Halal Food in Seoul - Chilgabsan Grilled Mackerel

Disclaimer: I do not claim this is 100% guaranteed halal since they do not have any halal label but I decided to say it’s halal in terms of type of meat and the presence/absence of alcohol in the food. You may ask the staff before making order. Make sure you know simple conversation to survive eating at Korean restaurant. What’s important is you must not feel heavy-heart while eating. If you do not feel confident of its halal status, please do not eat

If you happened to be around Insadong and you’re looking for lunch, I suggest you to go to this restaurant. I noticed that restaurants in Seoul are small and compact but love the way they managed to put things in order so that many people can come in at one time. After freezing outside, once you enter the restaurant, you’ll feel the warmth of this restaurant because the floor is heated and sitting on the floor is much better than sitting on the chair.

Once you take your seat, the waiter will serve you hot tea. Perfect to warm up your cold body upon waiting for your food. I ordered mackerel set which comes with a LOT of banchan (side dishes). If you want to order, make sure to remind the waiter to exclude meat in the meal. They will actually be alarmed if you looked like a Muslim, I mean by wearing hijab, they have received a lot of Muslim customers so they will always exclude meat for every meal ordered. Make sure to tell them you can’t drink soju too (or any kind of alcoholic beverages) in case the staff changes etc.

I want to highlight that this is the best mackerel I have ever eaten in my life; it melts in your mouth after a couple of chewing.  The banchan are all good, but yeah the one in JBSD is incomparable though.  I still have the heart for the perilla leaves banchan.

How to order? Ok, first of all after you choose your seat, browse through the menu. The signature dish here is Chilgabsan Jeongshik 칠갑산 정식 which means Chilgabsan full course meal.  You can just pointed at the picture on the menu book, and say: yogi juseyo (여기 주세요) which means please give me this. However, the original menu comes with meat. To order meal without meat, say ‘Gogi na noh ji masaeyo'  (고기를 놓지마세요)’  which means please do not put meat. Don’t forget to say kamsamida (감사합니다) with smiling eyes after the staff have taken your order. 

Building rapport with the restaurant is the key to get a cheaper price or lots more of banchan lol. 

After you have done eating, go straight to the counter located at the front door to pay the bills. Don’t bother the staff to go to your table for payment.

How to get there? Get off at Anguk Station (by subway) and walk towards Insadong through Exit 6. You will pass by Ssamziegil building and please look for the pharmacy (it's written in hangul as 수도약국) which is not far from Ssamziegil. Look up for this sign: Insadong-10 gil (blue color sign). Then you have to turn left and walk through the road about 10 meters and walk through the small alley at your right until you see this:

The sign I draw a circle is Chilgabsan. If you find this then you have come to the right place

Ssamziegil

Mackerel Set

Hot tea

OMG salivating

Small & compact but comfy

끝!