When in Seoul: Andong Jjimak

Living in Seoul for 5 months on a student budget was tough. I survived thanks to milk, free study-hard noodles, and those “military” tasteless free biscuits given out in Myeongdongs. (Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit here as I also get to occasionally buy $5 pizza from Pizza School and splurge a bit with a cup of Dunkin Donuts Caramel Macchiato.)  This is why I promised myself that I’ll buy a fancy (or at least good) meal or two when I visit again. And when I finally did, we had a nice start with…

Andong Jjimak.

Thanks to my good friend, R who happens to be a very fluent and you’d-think-is-local, we got to discover Andong Jjimak. He said that it was one of his favorite restaurants in Myeongdong and even thought of bringing it in Manila. Hearing these from him made my expectations really high.

And seeing the place packed seems to prove it. We were lucky though as the diners eat fast here.

We opted to get Jjimak (37,000 ₩, one and half order good for 3-4 pax) and four bowls of rice.

While waiting, we enjoyed the free appetizers—pickled radish and spicy kimchi.

The pickled radish was pretty refreshing and cleanses the palate while the spicy kimchi was…spicy. One bite was enough for me as it made me gag. (Yes, my tolerance for anything spicy is very low.)

Service was pretty quick and our huge bowl of jjimak was served in less than 10 minutes.

Jjimak reminded me of adobo with its sweet soy sauce based broth. I enjoyed the tender and juicy chicken and the cooked to perfection herbed vegetables. Each bite was oozing with the lovely sweet and slightly salty flavor of the sauce. The mushy potato wedges added grainy texture to the delightful chicken and the faintly crunchy carrot slices and greens.  

Having it served piping hot made it the perfect dish to cap our first night in Seoul which was around 8-10 degrees that time. I’ll definitely visit this place again when I visit Seoul.

Tip: For first-timers, you have to approach the front counter to pay for your meal. They also have a jar of candies there for customers. :)

Andong Jjimak is located at 33-9 Myeongdong, 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea.