken. But, the reason that chicken street and Chuncheon found fame outside of the region is actually down to it being featured in a TV show in the 1990’s! Since then, tourists from all over South Korea and Asia have been visiting this little street for their chicken hit!

As with most galbi places around South Korea, you sit at a table with its own grill and are brought the ingredients, including the raw meat, to cook for yourself. I say yourself, usually, there’s an ajumma waiting in the wings to grab the tongs out of your hand and do the job properly for you! It’s a lot of fun and makes for a very sociable eating experience.

How do you eat it?

Grilled Dakgalbi is traditionally eaten wrapped in lettuce and perilla leaves with an assortment of accompanying side dishes that you can choose from. On this occasion, we had raw garlic, ssamjang (soybean paste), white onion and chillis. Wrap everything into a kind of burrito ball and stick it in your mouth – extra points if you can get it in on one try!

Here’s a story…

Whilst we were there, the craziest thing happened. We got chatting to the two older men sitting at the grill to the side of us. Through broken Korean and English plus lots of hand gesturing, we managed to have a conversation with them. That soon turned into toasts and soju shots. By the end of the meal, they were passing items across from their grill to ours. Chicken feet in fact (and FYI, they were really tasty cooked this way). Then, as they finished their meal and left, we discovered that they had surreptitiously paid for our food.

Dave thinks that it signified that they’d bonded with us, looking after us as the oldest in our ‘group’. It was a sign of acceptance and a way of welcoming us to their town. Cool right?

Where should you eat Dakgalbi?

I’m not going to recommend one restaurant over another as there are plenty to choose from on the most famous chicken street and they all look very similar. You’ll find that they vie for your attention with shopkeepers calling to you from the doorstep and pictures of their establishments featured by local celebrities and on TV shows. Walk up and down a few times until somewhere takes your fancy!

If you do want to plan ahead though, try the Chuncheon tourism website for their recommendations.

Enjoyed this post? Why not read some of my other South Korea blog posts? 

• 5 street food dishes you must eat in Seoul
• A cookery experience in Seoul
• The history of Budae Jjigae