Mulbangga Ginseng Chicken Soup

Popular foods among tourists visiting Gyeongju, a city with a thousand years of history, include ssambap set meals, which consist of rice and side dishes served on top of a variety of fresh vegetables, and Sundubu Jjigae (spicy tofu hotpot). Along a road lined with cherry blossom trees in Gyeongju, there is a restaurant specializing in samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) with over 30 years of history.

Located on the riverside in Dongcheon-dong, Gyeongju-si, the owner of Mulbang-a (meaning waterwheel) Ginseng Gyetang is a native of Gyeongju. When he was working in the hotel business as a young man, he noticed that samgyetang, a nutritious dish made by simmering a whole chicken with glutinous rice, ginseng, chestnuts, etc., was popular among foreign tourists. He opened his restaurant about 30 years ago and has been solely focused on making samgyetang ever since.

As this restaurant specializes in ginseng chicken soup, they place great importance on the freshness of the ingredients they use every day for the soup. The rich soup made with 100% glutinous rice used to stuff the chickens will soothe your tired body after sightseeing in Gyeongju, and the spicy flavors of the cucumber salad seasoned with chili peppers and radish kimchi kkakdugi seasoned with salted shrimp served on the table will whet your appetite even more.

Mulbangga Ginseng Chicken Soup

It takes about 10 minutes by regular taxi from Gyeongju Intercity Bus Terminal to the restaurant, and Bunhwangsa Temple and Hwangnyongsa Temple Site are nearby. Samgyetang is said to be a nutritious food in the summer, so why not try it to regain your energy after a long day of sightseeing in Gyeongju?

Samgyetang 12,000 won