We often go out to dak galbi chicken restaurants but for some reason I had never tried dak bulgogi until this week. Both dishes are made with chicken cooked at the table but they are cooked differently.
닭갈비 dak galbi is chicken pieces stir-fried with vegetables (cabbage, carrot, onion, sweet potato) in a red spicy sauce on a hot plate. 닭 (dak – chicken) 갈비 (ribs) You can add other ingredients if you like such as (떡 deok) rice cakes, cheese, or noodles. And after this you can order fried rice which is cooked in front of you on the same hot plate.
닭불고기 dak bulgogi is slightly spicy and sweet marinated chicken grilled on hot coals at the table. 닭 (dak – chicken) 불고기 (bulgogi – barbecued meat). These restaurants also serve pork and pork skin. The chicken is eaten in the same way as other BBQ meats – wrapped up in lettuce or a sesame leaf with slices of raw garlic, onion, and chili, and washed down with beer and soju of course. It was reasonably priced too -15,000 won for a serving for two people. I heard this is a popular place to go but it was quiet when we were there as it was around 3pm before the evening rush. So the waiter was able to come over and turn and cut the meat for us. (Usually customers have to do this themselves) Great food. But one thing to watch – I burned my knee under the table on the hot plate. I didn’t realise it would be hot under there too! I thought it would have a cover on it or something. Duh!
this particular restaurant has now closed but there are chains of dak bulgogi all around Seoul