±Ý°î »ï°èÅÁ


Antonia Dykes

My favourite restaurant in Daegu is Geumgok Samgyetang (±Ý°î »ï°èÅÁ) . This restaurant downtown is in a beautiful ivy covered single storey stone building that I admired from the first time I saw it. The facade led me to believe the restaurant inside would be prohibitively expensive so in March as a newcomer I never even bothered to get as far as the front door.
In spring I became great friends with my youngest co-teacher and we began to go downtown every fortnight to different Korean restaurants. She would take me to places she and her friends would frequent as university students - the best place for ddeokbokki and pancakes, the cheapest place to eat galbi, a terrance beside Smile multibang with great black noodles. One day she sent me a message that she had planned that we would go to a restaurant famous for chicken soup . I was completely surprised when we got off the bus and walked straight to the ivy covered building. This was when I discovered the wonder of Geumgok Samgyetang.

Most customers are there for the samgyetang (»ï°èÅÁ) which is chicken ginseng soup, so the Korean menu is simply three dishes and they are printed on the side of the napkin holder. However they will bring an English menu out if you ask, which has some extra dishes on it (mostly varieties of fried chicken), with pictures and a description of the food and ingredients.
Samgyetang is an example of boyangsik (º¸¾ç½Ä) or food that restores energy. Korean traditional medicine takes a fight fire with fire approach and indicates that you should eat something hot to combat the heat weather. The lunar calendar has three hottest days - chobok (Ãʺ¹) jungbok (Áߺ¹), and malbok (¸»º¹). I walked past Geumgok Samgyetang on one of these days just after school, when the restaurant is normally easy to get into. But on this auspicious day for eating the line was out the door and well down the street. The restaurant is always busy enough to have a great atmosphere. Whenever I have been there past 7pm I have had to wait for a table, but never for too long.
Inside the restaurant is large with high ceilings and spacious heavy wooden tables along the arch windows overlooking the garden. Each windowsill is decorated with a variety of wooden sculptures, and there are large Korean paintings on the walls. There are also four private rooms with traditional floor seating. The soup arrives quickly after ordering, and comes served boiling in a large stone bowl. A whole chicken

sits in the broth, stuffed with rice. You should break open the chicken and ladle some chicken, rice and broth into individual white bowls to cool and eat. The heat capacity of the stone bowl will mean the soup will remain piping hot for the whole meal. One stone bowl is 11,000 won and enough for two regular portions, although I often see people lingering enjoying a entire bowl to themselves, or splitting orders amongst a large table with several bowls of soup and an order of fried chicken. The fried chicken is made with a different batter to that of a chicken hof, so provides a great chance of pace if you¡¯re a frequent hof visitor.
The dish is made with a young chicken, gingseng, green onion, chinese dates, garlic, ginger, and not unlike the Colonel the addition of some herbs and species that remain secret to each restaurant. The chicken is slow cooked for up to 10 hours so falls apart at the touch into juicy pieces. The ingredients are said to be energizing and to replace nutrients lost through sweating. This adds another reason to follow the tradition to eat samgyetang in summer although personally I am most looking forward to visiting the warmth of the restaurant in the winter when I¡¯m cold and in need of some hearty food.
The table also comes with regular side dishes, such as radish and garlic cloves in red pepper. Something special is the complimentary and amazing sweet tea that is served from a keen eyed waiter as soon as you finish your soup. Sujeong gwa (¼öÁ¤°ú) is persimmon and ginger tea with cinnamon that serves as sort of a dessert punch.
I have enjoyed Geumgok Samgyetang regularly with friends in Daegu and with family that came to visit. The restaurant has a great ambience to entertain guests, the famous dish has an interesting story behind it and is mild enough that even those new to Korean food will enjoy their meal.
Geumgok Samgyetang is located at 46-5 Gongpyung-dong, Jung-gu, Daegu. They are open from 10am - 10pm and can be reached at 053-424-4449. The restaurant is best reached either by subway to Jungangno or bus to February 28 Park/Hanil Cinema. Walk straight down the road on the west edge of the park. You will pass the three storey Angel-In-Us coffee on your left at the first intersection, and Geumgok Samgyetang is unmissably on the right at the second intersection.