Yesterday Sujin’s sister Sunjin was in the mood for some Gung jung jok bal, so we decided to go there all together. Gung jung jok bal ( 궁중족발 ) is some kind of a ham hock, pretty similar to a “Schweinshaxn” or “Stelze” as we call that kind of dish in Austria. I never tried this so far in Austria (shame on me, i know) but yesterday i had the chance to try the Korean version of it. So we went to Gondeok Station and went straight to the famous 마포 궁중족발!
The place itself wasn’t really packed in the early afternoon, so we hadn’t any problems to get a table there. But don’t expect that kind of peaceful scenery when you come here at night because 궁중족발 one of the favorite dishes when you go out drinking. I remember a different market last year and we went there on the evening to eat some pancakes with Makgeolli ( 막걸리 ). We needed to wait nearly an hour to get a table. But of course the place has its own charme when it is really crowed with tons of people laughing and having a good time.
And here it is, a huge pile of 궁중족발 served together with Soon dae ( 순대 ) and Soon dae goog ( 순대국 ). Of course we ordered some beer and enjoy the very tasty meat. I especially liked the Soon dae soup which will be refilled without any additional cost! After we finished eating we went to explore the Gongdeok Market but i guess we should come back once again when this place is packed at night!
Mika says: Both thumbs up! I enjoyed the Gung jung jok bal a lot and had a nice time there with Sujin and Sunjin. It’s pretty cheap if you consider that 4 people can easily get satisfied with that amount of food. It cost 24 Thousand Won, approximately 16 Euro. Still i would recommend you to go there at night because the atmosphere is way better then!
Where to find Mapo gung jung jok bal at Gongdeok Market?
Go with Subway Line 5 or 6 to Gongdeok Station and use Exit 5. After that go straight forward til you see the ad banner like on my first picture. Enjoy!
Mapo gung jung jok bal Website: http://www.mapo-gungjungjokbal.co.kr
