Yook Sungjae Ate His Way Through Chuncheon — Here Are the 3 Restaurants That Stopped Him in His Tracks
Raw fish cold noodles · Charcoal-grilled catfish · Balkan ham budae jjigae
Chuncheon's best-kept local secrets, finally mapped out in English.
🗺️This Episode Was Never About Dakgalbi
Ask anyone what they'd eat in Chuncheon and the answer is almost always the same — dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) and makguksu (buckwheat noodles). Both are great. Both are also the safest, most tourist-friendly answer in the book.
Episode 297 of Baekban Giyhaeng — the beloved Korean food show where veteran cartoonist Heo Youngman travels the country eating with everyday people and occasional celebrity guests — went somewhere more interesting. BTOB member Yook Sungjae joined as the day's companion, and together they worked through three restaurants that most visitors to Chuncheon would walk right past.
After the episode aired, search volumes for all three places spiked overnight. Regulars reported that lines formed before lunch. If you're planning a Chuncheon trip and want to eat where the locals actually eat — read on.
🍜Stop #1: Chuncheon-jip — The Cold Noodle Bowl That Takes All Morning to Make
Tucked into the Seoksa-dong neighborhood, Chuncheon-jip (춘천집) has been pulling in a loyal local crowd for years — mostly, until now, without any publicity to speak of. The draw is the hoe naengmyeon: a bowl of chewy sweet potato starch noodles served cold, topped with thin-sliced raw skate fish and dressed in a chili sauce blended with grated apple, pear, and onion.
The broth is the real effort. The kitchen simmers radish, onion, dried pollack heads, fruit, ginger, shiitake, green onion, and a small bundle of medicinal herbs first — then adds beef brisket and chicken on top of that base to deepen it further. By the time it reaches your bowl, it's been going for hours.
Heo Youngman on the galbi: "The meat hasn't lost itself. You taste the actual beef. That's harder to pull off than it sounds."
What to Order
The hoe naengmyeon (raw fish cold noodles) is the main event. Order it with jeopsi galbi (plate-style short ribs) on the side — the galbi is grilled simply, letting the beef flavor carry the dish rather than leaning on heavy seasoning. The two work together better than you'd expect.
| 📍 Address | 61-4 Gongji-ro, Seoksa-dong, Chuncheon, Gangwon |
| 📞 Phone | 033-264-2313 |
| ⏰ Hours | 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM |
| 🚫 Closed | Irregular (call ahead — no set day off) |
| 🚗 Parking | Separate nearby lot available |
🐟Stop #2: Chuncheon Lake Catfish Grill — Zero Muddy Smell, Maximum Flavor
The second stop sits near the shore of Chuncheon Lake, and it is the kind of place that requires a phone call, a short drive through a scenic mountain road, and a willingness to trust that the effort is worth it. The restaurant is run by just two people, opens only on weekday lunch hours, and closes the moment the fish runs out.
What they do is deceptively simple: catfish caught fresh from the lake, cleaned each morning, then cooked over live charcoal. No batter, no heavy sauce. The skin crisps and the flesh stays dense and moist — nothing like the flaky, delicate catfish you might be imagining.
Yook Sungjae: "It's almost refined. Like something you'd get at a proper restaurant in the city — but it's a tiny place on a lake road."
The Full Spread — It's Not Just About the Fish
The meal doesn't end with the grill. The kitchen also serves a namul bap — a rice bowl topped with seasonal foraged mountain greens (aralia shoots, gun-gae-seungma, chrysanthemum leaf, and sow thistle) — and a spicy catfish jjigae that's hot, clear, and cuts beautifully through the richness of the grilled fish. A panoramic view of Chuncheon Lake through floor-to-ceiling windows doesn't hurt either.
| 📍 Address | 350-14 Chunhwa-ro, Sabuk-myeon (Gotan-ri), Chuncheon, Gangwon |
| 📞 Phone | 010-9282-4904 |
| ⏰ Hours | Weekdays only, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM |
| 🚫 Closed | Mondays + irregular closures |
| 📌 Note | 2-person operation · seasonal ingredients · closes when fish sells out |
🍲Stop #3: Gwon Bau Budae Jjigae — The Army Stew That Went to Germany
Budae jjigae is one of Korea's most beloved comfort foods — a big pot of spicy broth packed with spam, sausage, instant noodles, and kimchi. It has a specific and particular charm. Most versions play it safe and stick to the script.
Gwon Bau Budae Jjigae does not play it safe. Their version swaps processed meats for Balkan-style air-dried raw ham — the kind of cured pork you'd find in the Adriatic rather than a Korean convenience store. The deeper flavor of the ham changes the entire character of the broth: less sweet, more savory, with a roundness that lingers.
And then, sitting beside the pot, there's a Schweinshaxe — a German-style roasted pork knuckle with crackling skin and fork-tender meat inside. It sounds like a gimmick. It isn't. The dish works because the owners understood that both foods are, at their core, about pork, spice, and abundance — and built something that honors both traditions without mashing them together awkwardly.
| 📍 Address | 4-13 Sotbal 1-gil, Chuncheon, Gangwon |
| 📞 Phone | 033-262-0019 |
| ⏰ Hours | 10:30 AM – 9:00 PM (last order 8:00 PM) |
| ☕ Break | 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (kitchen closed) |
| 🚫 Closed | 3rd Tuesday of each month + irregular closures |
📊All 3 Restaurants at a Glance
| Restaurant | Signature Dish | Hours | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chuncheon-jip | Hoe Naengmyeon, Plate Galbi | 10 AM – 9 PM | Irregular |
| Chuncheon Lake Catfish Grill | Charcoal Catfish, Spicy Jjigae | Weekdays 11 AM – 3 PM | Mondays |
| Gwon Bau Budae Jjigae | Balkan Ham Stew, Schweinshaxe | 10:30 AM – 9 PM | 3rd Tuesday |
🏁How to Build a Full Chuncheon Day Around These Three
The simplest route: start with Chuncheon-jip at lunch — arrive early to beat the post-broadcast crowd. From there, the drive out along the Chuncheon Lake road takes you right past the catfish grill, but only on weekdays and only if you've called ahead. End the day at Gwon Bau for dinner, where the Balkan ham budae jjigae makes for a surprisingly satisfying send-off.
One practical note worth repeating: all three restaurants have experienced a surge in visitors since the episode aired. Call before you go. For the catfish grill especially — showing up unannounced on a whim is genuinely a bad idea. Two people running a restaurant for four hours a day can only do so much.
That said, if you hit all three on a good day? It's one of the better meals Chuncheon has to offer — and none of it involves a single piece of spicy grilled chicken.
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