Thursday, April 29, 2010

New "Hangover Soup" Restaurant

So, how can I defend back-to-back restaurant reviews? Because I eat three meals a day, perhaps?

Today I went to a brand new haejangguk restaurant outside Deungchon station Exit 1--walk straight out, cross the street, and look to the right of the Papa John's building with the statue of the chrome paint brushes:

Cheongjindong Haejangguk Restaurant


And a nice bowl of soup is definitely in order today, as the temperature remains unseasonably cool. That was me being a master of understatement, since in truth the weather has been unbe-fucking-lievable. Since November, the temperature has not hit sixty-five degrees more than two consecutive days. As soon as the skies clear up and the sun starts to warm one's bones (like Saturday and Sunday) the mercury plummets and a drizzling rain soaks you. Then, the next day it clears a bit but the cold wind whips right through you. It's some kind of record, I'm pretty sure.

So, soup's up, and this place was a good choice! First of all, I like a restaurant which posts its menu outside, especially when they include prices:


I chose the 뼈해장국, bbyeo haejangguk, which is "bone hangover soup", only W4,500. This is the Korean version of ox-tail soup, and it is delicious:


There are several versions of haejangguk, including 선지 seonji-style, which is coagulated ox-blood. The bbyeo soup came with six bone sections from which you remove the meat (a receptacle for discarding them is provided), a bowl of rice, and of course panchan.

Cheongjindong has bench seating and a rustic style, but is brightly lit with a big front window and huge mirrors to reflect the light. I also like that it had old-style kimchi crocks on each table, so you can serve yourself, with baechu and turnip kimchi (on the top in this photo):

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