Korea Life Blog - Barbecue Chicken in Song Nae

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Americans love fried chicken. Americans also love beer. I don't know why simple chicken and beer restaurants aren't popular there (though I'm not sure if they are or not in the southern states). They certainly are popular in Korea with one on every other corner practically. They're so much fun and a lot better than any KFC or Popeyes, in my opinion. I just think it's fun to eat fried chicken and drink beer, especially outside on a nice summer evening. I say fried because up until we found this place in Song nae, I usually didn't like the yang yeom barbecued chicken. But that has since changed. Check out this extremely popular restaurant.



Here it is, in the heart of Song Nae. We first found it about a month ago at night. As we were standing around scratching our heads and trying to decide what to eat, Julie suggested the McDonald's next door. Meanwhile this restaurant was jam packed. I convinced her to give it a shot. Everyone was ordering the barbecue chicken, which we couldn't figure out. We decided to order half and half (half fried, half bbq). That's when we discovered the fried chicken was terrible but that the barbecued chicken was absolutely fantastic, unlike any kind we'd had before.



As you can see, even before evening the place is bustling. In fact, eveytime we go by here the place is full. It must be the most popular restaurant in the area.



Another reason I love it here: 1000cc (1 liter - yes, how kind of me to translate the metric system into the metric system) draft beers. One of these goes perfect with the meal. At first I felt a little embarrassed by the size. I was the only one I could see with one. Julie couldn't stop laughing. Everyone else was downing 500cc glasses, though, one after another, or glass after glass from huge pitchers, so what's the difference? I just like the big size because it makes me feel like a bad-ass barbarian from medieval times. (I'm writing all this in hopes my readers focus on the huge beer, not on the less than flattering hair cut, thanks Julie).

It looks even bigger in comparison with Julie (had a picture here but she made me delete the picture probably because she was wearing her glasses). She couldn't even lift the glass with one hand. Though I can drink all of it and feel pretty much nothing but a long belch, Julie would probably die. I've only seen her drink a few times. I gave her a small glass of wine way back when and a few minutes after drinking it she turned red, started to rock back and forth, then fell fast asleep until morning. Needless to say, she prefers cola.



Here it is, the main dish. Like I said, the chicken at this restaurant is unique, though it's hard to tell exactly from this picture. It tastes a lot better than it looks anyway. The sauce is delicious, rich but not too thick, hot and spicy. Ah, what a great time. Hanging out drinking beer and eating delicious barbecue chicken, relaxing after a long day of lounging around in my yeogwan watching movies and writing, listening to music, etc...



Bonus picture! Look closely at the table (not at the cute little girl that would make Coca Cola executives swell with pride). That boy was eating dokbokki with his fried chicken! Wahahah!